Archaeology in the Classroom – It’s About Time and Time in Transition
It’s About Time
It’s About Time is a collaboration between the Limerick Education Centre and the National Monuments Service. This programme is designed to help primary school children to understand about the lives of people in the past.
There are 12 modules including:
- Archaeology of the Classroom
- What Will Survive?
- Excavation-in-a-Box
- Stone Age Hunters
- Making Monuments
The modules sit within the Social Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) part of the current Irish curriculum and are available bilingually in hard copy or online, with links to interactive history-based games. See www.itsabouttime.ie for more information.
Time in Transition
Time in Transition is a resource pack mainly for Transition Year students. In this series there are three overarching themes.
- Theme 1: Worship and Commemoration covers a number of units including Worship, Monasticism, Pilgrimage, and Commemoration and Memorials.
- Theme 2: Lifestyle and Living covers Housing, Defence, Towns, and Lifestyle.
- Theme 3: Archaeology at Work looks at how archaeologists conduct research and describes the processes of archaeological excavation.
Time in Transition is used by teachers working with Transition Year co-ordinators. It is available in both Irish and English at www.cogg.ie/?s=seandalaíocht and www.itsabouttime.ie/transition-year.aspx.
Series of Articles in the Irish Examiner
In conjunction with the It’s About Time programme, a series of articles relating to the themes was written and published by the National Monuments Service in collaboration with the Irish Examiner. The articles within the series can be found here: http://www.itsabouttime.ie/Home/News/The-Irish-Examiner-to-publish-the-second-of-a-mont.aspx
The articles link back to the resource pack in a witty manner engaging the reader through comparisons with current life practices.
Third-Level Education
If you are interested in pursuing further study or a career in Irish archaeology, a number of third-level educational institutions in Ireland offer recognised undergraduate and postgraduate programmes that provide a comprehensive foundation in a wide range of aspects of Irish archaeology. These include: