Recently, the “Museum Journey for Middle School Students· Ancient China” research series, jointly developed by the National Museum of China and Beijing No. 4 Middle School, was published in Beijing, which can be described as the latest achievement of using museum resources to carry out primary and secondary school education and teaching.
In recent years, museums have received great attention to the educational function of young people. In 2019, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage launched the first batch of demonstration projects for museums on campus, and selected Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shaanxi, and Chongqing as the first batch of pilot projects for museums to enter campuses, and carried out fruitful practical exploration. In 2020, the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage issued the “Opinions on the Use of Museum Resources to Carry out Primary and Secondary Education and Teaching” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”) to further promote the establishment and improvement of the museum-school cooperation mechanism. Under this opportunity, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage continued to organize and carry out the second batch of demonstration projects for museums on campus. In the process of policy guidance, institutional guarantee and practical exploration, a large number of distinctive and generalizable cases have emerged in the use of museum resources to carry out primary and secondary school education and teaching, and valuable experience has been accumulated.
Take advantage of your strengths and tap into resources
In order to promote the effective connection between museum resources and school education, and stimulate students’ interest and initiative in learning, the design of museum-school cooperation courses in various regions presents a diversified development trend from content to form.
The “Museum Journey for Middle School Students· Ancient China” research series is written by the experienced first-line gold medal docents of the Social Education Department of the National Museum and the outstanding teachers of Beijing No. 4 Middle School, which lasted five years and was carefully debated by experts and scholars in the fields of literature and education. This series of books is not only for Beijing No. 4 Middle School, but is a popular science book with research and demonstration significance developed for middle school students and teachers across the country. The book series revolves around the 64 cultural relics carefully selected in the basic exhibition of “Ancient China” of the National Museum, telling history with objects and evidence, fully absorbing the latest academic research results, and connecting the historical footprints of the evolution of Chinese civilization through the representative cultural relics with the most characteristics of the times.
Ma Jinglin, principal of Beijing No. 4 Middle School, said that since the cooperation with the National Museum in 2016, 20 teachers from 11 disciplines in Beijing No. 4 Middle School have voluntarily joined the project and presented 64 cultural relics in the form of courses to students. Over the past few years, the teachers have actively participated in the training, independently learned the knowledge of history and cultural relics, devoted themselves to designing lesson plans, and took students into museums to see objects and read history. “For a few years now, the museum program has been very popular with middle and high school students.” He said.
Beijing No. 8 Middle School and the Capital Museum have officially signed a strategic development agreement on museum-school cooperation, and jointly designed ten interdisciplinary courses for students to choose from, such as “The Art of Curating”, “The Soul of Ancient Architecture-Mortise and Twin”, “Bo’ Enlightenment English”, “Tr