Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
Mr Philip Ginnings, Head of History & Politics, Gifted &
Talented Co-ordinator, Ounsdale High School
I believe that a Parliamentary Visitor and Information
Centre would be a valuable addition to Parliament's already useful
set of educational facilities. Its principal purpose should be
to provide an interactive set of tools that would engage young
people with the political process. Whilst the history of Parliament
is important, the key role of such a centre must be to illustrate
the relevance and importance of Parliament in people's
everyday lives. The Centre could therefore be a focal point for
promoting Citizenship and increasing political participation.
Consequently, the main target audience should
be the 13-18 age group. The younger pupils will be covering events
like the Gunpowder Plot and the English Civil War as part of their
Key Stage 3 History entitlement, and Citizenship at both KS3 and
KS4 emphasises the importance of Parliament. However, there should
also be a clear emphasis on supporting students from the older
age range. In particular, more support should be provided for
students of A Level Government & Politics as this is currently
limited generally.
The exhibition/display space, whilst explaining
Parliament's history, work and role, must also present that information
in ways that would appeal to the 21st century learner. Interactivity,
the use of ICT and visual aids will all be vital. Personal contact
with Members of Parliament and people actively involved with Parliament's
processes could also be important. However, being able to meet
an MP is a good idea but only if that MP has the ability to engage
with young people.
The Centre could obviously support schools by
providing a focal point for the organisation and conduct of educational
visits to Parliament. In addition, facilitators should be on hand
to explain Parliament's work through a variety of hands-on workshops
eg the art of debating, managing an MP's workload, the progress
of a bill, the work of select committees, etc. Workshops that
address a variety of learning styles, are stimulating and, of
course, fun will succeed in ways colourful displays don't always
do. The best modern museums encourage the young to engage with
the material through preparation and interactivity. For example,
the Imperial War Museum's Holocaust Exhibition has pre-
and post-visit seminars and the In Flanders Fields Museum
in Ieper, Belgium has pupils follow the story of an individual's
progres through the First World War. These approaches help to
provide focus and interest.
Another approach that could be considered is
one that is multi-disciplinary. Workshops that combine history,
citizenship, media studies, numeracy and literacy will naturally
attract more visitors. Such an approach could be used to provide
workshops for Gifted and Talented pupils, for instance. There
would, nonetheless, still need to be the focus on specific areas
for older students for them to benefit enough to inform their
studies.
The educational remit would be further fulfilled
if it promoted links with the UK Youth Parliament so that work
that pupils do could be extended in an environment that replicates
that of the Palace of Westminster. This would be mutually beneficial
to both the Visitor Centre and the Youth Parliament.
A website that is user-friendly for school-aged
visitors will also be essential for preparatory and follow-up
work. On such a site should be things like What's Going On in
Parliament, Have Your Say, Contact your MP, Register to Vote,
Debating Forum, Competitions, Free Online Resources, Online Gift/Bookshop
and similar sections. In the fast-moving world of politics, keeping
the site up-to-date will be crucial. http://www.parliament.uk/—Parliament's
current website—already covers some of these areas and its
counterpart aimed at younger users—http://www.explore.parliament.uk/—has
made a good attempt at addressing the dissemination of factual
information for teachers and students. But their lack of direct
interactivity means that they remain of limited use in terms of
their ability to persuade young people to engage with the process.
For instance the interactive games can be filtered by school webpage
filtering systems that get triggered by the word "game".
Many young people are switched off politics because they feel
no one listens to them. The Centre could help combat this by providing
opportunities for youth voice to be heard and also by keeping
youth aware of key developments. A monthly newsletter, written
to appeal to target age groups, could be posted/emailed to schools
for dissemination, possibly? Or maybe an online forum?
In order to address the needs of older students
it would be useful if the Centre promoted lectures, resources
and seminars aimed at the 16-18 age group. These could be presented
by leading politicians as well as academics. It would also be
helpful if the Centre gave some thought to illustrating the place
of Parliament not only within our unitary system but also by comparing
it with other systems. Furthermore, older students could be stretched
by examining the philosophical principles that underpin our parliamentary
democracy, the impact of the EU on our sovereignty and the future
of parliamentary/constitutional reform, for example.
The Centre could also consider the possibility
of extending its in-service training for teachers so that they
can keep up-to-date with the hanging nature of not only the Houses
of Parliament but also our political process as a whole. Even
with the best will in the world, teachers cannot always keep apace
of developments and changes and text-books, in a subject like
Politics, are out of date before they are even published! Inexpensive
(preferably Free!) update seminars on, say, Saturdays when teachers
needn't worry about burdening their schools with extra supply
cover might be an innovative experiment the Centre could try.
At present, only one of these takes place so if a teacher cannot
attend on that day, opportunities like this are of limited use.
For school parties that have to travel long
distances flexibility of opening hours beyond the conventional
"nine to five" window could be considered. Obviously,
proximity to amenities like toilets and food/drink is needed.
A point that should be borne in mind, however, is what it now
costs to bring school parties to London in this day and age. Travel
by public transport to accommodate conventional opening hours
is becoming prohibitively expensive and involves all sorts of
added risk assessment complications for party leaders; travel
using coach operators can result in an average group being asked
to pay over £20-25 a head to get to London from schools that
are beyond the south-eastern corner of England. In order to justify
the journey and its cost, any visit must be worth making.
I suppose the key thing that any Centre of this
kind should consider is what it could provide that cannot be obtained
in a classroom, ie:
— Direct access to the Palace of Westminster
and those that work within it;
— Learning opportunities that are well-resourced,
creative and fun;
— An informal but productive learning
environment staffed by welcoming facilitators who will inspire
and motivate young people to engage with our political processes;
— Information that is up-to-date and
accessible;
— Opportunities for student/youth voice
to be aired and, importantly, listened to;
— And an organisational hub to assist
teachers in the increasingly arduous business of organising educational
visits.
I would also like to emphasise the fact that
the work of the Parliamentary Education Unit continues to improve
year on year. I would sincerely hope that the Visitor's Centre
would complement that work, not replace it.
10 July 2006
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