Major boost to museum skills training in Glasgow
Glasgow is benefitting from new funding awarded to a collaborative partnership in the city to develop vocational skills within its museums.
The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Museums have been each awarded grants from Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) Vocational Pathways Fund.
The fund aims to address the need for good quality, affordable vocational training in Scotland’s museums, opening up new routes of entry and more diverse career paths within the sector.
The one-off round of funding, provided by the Scottish Government, will allow the development of a range of early and mid-career level Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) rated courses that will support the Scottish museums and heritage sector, resulting in a better-qualified, more diverse workforce.
As a collaborative partnership, The Hunterian, Glasgow Museums and the City of Glasgow College will work together to consult employers, colleges and university partners to review current uncredited training and development activity to develop the new SCQF-rated courses. City of Glasgow College will initiate and chair a Scottish Qualifications Authority Qualifications Design Team. Glasgow Museums will also deliver an Employability Programme at the Burrell Collection.
A major legacy project from this activity is the Academy for Cultural Heritage Skills (ACHS), a core part of the redevelopment of Kelvin Hall in Glasgow and a partnership between training providers and the museums and heritage sector.
The Academy for Cultural Heritage Skills will provide a framework of accredited professional skills and learning sets, from entry to executive level, supporting the Scottish museums and heritage workforce to develop their careers and to bring resilience, entrepreneurship and leadership to their organisations and the sector.
The MGS funding will allow the partners to work together towards the common goal of enhancing the experience of visitors long into the future, diversifying the sector workforce and addressing skills gaps to ensure a thriving museums sector in Scotland in years to come.
Steph Scholten, Director of The Hunterian, said:
“Learning is at the heart of what we do at the University of Glasgow and The Hunterian. It is an exciting prospect to contribute to the development of the current and future workforce in the Scottish museum sector.”
Duncan Dornan, Head of Museums and Collections at Glasgow Life, said:
“This support will help us achieve our ambition of having a museums’ service which more accurately reflects the communities we serve. There are many ways in which people join our team and it’s crucial that we open that up to as many people as possible, increasing social mobility and opportunity for all.”
Paul Little, Principal and Chief Executive at City of Glasgow College, said:
“I am delighted that City of Glasgow College has been selected to support the inspiring staff development work that the Museums and Galleries sector in Scotland is undertaking. The importance of the sector in the country's economy cannot be understated. Our innovative role, developing a range of early and mid-career level courses, will help address existing skills gaps and ensure a thriving museums sector in years to come.”
Notes for Editors
University of Glasgow/Employee development options (mid-career) / £19,500
The Hunterian, in partnership with the City of Glasgow College, will be exploring the development of mid-career level Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) rated courses. They will run consultation events to establish what the courses should look like, seeking to create a tailored qualification to improve the performance, viability and service quality of the museums sector during a period of change when skills gaps are becoming apparent.
Glasgow Life, Glasgow Museums/Employee development options (entry-level) and employability programme / £19,928
Glasgow Museums, in partnership with the City of Glasgow College, will be exploring the development of an entry level Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) rated course. The creation of the new entry level qualification will allow Glasgow Museums to address skills gaps, diversity and ensure they are able to harness innovation that can be exchanged between employers for the good of the entire sector. Implementation of this vocational training will ensure a more capable museum team and improve the visitor experience.
The Hunterian
The Hunterian is one of the world's leading University museums and one of Scotland’s greatest cultural assets. Built on Dr William Hunter’s founding bequest, The Hunterian collections include scientific instruments used by James Watt, Joseph Lister and Lord Kelvin; outstanding Roman artefacts from the Antonine Wall; major natural and life sciences holdings; Hunter’s own extensive anatomical teaching collection; one of the world’s greatest numismatic collections and impressive ethnographic objects from Captain Cook’s Pacific voyages.
The Hunterian is also home to one of the most distinguished public art collections in Scotland and features the world’s largest permanent display of the work of James McNeill Whistler, the largest single holding of the work of Scottish artist, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928) and The Mackintosh House, the reassembled interiors from his Glasgow home. www.glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian
City of Glasgow College
City of Glasgow College is Scotland’s largest technical and professional college which, since merger, has transformed the delivery of college education in terms of physical estate, performance levels and reach. Its twin site super campus provides technologically advanced, industry standard facilities that complement an open and inspiring learning and teaching environment.
The college sets a high priority in providing industry-relevant learning experiences for its students and corporate clients. Its learning and teaching strategy (CityLearning 4.0) acknowledges the dynamic nature of employment markets and the need for its students to be able to compete on the basis of relevant, flexible, workplace skills.
Kelvin Hall
Kelvin Hall is the Glasgow landmark building transformed by a partnership between the University of Glasgow, city of Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland. A world first, Kelvin Hall brings the institutions together in one building, in a unique co-location of culture and sport.
The unique partnership between Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, the University of Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland has transformed the historic Glasgow building into an exciting centre of cultural excellence providing collections’ storage, teaching and research, alongside a state-of-the-art Glasgow Club health and fitness centre.
First published: 14 May 2018