DREAMING
MUSEUMS
Breaking down barriers and exploring local heritage with young people
Our stories, our heritage
George Dixon Academy
Birmingham, UK
Exploring our culture
Young people at George Dixon took part in a project called "One Area Through Time," funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project explored patterns of migration and immigration in one area of Birmingham, Balsall Heath. It also reflected, recorded, and celebrated the cultural differences among young people in the group. Participants undertook research on a topic of their choice. These included: food, music, dress, and language.
Age group: 12-14 years old
Methods used: Oral history interviews; digital storytelling.
Participants prepared a short report on an aspect of their culture they wanted to share. They brought in some significant objects as a focus of their stories. They each created a short presentation. For example: one of them researched her family roots. She was able to find out about her great uncle, who fought in the Vietnamese war.
The project helped her to reflect on the importance of understanding our own history, and the value of recording people’s memories and stories. You can see her film - and another of the films that the young people produced - by clicking here.
You can see team coordinator Henna Hussain talking about the young people's work on the project, in this video. There is a report by the group, in the PDF file.
.jpg)