Museums and Botanic Garden Education and Outreach Officer TraineeshipsOxford University Museums and Collections (OUMC) Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)

Role description and selection criteria

Role title Museums and Botanic Garden Education and Outreach Officer Traineeships (4 available)

Department Ashmolean Museum

Location Oxford University Museums and Collections (OUMC)

Bursary £13,500 bursary per year (may be subject to tax)

Hours Full time (36.5 hours per week)

Contract type 18 month fixed-term Traineeship

Reporting to Ashmolean Museum Head of Education or placement Mentors

Oxford University Museums and Collections (OUMC)

The University of Oxford is home to five of the world's greatest university museums and botanic gardens – The Ashmolean Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and the Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum. Their collections span subjects including fine art, archaeology, science, anthropology and nature, and include such treasures as the most extensive collection of Raphael drawings in the world, the earliest documented dinosaur fossils, and the most diverse grouping of plants within the smallest space in the world. The Museums and Garden are renowned as being of international importance yet are placed firmly in the heart of the local community. In 2009 the Oxford Museums and Botanic Garden were all awarded The Queen's Anniversary Prize, in recognition of their outstanding collections and high public benefit.

For more information please visit: http://www.museums.ox.ac.uk/ and http://www.ashmolean.org/education/skillsforthefuture/

Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum has been described as “unquestionably the finest university museum in the world” (The Times, October 29th, 2009). The Museum is a part of the Oxford University Museums Group and houses the University’s collections of art and archaeology together with objects and works owned by other private individuals and bodies and loaned to it. The collections themselves are of world significance. They range from archaeology to the fine and decorative arts of Europe and Asia and from coins to casts of classical sculpture. These are used for teaching and research purposes both within the University and in the

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worldwide academic and research communities. Above all, the Ashmolean is a great public Museum, open to all without charge.

The vision of the Ashmolean Museum is to be an open door to the excellence of Oxford, sparking in everyone a curiosity for the beauty, diversity and intellectual richness of our collections. As an essential step towards achieving this, the Museum completed its “Masterplan” redevelopment in November 2009. This delivered 39 new permanent galleries together with new temporary exhibition galleries, study and teaching facilities, conservation studios and significantly enhanced visitor facilities, including Oxford’s first roof-top restaurant. A new brand identity has also been established. The redevelopment has received huge critical and public acclaim, evidenced by the very significant number of visitors to the Museum since its reopening.

For more information please visit: http://www.ashmolean.org/

Overview of the role

The five organisations of the Oxford University Museums and Collections (OUMC) have been jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and led by the Ashmolean Museum, to deliver 18-month traineeships in museum and botanic garden education and outreach. This offers excellent opportunities to people who wish to work in the sector but would otherwise struggle to gain employment of this kind. These traineeships will expand the use of our collections and will help to create more heritage educators who will be integral to the UK heritage sector in the future.

Who is this programme aimed at?

This Heritage lottery Fund (HLF) Skills for the Future programme is aimed at people who currently experience a barrier to entry to work in this sector, and people from groups that are currently under-represented throughout this sector nationally, including people from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups and people with disabilities.

Barriers to entry to work in this sector may include lack of relevant experience or postgraduate qualifications, personal circumstances, financial reasons, redundancy or change in career and so on.

Applicants will be asked to describe how and why they wish to work in this particular sector and the barriers that they have faced in pursuing this aim.

Who is this programme not aimed at?

This programme has been designed to help people who lack significant experience or perhaps higher level qualifications to gain insight into the sector of museum and collections education and help to provide them with the foundations for future employment in the heritage education and outreach sector. It is not aimed at (but does not exclude) anyone who has extensive experience of working in the heritage education and outreach sector, or people with higher level qualifications relating to the museums or botanic gardens.

What are the outcomes from this programme?

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Trained Accredited Real experience to add to a CV New skills and knowledge

This programme is designed to be a springboard for those who reach the end of the programme and who then wish to develop a career in the Museum Education sector.

This programme does not provide any paid employment or job opportunities for trainees. Trainees will be encouraged to seek their own employment and career opportunities at the end of the programme.

Key activities:

During the 18-month long placements, trainees will benefit from learning about collections-based education and outreach, encompassing everything from fine art and archaeology to natural specimens and plants and trees. Trainees will also be trained on-the-job in order to gain valuable first-hand experience in the practical nature of education and outreach work.

The programme will address seven key areas of heritage learning: understanding how people learn understanding learning from objects skills and confidence to develop and deliver to a range of audiences the importance and value of evaluation understanding how museum learning relates to the wider context of

the museum profession working with volunteers museums, new media and web-based learning

Regular specialised training days will be held throughout the project to help trainees gain insight into these areas.

Responsibilities/duties

Applicants will need to be over the age of 18 and hold an undergraduate degree in any subject. Although this is a traineeship (not a job), applicants will need to demonstrate that they are eligible to work and study in the United Kingdom. During the selection process we will be looking for candidates who have the potential to become excellent heritage education officers, who can demonstrate a commitment to the programme, and who would particularly benefit from a traineeship of this kind.

Essential

Education – undergraduate degree level qualification If English is not your first language, you may be asked for proof of language capabil-

ity to an Undergraduate level (possibly certificate or written test given) Evidence of commitment to education in a museum and collections environment Interest in how people learn in a museum and collections environment Enthusiasm for learning through objects or the natural environment

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Able to demonstrate how you have faced a barrier when trying to gain employment in a museum or heritage environment

Excellent communication skills, especially written and verbal Demonstrable experience of working within a team Excellent interpersonal skills ICT literate (Word, PPT, Excel, web) Flexible, organised, independently motivated and reliable.

Desirable

Undergraduate Degree in heritage or learning related discipline Understanding of learning Experience of working with a range of ages and types of people Awareness of the school curricula Creative/innovative thinker

Person Specification:

Specification headings

Specification for this role Measured by:Application (A)Interview (I)Essential Desirable

Experience Evidence of commitment to education in a museum and collections environment

Experience of working with a range of ages and types of people

A, I

Able to demonstrate how you have faced a barrier when trying to gain employment in a museum or heritage environment

A, I

Experience of team work

A

Enthusiasm for learning through objects or the natural environment

A, I

Qualifications Undergraduate Degree level

Undergraduate De-gree in heritage or learning related discip-line

A

Skills ICT literate. Competent and comfortable using Microsoft Office or

A

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similar applications and the web.Excellent communication skills, especially ability to produce word processed reports

A, I

Excellent interpersonal skills

I

Knowledge Good written and spoken English

Understanding of learning

A, I

Personal qualities or dispositions

Interest in how people learn

Awareness of the school curricula

A, I

Flexible, organised, independently motivated and reliable.

Creative/innovative thinker

Constraints Occasional requirement to train or help at events in evenings and at weekends when necessaryWillingness to receive trainingWillingness to train and gain experience in a range of organisationsWillingness to visit other sites when necessary

Other factors Criminal Records Bureau check is a requirement of the post

How to applyPlease apply by sending a completed application form and a copy of your CV to:

Victoria McGuinness HLF Project Coordinator and Ashmolean Museum Project Manager

victoria.mcguinness@ashmus.ox.ac.uk

All applications must be received by 12 midday Friday 18 May 2012

Please note in normal circumstances, only interview travel expenses within the UK will be reimbursed.

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