Perceptions of archaeology amongst primary school aged children, Adelaide, South Australia

Keeping CRM Archaeology Relevant: Presenting an Archaeology of Children and Childhood in the Past

“…Such programs can emphasize both learning from the past and caring for heritage (Henson 2004). Using archaeology in the classroom has a multitude of benefits: students learn practical and critical thinking skills (Cooper 2003), and must employ a multi-disciplinary perspective (Smith 1998a), using mathematical and scientific methodologies, while gaining communication and problemsolving skills (Owen and Steele 2005). Students also understand multi-cultural perspectives, and engage in cooperative learning (Gardner 1997;Smith 1998a).…”

“…Students also understand multi-cultural perspectives, and engage in cooperative learning (Gardner 1997;Smith 1998a). Furthermore, archaeology programs for school-aged children have been applied successfully in a variety of places including Australia (Nichols et al 2005;Owen and Steele 2005), India (Pappu 2000), Iceland (Jóhannesdóttir 2009), the United Kingdom (Henson 2004), Canada (Doroszenko 2007;Lea and Frost 2011), and the United States (Black 2001;Chisholm et al 2007;Geiger 2004).…”

“…Scholars have noted that understandings of archaeology vary widely among school-aged children, particularly in regard to the time periods that archaeologists work within (Black 2001;Owen and Steele 2005). Confusion exists with regard to the differences between the work of the archaeologist, historian, and paleontologist.…”

Hearts and minds: Public archaeology and the Queensland school curriculum

“…Similarly, surveys of archaeology undergraduate students in Sydney (Colley 2005) demonstrate that although school may be a significant context in which some people develop a general interest in archaeology, such interest is predominantly based on Old World and classical themes together with various romantic images of archaeology as adventure and discovery in 'exotic' overseas locations. Owen and Steele (2005) show that perceptions of archaeology amongst primary school children in Adelaide reflect a number of 'common erroneous beliefs', most notably a strong association of archaeology with dinosaurs. Taken together, these findings suggest that Australian archaeology does not feature prominently in the mainstream learning activities of our primary and secondary schools.…”

“…Nonetheless, there is strong anecdotal evidence that teachers are keen to incorporate Australian archaeological experiences into their teaching plans when the opportunity arises and many Australian archaeologists actively seek to include school students in their public outreach activities (e.g. Owen and Steele 2005).…”