Changing the way History is studied in schools

A project led by the University of Chester (@uochester) and the University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) could change the way History is studied in schools by giving pupils the chance to get up close to original artefacts in the classroom.

Academics from the Universities, in partnership with the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, trainee teachers and teachers, have designed Object Boxes with medieval and early modern artefacts to be loaned with teaching resources to primary and secondary schools.

The development of the Object Boxes builds on workshops bringing artefacts into lessons, for pupils to handle, discuss and produce work on, in previous years, and which provided underpinning research.

The collaborative work has also led to the launch of a new short film which explains to primary and secondary teachers how these objects can be used in schools and the benefits of handling them in the study of History.

The initiative is part of the ‘Mobility of Objects Across Boundaries 1000-1700 (MOB): Exhibiting, Handling and Teaching the Past through Everyday Objects’ project which aims to bring historical artefacts to life, challenge perceptions of the medieval and early modern worlds as static and unchanging, and elite narratives of history by focusing on everyday objects.