Wealth of Africa: 4000 years of money and trade
Lead Research Organisation:
British Museum
Department Name: Coins and Medals
Abstract
The Money in Africa project in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum is focusing on the history of money and trade in Africa, bringing together scholars from across disciplinary and national boundaries to, for the first time, produce a clear account of the state of knowledge in this important research area. Working with the Camden Black Parents and Teachers Association (CBPTA) we plan to use these research results and this new knowledge not only to further the academic study of the subject, but also to reach broader audiences through the creation of new educational resources and teacher support. This will mean that the important academic outcomes of the Money in Africa project extend beyond academe, and have an impact on cultural understanding and educational achievement within and beyond the Black community in Britain.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Catherine Eagleton (Principal Investigator) |
| Title | Illustrations of African history and civilisations commissioned from Tayo Fatunla |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Description | The objectives of this project centred around the identified educational needs of African-Caribbean communities in the UK. Two interlinked areas of work provided targeted educational resources, as well as online resources relating to money and trade in African history. The project Education Officer initially undertook an assessment of the existing resources available for teaching African history in supplementary schools and mainstream schools, and undertook some piloting of educational sessions with groups at the partner organization. Drawing on this, a set of educational resources were developed, aimed particularly at supporting the Key Stage 3 curriculum, but designed to be of use to a wider range of ages than that in some cases. The educational resources were launched by sending a poster/flyer sent to every secondary school in the UK in July 2010, and will be evaluated over the coming 12 months using a questionnaire completed by teachers and tutors who have downloaded or used them. Initial feedback from teachers has been very good. Running in parallel with this, and supporting and feeding into it, work by a Curator of African Money ensured the cataloguing and creation of digital images of the British Museum's collections of modern African currencies. Some of this information and these images then fed into the educational resources, and all of it has been made available through the British Museum's Collections Online website, enabling people around the world to access this important part of the museum's collections. The combination of targeted educational resources and work on the material available on the museum's website and in the Collections Online database, opens up this area of academic study to broader audiences, making the museum's collections, and the information that the museum holds about them, available to the widest possible public. At the same time, the British Museum has benefitted from its partnership with the CBPTA, and learned from them and others more about how it can better meet the needs of African-Caribbean communities in London and the UK, and this will feed into future planning of programmes and projects. |
| Exploitation Route | Development of new approaches to use money and monetary history to inspire learning in schools and after schools clubs. The project specifically worked with children, teachers and parents of African and Afro-Carribbean origins in London, but have wider application |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/resources/all_resources-1/wealth_of_africa.aspx |
| Description | 1. The objectives of this project centred around the identified educational needs of African-Caribbean communities in the UK. Two interlinked areas of work provided targeted educational resources, as well as online resources relating to money and trade in African history. A set of educational resources were developed, aimed particularly at supporting the Key Stage 3 curriculum, but designed to be of use to a wider range of ages than that in some cases. The educational resources were launched by sernding a poster/flyer sent to every secondary school in the UK in July 2010, and will be evaluated over the coming 12 months using a questionnaire completed by teachers and tutors who have downloaded or used them. See the resources at http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/resources/all_resources-1/wealth_of_africa.aspx New teaching resources 2. 7841 new records in the Britishy Museum's online collections database created or edited, of which 5811 have images. All records are available worldwide through the museum's Collections Online system. over 7000 new publically accessible records for Museum objects |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Title | 7841 records in the museum's collections database created or edited, of which 5811 have images |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Description | Impressions of Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Free exhibition of monetary history of Africa in last 100 years in Rm 69a of the British Museum - 1st April 2010 to 6th February 2011. Free small exhibition on the colonial and post colonial history of coins, bank notes and other forms of money in Africa. htt |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |