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Museum of Brisbane will be closed on Christmas Day (25 December 2024), Boxing Day (26 December 2024), New Year’s Day (1 January 2025). To find out more about our visiting hours, click here.

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MoB Learn inspires curiosity and creativity for students of all ages with up-to-date curriculum-aligned excursions, incursions and tailored programs.

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Help share the many rich and diverse stories of Brisbane and provide inspiring creative experiences that are accessible for everyone.
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Exhibition Tour. Photo: Claudia Baxter.

Q&A: Nina Woodrow

More than a researcher and educator, Nina Woodrow’s (PhD) artistic flair inspires creative thinking and a yearning for learning. Museum of Brisbane is fortunate enough to have her on the team as a Learn Specialist. Drawing on a rich history of critical education, community arts and cultural development practice, Nina helps design MoB’s education programs. Her focus is on finding new and exciting ways to connect students with Brisbane’s histories, artists and contemporary cultures, and inspiring in our city’s children a desire for lifelong learning.

What is MoB Learn Assist?

MoB Learn Assist is a valuable initiative that works directly with schools and education providers to bring children, young people and educators from low socio-economic backgrounds to engaging and creative learning experiences outside the walls of their school. What Learn Assist does is create new opportunities for these groups to participate in the cultural life of our city.

How does MoB’s Learn Assist program benefit the children that participate?

MoB’s Learn Assist program links children and young people to others in their community, supporting them to develop a clearer sense of belonging and self-awareness. Research has shown that visits to cultural and civic institutions help to strengthen critical thinking, encourage confidence, empathy, creativity and establish social connections.

Without MoB Learn Assist, some of these schools couldn’t afford to offer their students these experiences as the costs for the buses and program are beyond their budget. MoB Learn Assist removes this financial barrier and introduces students from various backgrounds into the Museum.
Nina Woodrow. Photo: Atmosphere Photography.
What activities are the school and community groups engaged in while at Museum of Brisbane?

Housed in an art and social history museum, MoB’s Learn programs leverage the stories of our city filtered through the amazing talent of our local artists and curators to inspire the next generation of thinkers and creators.

MoB Learn Assist offers a wide range of educational opportunities inspired by the exhibitions, collections and also MoB’s sandstone home – the unique, heritage-listed City Hall building. We design workshops and tours that cater for students of all levels and link with their classroom learnings across humanities, social science, history, design, visual arts and First Nations cultural learning.

Since the program commenced in 2019, how many children has the program been able to reach and what has it been like watching it grow?
MoB Learn Assist has made it possible for more than 4,000 children and young people to visit the museum since 2019, most of which would never otherwise have had this opportunity. For many students, MoB Learn Assist has provided their first experience of a cultural institution, City Hall and sometimes even their first visit to Brisbane CBD itself. One student shared with us that they had never been across Victoria Bridge into the city before. The MoB Learn Team and Museum team at large has been heartened and humbled witnessing the visits of more and more children and young people who have delighted in the opportunity to explore, learn and participate in the cultural life of our city.
Brisbane City Hall Tour. 
Is there a selection criterion for MoB Learn Assist? What makes a school or community group eligible to participate?

To be eligible for MoB Learn Assist schools need to indicate a value of 1,000 or less on the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA). ICSEA allows for fair comparisons among schools by determining a level of educational advantage based on geographic and socioeconomic factors.

In 2021/22, for the first time, the program was also extended as an outreach experience in partnership with community organisations. The aim is to reach further, to work towards making as big an impact as possible on the educational lives of children and young people in Brisbane. So far, we have developed customised programs for groups of visitors supported by Smith Family (supporting educationally disadvantaged young people) and Little Dreamers (supporting young carers).

Can you share with us a memorable moment from working on this program or favourite piece of feedback?

Children and young people often express excitement and gratitude, talking about how novel this experience is for them and about wanting to share the experience with their family. There are other moments of silence where the look of wonder on the students’ faces is so moving and you just know this experience has allowed them to transcend the everyday and will be a lasting memory.

Educators have also told us how much they value the opportunity to bring children to the museum. A teacher from a secondary school catering for students with extra support needs told us: “Some of the kids now come here in their own time. They know it is a safe and interesting place”.
Photo: Claudia Baxter.
What does the Museum’s Learn team hope to achieve moving forward?

Our aspiration is to develop the MoB Learn Assist program and make it bigger and better, offering the life-changing potential of engagement in the arts to more of those who are currently missing out.

We have learnt through our work so far that there are many more teachers, education providers and community leaders who are actively looking for ways to support access to the arts for disadvantaged children and young people. With the right support from our community, we can engage these educators to enrich the lives of Brisbane’s next generation.
Photo: Claudia Baxter.

MoB Learn Assist relies on donor support to provide free education resources, tours, workshops, travel subsidies and teacher professional development for eligible schools.

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