You want to spread your story far and wide, but how can you reach out to new audiences? A learning programme tailored to specific groups can be a great way to do this. It might be for children or young people, people with special needs or even just people who think history is boring. It’s your job to show them that it’s not!
The Nitty Gritty
Process phase
Share
Suggested time
An hour or two for one session - although you could run a much longer course over several days or months
People
Researcher/writer, teacher, assistant
Steps
01
Who are your learners?
Choose your audience group (link to:/buildingyouraudiences). Who do you want to work with and why? Do you have the resources to do this? Can you get them?
02
Be realistic
Think about the practicalities. What resources do you have? What expertise do you have or need? Can you get it? Do you have an appropriate space for your learning activities?
03
Learning outcomes
Do you want to give people a new skill or some new knowledge? Do you want to inspire creativity? Do you want to change attitudes or values? A combination of different learning outcomes works best. The Arts Council has a great guide on what makes good learning outcomes. (Link to – https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/measuring-outcomes/generic-learning-outcomes#section-1)
04
Spread the message
Think about marketing your activity. How will you reach your audiences? Are they more likely to see stuff online or do they respond better to posters and leaflets? Can your partners and contacts help promote your activity? Use social media – share posts, encourage people to retweet. If you are working with a school, church or other institution, encourage them to do the same.
05
On the day
Have a tick-list of all the material you need, and double-check you have everything before the class starts. Don’t forget the evaluation forms to hand out at the end of the session.
06
Feedback
How much did you enjoy your experience today? What did you learn? Some questions are good to do as ‘ratings’, others as comments. Keep your feedback form simple and direct. Do you want to know their age, gender or race? How necessary is this to your project? Gather together all the forms at the end, and collate them. Share them with the team – celebrate your successes and learn what to do differently next time.
