Freelance consultant required for Understanding Slavery Initiative

A freelance consultant is required for design and delivery of courses and in-house training sessions for national education programme.

The Understanding Slavery Initiative (USI) is a national education programme, designed to help teachers and learners engage with the histories and legacies of transatlantic slavery using museums collections. This programme, now in its 6^th phase, is comprised of a five-museum partnership: the National Museums Liverpool, Bristol City Museums, Galleries and Archives, Hull Museums & Art Gallery, the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

In September 2007, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) determined that the transatlantic slave trade should be taught in schools at KS3 following a review of the History curriculum.

As part of USI's offer for teachers and museum educators and to reflect the curriculum change and to provide needed support for teachers and educators in delivering effective approaches to the subject, USI is looking for freelancers who can develop and deliver workshops to knowledge around this subject to a wide range of audiences.

We are looking for educators who have:

Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Experience in development and delivery of teaching/training sessions
Experience in conducting research
Experience in engaging in outreach activities with new audiences
Experience in using print and/ or digital teaching materials
Basic knowledge of transatlantic slavery
Experience in working with diverse audiences
Experience in working with digital/online resources
Demonstrable commitment to equality and diversity
Experience in working with diverse audiences

Personal skills:

Open-minded and flexible to various learning approaches
Approachable
Demonstrate enthusiasm for subject knowledge
Willingness to challenge various theories and to respond to challenges
Flexible

Desirable but not essential:

Experience in engaging with sensitive histories
Experience in teaching in a formal learning context (ie. Schools, museums)
Experience working with historical collections

The Role:

Successful candidates will be based at the museum in your region 2-3 days a week where you will be responsible for some or all of the following:

Working with museum learning staff to develop and deliver on-site learning sessions
Adapting learning sessions to include both USI and museum resources on the history of transatlantic slavery
Visiting various learning sites to deliver training and conduct USI CPD, outreach sessions
Reporting to USI partnership on various objectives and supporting evaluation
Signposting teachers and educators to USI and external resources
Conducting research in the local and surrounding area including museums, libraries, archives, etc. for resources that may assist with the teaching and learning of this history
Liaise with local government and learning stakeholders (ie. Local authorities, Advanced Skills Teachers, etc.)
Work with focus groups to help develop various approaches around learning
Evaluation of programme delivery

* Initial contracts to commence the week of 5 January 2009, ending at end of March 2009, with the possibility of extension.

To apply:

Please send cv's and covering letter demonstrating how your skills and experience meet the above criteria to: Katharine Housden at khousden@nmm.ac.uk. Please also indicate which of the four regional areas you would like to work in: Bristol, Liverpool, Hull or London.

The deadline for receipt of cv's is: 14 November 2008 at 5 pm.

Successful candidates will be invited to attend a mandatory 5-day initial training programme to commence the week of 8 December, where they will be trained in the delivery of a quality service and USI teaching and learning approaches.

A full project outline with then be agreed between the candidate and USI before work commences.

If you have any queries about the tender process or job description or if you would like more details on the Understanding Slavery Initiative please contact Understanding Slavery Project Officer, Katharine Housden on 020 8312 8613 or email her at the address above.

Equal Opportunities

Only with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and cultures, can we bring this history to life and make it relevant to the way we live our lives today. As such, we encourage applications from applicants from diverse backgrounds and will interview all who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy.

Background Information

About USI

The Understanding Slavery Initiative is a national education project, which began in April 2003 with funding from the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families as part of the Strategic Commissioning National/Regional Museum Partnerships Programme.

The initiative has been developed by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich with National Museums Liverpool, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol City Museums, Galleries and Archives, and Hull Museums and Art Gallery.

Understanding Slavery has been developed with a number of key objectives:

To encourage teachers, educators and young people to fully examine the history and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade through the museums' collections and schemes of work in the National Curriculum
To develop resources for teachers and pupils which focus on the British, West African and Caribbean elements of the history
To offer training opportunities for teachers and museum educators to support their development of effective teaching methodologies for this project
To develop and share best practice teaching models which effectively address the issues and sensitivities inherent in this history, particularly when working with the related museum collections

Programme 2003 - 2008

Phase 1 (2003 - 04)

Consultation:

Understanding the Transatlantic Slave Trade: initial consultations with teachers, LEA representatives and community educators

New museum and classroom resources:

National Maritime Museum

Freedom: printed pack and website

Handling collection

Museum sessions for KS3 and 4

British Empire & Commonwealth Museum

Voices of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: DVD and printed notes and loan boxes

Handling collection

Museum sessions for KS3 and 4

National Museums Liverpool

Transatlantic Slavery - Facing Up: CD ROM

Handling collection

Museum sessions for KS3 and 4

Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives

Transatlantic Slavery at Bristol Industrial Museum: PDF pack

Museum sessions for KS3 and 4

Phase 2 (2004 - 05)

Research and evaluation:

USI Evaluation Report: how the USI resources are used by schools and how they could be modified.

Engaging with Educators: research to ascertain how much provision exists in Initial Teacher Education to address this history.

Community project:

Landmarks DVD: community visual arts and film workshops resulting in a short film documenting local residents' views and perceptions of the transatlantic slave trade

Phase 3 (2005 - 06)

Digital resource:

www.understandingslavery.com

The design and production of a new website for teachers and educators offering visual material, background information and activities to teach young people about transatlantic slavery, bringing together items from the partner museums' collections as well as new and revised lesson plans and activities for use in both formal and informal learning contexts.

Phase 4 (2006 - 07)

Digital resource:

www.understandingslavery.com/citizen

A website for KS3 students organised into four themes Activism, Heritage, Identity and Routes offering schools a rich bank of museum artefacts and archival material for research and study on-line and off-line.

Teachers' resource:

The Citizen Resource

A printed pack for teachers with corresponding content from the Citizen website, and including lesson plans and activities for ongoing study programmes.

Phase 5 (2007 - 08)

Bicentenary programme & Evaluation

‘The Big Conversation 2007'

A national competition to mark the bicentenary of the Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade to encourage KS3 students to explore the complex issues surrounding the legacies of this history through museum collections.

Dissemination programme:

Unlocking Perceptions: Understanding Slavery's approach to the history and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade.

The production of a handbook which brings together in one printed, easy-to-use publication, guidelines for developing museum resources and

programmes of study for this subject. This new publication will be produced for dissemination across the museums and learning sectors.

Phase 6 (2008-2009)

Research and Evaluation

KS2 scoping and research:

Scoping and piloting for new offer of resources and delivery of KS2 programmes in response to consultation recommendations, inquiries and requests from schools.

Evaluation of USI resources:

An assessment of the effectiveness of USI resources to-date and potential to maximise programme accessibility for formal learning audiences

National Training Programme

Development and delivery of national training programme for qualified teachers, teachers-in-training, and museum educators

Explore opportunities for international partnership links

Working with key stakeholders and partners to determine areas for potential international work

QCA Secondary Education:

‘For the first time, school children aged 11-14 will learn about Britain's involvement in the slave trade and its abolition as a compulsory part of history lessons I secondary schools.

From September 2008, the transatlantic slave trade and the British Empire will join the Holocaust and the two world wars as compulsory subjects in the school curriculum for Key Stage 3 pupils.

It will be a fascinating opportunity for schoolchildren to learn, not only the horrifying nature and effects of the trade, but also the victories of the abolitionist movement, driven by resistance in the plantations and, in Britain, not only by its remarkable leaders, but huge numbers of ordinary men, women and children, foreshadowing the 20th century civil right movements.' - The Way Forward (Department for Communities and Local Government Publications 2007).