Case Study: 9
Inspiring Learning for All (UK)
Themes
Inspiring learning for All (ILFA) is a framework describing what an accessible and inclusive museum,
archive or library which stimulates and supports learning looks like. ILFA invites an organisation to:
- find out what the people that use its services learn;
- assess how well it is achieving best practice in supporting learning;
- improve what it does.
Keywords: learning, impact, learning outcome, learning process, learning organisation
Relation to wider policy agendas
e-inclusion: widen access
e-learning: enhanced learning opportunities
Demand
The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) charged
MLA with the task of developing a national
framework for learning in museums, libraries and archives in October 2000. In developing Inspiring
Learning for All MLA consulted around 700 people working in and for museums, archives and libraries
in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. MLA set up an 'Inspiring Learning for All Think Tank'.
Description
- Improve services in museums, libraries and archives;
- Measure the impact of these on people's learning.
An accessible and inclusive museum, archive or library which supports and stimulates
learning has the following characteristics:
- People: providing more effective learning opportunities
- Partnerships: building creative learning partnerships
- Places: creating inspiring and accessible learning environments
- Policies, plans, performance: placing learning at the heart of the museum, archive, library.
Products/ services
- Improved learning outcomes for users and for staff;
- Improved learning experiences for users and for staff;
- Tools to implement learning strategies;
- Tools to measure learning outcomes;
- Tools to change organisations into learning organisations.
Barriers/ constraints
- A lack of understanding about the benefits of cross-domain working as ILFA was the first genuine
cross-domain service for museums, archives and libraries in the UK;
- A lack of knowledge about the significance of focussing on learning and the consequential need for
organisational change;
- Conflicting professional priorities within the organisations;
- The lack of common a vocabulary for example libraries use the word 'stock, museums 'collections',
and archives 'resources' or 'holdings'.
Keys to success
- Continuous consultation with the sector and stake holders;
- The delivery of practical tools, such as the 'Measure Learning Toolkit' to enable museums, archives,
libraries to gather evidence of their impact on broader learning agendas, which may release funding and
recognition;
- Offering tools and partnership models from outside the museums, archives, libraries sector makes
the sector more relevant to broader society. Resources were drawn from academic research in the field of,
for example, psychology; educational theory; change management; and library partnerships with Sure Start,
a government initiative to encourage preschool learning.
Impact
On strategy development:
By providing evidence of the impact of the sector on the Government's learning agenda ILFA contributed
to securing extra funding for the sector in the 2004 Government Spending Review.
On delivery of services:
- York has declared itself the first 'Inspiring Learning for All City' in the UK and is well under way
to join all its cultural services to deliver the program;
- Museums find the generic learning outcomes provide them with a tool to better understand the
learning needs of users.
For users:
- ILFA plays an important role in Their Reading Futures
(TRF), a programme for public libraries in the United Kingdom. It provides training to help libraries deliver
the best reader development services for
young people. TRF is an initiative being developed in partnership with the Association of Senior Children's
and Education Librarians (ASCEL), the CILIP Youth Libraries Group (YLG), and the Society of Chief Librarians
(SCL).
- In late summer 2003, The Reading Agency used the
ILFA generic learning outcomes
as a framework to
develop a national study of the impact of the Reading Maze Summer Reading Challenge on participating
children. The study was carried out by a market research company and a total of 380 interviews were
conducted. Using the five generic learning outcomes the children were asked a series of questions designed
to find out how they felt about taking part.
Dissemination of lessons learned
Launches in all the English Regions; national launch with the DfES Secretary of State;
articles in all relevant professional journals and international journals (Lifelong Learning in Europe);
presentations at major museum, library and archive conferences.
Domains involved
Museums, libraries, archives
Geographical coverage
England, United Kingdom
Standards/Guidelines used
Learning and Access:
- Every child matters, The Stationery Office, 2003.
- Learning to Listen: Core Principles for the involvement of children and young people,
Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Available at www.culture.gov.uk;
- Start with the child:
Report of the CILIP Working Group on library provision for children and young people, CILIP, 2002;
-
All our futures: creativity, culture and education, Committee on Creative and Cultural Education, DfEE, 1999;
- Meier D., The Accelerated Learning Handbook 2000;
- Current learning theories and a summary of learning styles in the context of schools education;
www.funderstanding.com/learning_styles.cfm
and The Thinking Skills website;
- What Did We Learn? The Museums and Galleries Lifelong Learning Initiative 2000 - 2002,
Campaign for Learning in Museums and Galleries, 2002;
- Access for All Toolkit, MLA 2004.
Measuring Learning:
- Hooper-Greenhill E., et al, - Measuring the outcomes and impact of learning in museums, archives and libraries:
learning Impact Research Project end of project paper.
The Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester 2003;
- The generic learning outcome system: measuring the learning outcomes and impact of learning in museums,
archives and libraries - Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester;
- Moussouri T. -
A context for the development of learning outcomes in museums, archives and libraries,
Resource / Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester 2002;
- Hooper-Greenhill E. - Developing a scheme for finding evidence of the outcomes and impact of learning
in museums, archives and libraries: the conceptual framework.
Consultation with users and non-users:
- Felicity Woolf, Partnerships for learning - a guide to evaluating arts education projects Arts
Council England - October 1999;
- Involving Users - Improving the delivery of local public services, Service First Unit, Cabinet Office, 2000.
Benchmarking:
Partnership
MLA and its representatives in the nine English regions, the Regional Agencies, set up as strategic
organisations to promote museums, libraries and archives and help them to provide the best possible
service to their users.
Funding sources
To develop the framework: national funding, rolled out to the nine Regional Agencies by the Museums Libraries and
Archives Council. Individual organisations can not apply for extra funding to implement IlfA. Learning and
becoming a learning organisation has to be main stream of what they do.
Lifespan of project
Ongoing
Status of project
Started in 2000, launch of first version in 2004, consultation on the use in 2005
Relates to
Inspiring Learning for All
Host Organisation
Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
Organisation type
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is a Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by England's
culture ministry the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
MLA is lead by a Board consisting of sixteen members appointed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
The Department also appoints a Chair, a position currently held by Mark Wood. The Chief Executive and senior
staff attend Board meetings.
MLA has approximately 75 employees, working in six teams all lead by a Director: Chief Executives Unit;
Library and Information Society Team; Learning, Access, Renaissance, Regions and International Team;
Collections, Archives, Workforce Development and Standards Team; Communications; and Corporate Services.
MLA's Chief Executive has overall responsibility for the organisation and, in conjunction with the six Team
Directors, makes up the Executive Board.
MLA's mission statement: 'Museums, libraries and archives connect people to knowledge and information,
creativity and inspiration. MLA is leading the drive to unlock this wealth, for everyone'.
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