What is less usual is to find primary school pupils working as partners with an archaeologist.
Our project lets primary school children take a leading role in an archaeological investigation.
The children’s archaeological investigations were part of a larger project initiated by a community group, the Bailies of Bennachie, which works to study and preserve the landscape of the Bennachie hill region in Aberdeenshire.
The Bailies’ archaeologist, Colin Shepherd, set up two archaeological projects with local primary school children and their teachers as well as myself.
Pupils worked as partners on an archaeological project to investigate the history of the place in which they live and go to school.
The children working on their finds.
Taking on the role of the historian and working with primary source materials, such as Estate and Ordnance Survey maps, census returns and valuation rolls which record tax payments, the children were able to develop their own lines of inquiry.
My role as a teacher educator specializing in history education was to work alongside pupils and staff to create an exhibition for their families and the local community.
The children were given the use of the museum’s replica of a 17th-century collector’s cabinet for their exhibition.
The project meant the children could lead their own historical investigations, and expand their understanding of the places in which they live and the heritage of their family and community.
Not only did the children learn the history of the place, they learned to understand the process of creating historical knowledge.
Setting up the exhibition and showing it to people aided conversations between children and their community.
The archaeological investigations carried out by the children created a real-life context for them to play an active part in learning – educating not just themselves but their community too?
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