The organisation’s purposes are:
1) the advancement of education. This is carried out through the provision of class and community learning opportunities, the provision of access to learning resources and the maintenance of a collection of educational artefacts, all in an appropriate environment, and also
2) the advancement of the arts, heritage and culture.
The History of Education Centre has been providing a valuable and enjoyable service for over 30 years now. Having been founded as a Charitable Trust at a time of great change within the education system back in the 1970s, it now holds an eclectic collection of educational artefacts and through these and its authentic Victorian schoolroom, it educates and delights those seeking to peep through a window into the past. Only by understanding and experiencing the past can one truly appreciate the present.
Whether it is turning the clock back for the older members of our community, so that they can remember and re-live some of the best days of their lives, or introducing the younger generation to the delights and horrors of education over the last two centuries, everyone who visits the schoolroom and museum, learns something new and benefits from it.
And all this is lovingly and carefully provided by a group of enthusiastic, fully vetted and trained volunteers, many of whom come from a teaching background, and one part-time administrator.
Since opening in our new-to-us, genuine Victorian premises in January 2023, we have received around 600 visitors,(up till May 2023) including delighted schoolchildren who have thrilled to the idea of the tawse, enjoyed trying their hand at writing with pen and ink and learned how life was lived at home without electricity - a far cry from their laptops, i-pads, mobile phones and televisions of nowadays. Seeing and experiencing how hard life was and how long it took to perform the simplest tasks, makes them appreciate how lucky they are now.
Teachers bring their classes to us regularly, returning year after year: whether they are studying “long ago” or the Victorians, a visit to the schoolroom and museum, where the children are able to experience it all for themselves and handle many of the exhibits, provides a sound basis for many aspects of the Curriculum for Excellence. The children are encouraged to compare and contrast for example the former segregation between boys and girls; or the bare walls of the old classroom where the only “decoration” was supplied by science or maths charts or maps of the British Empire; is it more ecologically sound to use a slate or paper; did the tawse succeed in curbing unruly behaviour or only make rebels out of frustrated children? They leave with many questions to ponder.
The old school furnishings and the enthusiasm of our volunteer role-play teachers and trustees, serve to create the necessary atmosphere for our children to enjoy and learn from their visits to us.
