National+Gallery+Of+Australia

Clare Barker

The National Gallery Of Australia. National Gallery of Australia official website: []

Location: Parkes Place Parkes, Canberra ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA [|Visiting the National Gallery]

The excursion to the NationaI Gallery involves students of all ages looking at different artworks to while being specifically aimed at giving young children an insight into Indigenous and English Australian Culture. Students have the opportunity to view the different artworks to promote discussion about Indigenous Australian history and culture. The excursion is aimed at the Early Childhood area, in particular year one's and two's. At this stage students are very hands on and visual learners. This is a very visual excursion for young children as Early Childhood students see the different cultures expressed through the different styles of artworks.  SOSE outcomes addressed in this excursion are ELA 21 The student understands about Australia and Australians; ELA 22 Understands and values what it means to be a within a democracy; ELA 23 understands world issues and events. This excursion would fit into a unit of work around Australian culture and history, in particular Indigenous culture. 'The student understands about Australia and Australians'. After finding out what students already know at the tuning in stage i.e. "What is culture? Is Indigenous Australian culture different to English Australian culture and how? How is that different to the students own culture?" The students will look at how culture has been expressed, documented, reported, and preserved over the years through a visit to the Gallery which can enhance the students learning through a more visual experience. "The Aboriginal Memorial 1987–88 is currently undergoing conservation work for its re–launch in the entry of the new Stage 1 building which will house permanent displays of Indigenous art." (National Gallery of Australia, 2010 []) [|Indigenous Art]

The Gallery holds educational tours for students of all ages, which for year one's and two's would have no more than 12 in each group. Each tour is lead by volunteers who are professionally trained Early Childhood teachers. The tours are made shorter for Early Childhood groups and volunteers see the tours as a journey for each child. It is just as much about the whole experience and making the children feel comfortable as it is about viewing the artworks. The tours are as interactive as possible with different sensory materials provided. For example, when looking at and talking about Indigenous art, materials from the artworks such as ochre, can be provided for the children to feel and discover while learning. There are a range of activities students can be involved in including music and movement, drawing, storytelling and for every exhibition staff are always thinking of new and interactive ways for students to become involved. An example of this was for the Masterpieces exhibition where one wall was painted "Starry Starry Nights" and the children could actually make their own stars and stick them on the wall. [|Visits and Bookings]

Outside the Gallery there is the sculpture garden which is a great area for the students to have a run around, with the fog sculpture being particularly exciting. Tables are available for morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea, as well as an undercover area in case of wet weather. There are toilets available outside for the students and drinking bubblers as well. There is disability access throughout the grounds and the Gallery has tours running which cater for hearing/vision impaired people. There is easy access for bus drop off and pick up right outside the front door. [|Sculpture Garden]



Resources are available for teachers and these can be in the form of posters or they have resource kits available online. Within the Gallery there is an Education Centre with Gallery Educators available to help teachers out when planning an excursion. The Gallery encourages teachers to have a pre visit before bringing students through as this allows teachers to plan better and gives an insight into the tour or exhibit they will be bringing their students to. There are also teacher inservice sessions "Professional development for teachers Professional development sessions for groups of teachers are organised on request all year. Teachers’ previews provide an opportunity to see the exhibition, view resources and discuss strategies." (National Gallery of Australia, 2010 http://nga.gov.au/Education/programs.cfm) There is a booking system for educators and schools and the Gallery aims to get groups of students into the exhibitions before the public to save congestion for the students and the public. I[|ndigenous Educational Resources] [|Education resources and facilities]

The children's gallery is located within the Art Gallery and has different displays throughout the year. At the moment the exhibit is called 'Shimmer.' [|Children's Gallery] [|Shimmer exhibition] _________________________________________________________________________________ = <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">National Gallery of Australia = For current information, activities and exhibitions please visit the home page: [|National Gallery of Australia] Or go to the gallery at: Parkes Place Parkes, Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA We went to the National Gallery of Australia, prepared to enjoy the artworks and really excited about what such a nearby, free resource could add to our teaching of SOSE. The educators at the NGA are more than happy to discuss options for tailoring the artworks and exhibitions to a tour which suits the teaching outcomes of a particular unit. We saw many such tours in progress during our visit, from pre-schoolers through to high school, though no Canberra schools. The sculpture garden within the grounds provides a fabulous place to have morning tea or lunch for the students, and provides artworks which can be touched as well as space to run around, to break up the day a little (especially for younger students). Of particular interest to teaching SOSE was a current exhibition featuring Robert Dowling’s works, entitled ‘Tasmanian son of Empire’. Dowling’s work has been significant in both artistic terms (he was Australia’s first locally produced artist) but his capture of local individuals, Indigenous scenes and other aspects of life in Australia provides a sound resource for looking at Australian history during the mid to late 1800s. It was clear to us that taking a class around this exhibition as part of a study of Indigenous history, early colonisation or many other integrated units would provide an invaluable experience and some different perspectives to the students. // Weerat Kuyuut and the Mopor people, Spring Creek, Victoria // 1856 He also produced a variety of art with a religious and Middle Eastern focus which is very relevant depending on the unit of work your students are studying. There are also great free exhibitions with huge relevance in cultural and historical education for students, from the eastern artwork, the Australian exhibition and the ‘shimmer’ exhibition that focuses on the manipulation of colour and design. However, it is wise to visit the exhibition yourself before taking students as not all are as appropriate for primary school students as they may seem. The Life, Death and Magic exhibition for instance; but visiting still makes a great professional development activity for the arts. The gallery provides a lot for visitors. The volunteers at the exhibitions were more than happy to cater for our needs when we visited, directing it in more of an educational slant, and were very well read in the background of the art and the artists themselves. Our guide provided so much more information and context than we could have gained simply by looking at the artworks, so thanks to the NGA for providing such a fantastic resource to the community. The gallery also has a large amount of resources, specific to teachers, available as well as a shop full of books appropriate for teaching with, some made even specifically for teachers. for this exhibition can be found at: [|Educational kit for Robert Dowling] [|Additional RRobert Dowling resources] If cost and/or distance makes a visit to the National Gallery prohibitive for a class, many online resources and podcasts are available: [|Index for educational resources] [|Educational program PDF file] Free e-newsletters are available – you can subscribe here: [|News Letters] The stories contained within the gallery on art, across the ages and across the world, have a great deal to add as a SOSE resource and we highly recommend adding the NGA to your list of possible excursions. Bree-Anna Masliah, Belinda Aryos, Jane Phippen
 * Excursion summary:**
 * For SOSE:**
 * National Gallery of Australia volunteer guides and other resources**
 * Further resources**