Third year Geography students visit museums

Third year Geography students recently visited the Museum of Childhood and the National Portrait Gallery as part of their studies.

Outside the Museum of Childhood

Playing with the toys at the Museum of Childhood

The students were exploring how ideas of childhood have varied over time.

Outside the National Portrait Gallery

Third year Geography students learn about the history of childhood

Third year students taking the 'Children's Geographies' module visited London this week.

Students have been learning in class about how concepts and experiences of childhood have changed over time.  To gain a greater understanding, the class visited the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

The class outside the V&A Museum of Childhood

The class considered the artifacts on display in the museum, and also spent some time playing with the toys!

The class also visited the National Portrait Gallery to consider how depictions of children have changed over time.  The gallery provides an opportunity to look at portraits from the Tudor period to the present day.

Third year Geography students visit London

Third year Geography students visited London last week as part of their 'Children's Geographies' module.

At the V&A Museum of Childhood

Our first stop was the V&A Museum of Childhood. We looked at how clothing and toys have changed over time.  There were plenty of toys to play with (Henry was a little too big for the rocking horse!), and it was interesting to see how toys from our own childhoods brought back memories and emotions.

After a lunch break in Trafalgar Square, we visited the National Portrait Gallery

After a lunch break we went to the National Portrait Gallery.  We explored how children were represented in portraits, and how this had changed over time.  You can take a look at these portraits here.

Learning about the social construction of childhood

Third year Geography students recently spent a day in London, looking at the social construction of childhood.

Getting ready for the trip

Meeting at Northampton train station - an early start to the day

The students - all of whom are studying GEO3007 Children's Geographies - visited the Museum of Childhood and the National Portrait Gallery.

At the Museum of Childhood they looked at how experiences of childhood have varied over time.  There were also opportunities for us to critically reflect on our own childhood experiences - and to play with some toys!

Learning about how childhood has changed over time

Learning about the development of board games (or auditioning for a role as a game show host?)

Trying out some of the games

After a lunch break near Trafalgar Square, the group visited the National Portrait Gallery.  This provided opportunities to critically reflect on representations of childhood - and to consider how these have changed over time.

Taking a break to explore some of the National Portrait Gallery's collections online

A bit tired after a busy day!

Geographers visit London

Geography students have been doing lots of fieldwork activities over the past few weeks - fieldwork is a great way to apply what we have learned in the classroom to real-world environments.

Last week five groups of students visited London to explore a range of geographical issues.

The obligatory group photo at the start of the day!

First year students took part in an activity using Twitter, which required them to develop field observation skills and write concisely.

Recording field observations via Twitter

Groups comparing their observations using Twitter

Some second year students visited the Natural History Museum to enhance their geological knowledge, whilst others explored transport geography using different sorts of travel modes.

Taking a well-earned rest after a busy day of fieldwork

There were a few opportunities to see the sights

Third year students studying water resource management learned about cholera, sewers and London's hidden rivers...

A little bit of mudlarking!

Third year students on the Children's Geographies module visited the Victoria & Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. They looked at paintings and sculptures to explore how representations of childhood have varied over time.

Some third year students outside the Victoria & Albert Museum