{"id":8063,"date":"2025-01-14T16:57:01","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T16:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/?p=8063"},"modified":"2025-03-21T16:05:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T16:05:45","slug":"8063","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/2025\/01\/14\/8063\/","title":{"rendered":"My Placement Experience at Manchester Museum as an MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies Student"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Manchester Museum has always been one of my favourite places on Oxford Road, even during my undergraduate studies in Graphic Design. Having the museum\u2019s rich history right at my fingertips as a student is an incredibly fortunate experience, especially knowing that people travel from all over the world to visit and participate in its diverse cultural events.<\/p>\n

In the first year of my part-time master\u2019s course, I have chosen to take the placement module to gain hands-on experience in gallery and museum settings. My primary focus was to explore opportunities related to engagement, play, and communication\u2014particularly for younger children\u2014to inspire them to learn and connect with museum spaces. When I found out I had been accepted into the Manchester Museum\u2019s Children\u2019s Educational Learning Placement Programme, I was overjoyed. The competitive application process had been stressful, but the reward\u00a0was well worth it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Before beginning the placement, we were tasked with conducting research on the overall theme. This required visits\u00a0to the university library, where I kept a daily log, took notes, and set goals for what I hoped to achieve over the academic year. On the first day of the placement, we had a comprehensive tour of the museum, learned about health and safety procedures, and enjoyed an in-depth exploration of the “Wild” exhibition led by one of the museum\u2019s curators. In the afternoon, we had a \u201cget to know each other\u201d\u00a0session with students from various courses who were also\u00a0completing placements at the\u00a0museum.<\/p>\n

A Day in My Life at Manchester Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our placement days start at 9:00 AM every Monday and Wednesday. One of my favourite parts of the morning is greeting the animals in the Vivarium, a simple but delightful way to begin the day. Following this, we head to the top floor to collaborate on our research. We discuss our goals for the day and how our findings will contribute to our final assignments.<\/p>\n

\"\"One of the standout experiences of my placement has\u00a0been the observation day. Watching the psychology behind how children\u00a0interact\u00a0with exhibits was fascinating. We gathered data and created graphs to analyse their engagement. Observing the different ways children connect with museum spaces provided valuable insights.<\/p>\n

\"\"Later in the day, we follow school groups through the museum exhibitions. It\u2019s heart-warming to see the lovely drawings and notes created by the children during their visits. After a lunch break at the museum caf\u00e9, where I\u2019ve become a regular due to my volunteering role, we continue our observations. This includes shadowing school groups as they participate\u00a0in paid workshops and taking notes in the Egypt and Sudan Gallery. Listening to children\u2019s opinions about the artefacts and linking their responses back to key learning materials provided by our placement host, Amy, has been both insightful and rewarding.<\/p>\n

Overall, I\u2019m thoroughly enjoying my placement experience. It\u2019s been a unique opportunity to combine academic research with practical engagement. I\u2019m excited about what\u2019s to come in 2025 and look forward to learning and contributing even more as the year unfolds.<\/p>\n

Rachel Topping\u00a0MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies student.<\/em><\/p>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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