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Alan Machin: Tourism As Education
Home page: blogs, introductions, links to main pages
 
 
Berlin: Editing a Townscape
... and reading a city that has had many rebuilders
 
 
Making Sense of The Travel Learning Experience- 1
1 Information Streams
 
 
Making Sense of the Travel Learning Experience - 2
Some basic theories
 
 
Back to Basics: Presentation given at the Cuba EduTourism Conference
The CETA Conference in Havana, Cuba, 8/9 November 2010
 
 
About the author
Comments - CV - photos
 
 
Showcases
At the heart of the tourist experience
 
 
Learning through Landscapes
Exploring Oxfordshire (and a bit of Gloucestershire!)
 
 
The Environment As Data: Building New Theories For Tourism
How tourists relate to places
 
 
Sail Gives Way to Steam
A return visit discovers just how much has been achieved in this iconic restoration
 
 
Richard III and the Battle of Bosworth Reenactment
Visits to Leicester and the battlefield event, 2013
 
 
Along The Way
Recollections and Reflections of 60+ Years' Learning about the World and its Ways
 
 
On the Edge of the New World
Shaping New England
 
 
Flatland
Exploring Holderness in East Yorkshire; October 2012
 
 
Past Historic
Graf Zepplin, Spain 1968, OS History, Much Wenlock Olympics, Chatham Dockyard, Hawes Tourism, Colonial Williamsburg,
 
 
A Summer of Travelling / Matthew Starr
Three months' backpacking in Africa, Asia and Australia
 
 
East Anglia
The Broads, Pensthorpe natural history, Radar Museum, Caister Lifeboat Service and more!
 
 
A Richer Earth
Discoveries in the landscape and attractions of Shropshire
 
 
Blog Index Page
Blog pages from 2009 listed
 
 
From Strip Map to Sat Nav
'Finding the way' aids to exploration
 
 
Showcasing the World
How the Tourist Microcosm took centre stage
 
 
Doing A Dissertation
Notes to help students preparing their proposals
 
 
The Japanese Tsunami Destruction at First Hand
Sarah and Tom Wadsworth saw for themselves
 
 
Showcases: Examples
The range and variety of tourism's focal points examined
 
 
Jigsaw: Frameworks of Knowledge
The tourist jigsaw puzzle of - knowledge
 
 
Bibliography
Books and other works useful in studying tourism as education
 
 
Tourism's Educational Origins: Part 2
The development of tourism as education, 1845 -
 
 
Tourism's Educational Origins: Part 1
Tourism's educational origins and management
 
 
Impressions of Tourism in Cuba
Thoughts on having seen some of the country myself
 
 
Captain James Cook: North Yorkshire Days
Tracing the early life of Britain's greatest maritime explorer
 
 
Hunting the Hound of the Baskervilles
Tracking down places that inspired the famous detective story and moulded Dartmoor's image
 
 
Exploring the Idea of Dark Tourism
What is it? Is it a useful idea?
 
 
Talking to Tourists
Visitor interpretation - guide books, visitor centres and other media
 
 
Shades of Light and Dark in the Garden of England
An exploration in East Sussex and Kent, June/July 2010
 
 
Hunting the Gladiator and the Gecko
A thirteen-year search for a wartime adventure
 
 
Steam Up For A Famous Film's Birthday Party
The Railway Children weekend on the Worth Valley line raises questions about heritage presentations
 
 
Anne-Marie Rhodes: Making a Difference in South East Asia
Leeds Met graduate of '07 describes her activities
 
 
Discoveries in Northumberland, April 2010
Alnwick Gardens; Winter's Gibbet; Holy Island, Cragside, Wallington Hall
 
 
Discoveries in the Midlands, March 2010
Bletchley Park National Codes and Cipher Centre; and the Rollright Stones
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - April 2010
The development of tourism as education continued
 
 
Jigsaw Puzzle!
The Adventure of the Timely Tourist
 
 
Leaders Into The Field
People who inspired everyone to explore
 
 
Alan Machin's blogs - February and March 2010
Postings on the history tourism as education - redirection
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - January 2010
Tourist photography and souvenirs
 
 
Earlier front-page blog postings - January 2010 onwards
Archived after being on the Home Page
 
 
Bickering
News from higher education and - beyond
 
 
The Development of Educational Tourism
Key dates in the development of educational tourism
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - December 2009
Christmas Quiz and other postings
 
 
Analysing Heritage Tourism
Ideas and perspectives on a hugely important sector
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - November 2009
Visitors' Views of Stonehenge, West Sussex - and other Postings
 
 
Are Universities Losing Their Way?
Reflections having retired
 
 
Teaching Tourism At Leeds Met
Remembering the Best
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - October 2009
Thoughts about university life and discovery by travel
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - September 2009
Further postings about a trip last month to the USA, and about higher education
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - August 2009
Postings about a trip this month to the USA
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - July 2009
The Story So Far reaches the summer
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - June 2009
The Story So Far looks back on seventeen years at Leeds Met
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - May 2009
Another month of The Story So Far
 
 
Alan Machin's blog - April 2009
Yet more of the Story So Far
 
 
Alan Machin's blog - March 2009
More of The Story So Far
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - February 2009
The Story So Far - pioneers, people and places
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog: January 2009
The Story So Far .... first postings of '09
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog: December 2008
The Story So Far .... latest postings
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog - November '08
The Story So Far.... continued
 
 
Alan Machin's Blog: October 2008
The Story So Far....
 
 
No Place Like Rome
The eternal city with the eternal tourists
 
 
Charleston, South Carolina
A photo essay about a fine historic city
 
 
Idealog - December 2007
Ideas, notes and comments
 
 
Idealog - November 2007
Ideas, notes and comments
 
 
The Educational Origins of Tourism
Discussion paper
 
 
Idealog - October 2007
Coton Military Cemetery; Education and Tourism; Chatham Maritime; Dickens World; Quiz Answers; Tourist Guides; Mediation In Tourism
 
 
Idealog - September 2007
Plane Paradox;Tour Guiding; Where in the World?; Do Tourism Students Know Where They Are?; Leeds Met's Wow!; Sea Harrier; Scarborough and Tourism As Education; Doing A Dissertation; Types of Tourist; A Media Lens; Cost of Travelling Alone; Risk of Bias?
 
 
Idealog - August 2007
A People Industry; Heritage Interpretation; Lud's Church; Tourists Go Home!; Stone Gappe YHA; Insight Guides; Eyewitness Guides; Bramhope Tunnel; Elizabethan Progress; Information Quality Matrix
 
 
Idealog - July 2007
Hidden Heroes, Health Tourism, Holme Fen Posts; Harrogate (again); Whitby Abbey; Dramatic Interpretation; Harrogate Interpretation, Attractions and Royal Hall
 
 
Idealog - June 2007
Christian Pilgrimage; Cincinnati Museums Centre; The Coming of the Guide Book; Talking to Tourists - Media, Stages of the Visit, The Service Journey; Tourism's Missing Link; The Final Call; SATuration level; Halifax's Edwardian Window on the World
 
 
Idealog - May 2007
Martin and Osa Johnson, Wensleydale Creamery, Malham Tarn, Thomas Cook, Northern Ireland's Tourism Rebuild, Jamestown Festival Park, Cite des Sciences
 
 
Idealog - April 2007
The Promenade Plantee, The Jardin des Plantes, Environmental Data, Victorian Beauty Spot Rediscovered, Jamestown, The Anglers' Country Park, Children's Museums, Fairburn Ings
 
 
Idealog - March 2007
A Sense of the Past- The 'Amsterdam', The Outdoor Classroom, Film-Induced Tourism, Making Tracks for the Coast and Country, Pictures, Context and Meaning, Classics-on-Sea, Hi Hi Everyone!, Dark Side of the Dream, Holodyne - The Action Cycle
 
 
Idealog - February 2007
Don't Go There!, Space Tourism, The Crystal Cathedral, New Books on Tourism, Dark Tourism - Undercliffe Cemetery, Showcase - The Louvre, A Class Act, First Impressions Count, Postal Pleasures, Canaletto in Venice, Serpent Mound, Capsule Culture etc
 
 
Idealog - January 2007
Capsule Culture,Seaside Style, Poble Espanyol, Mallorca, Edgar Dale, Children's Holiday Homes, Representations of Reality, Outdoor Education in Germany, Baedeker Guides, Geography Textbooks, Environmental Data Theory etc
 
 
Idealog - December 2006
Writers on Landscape, Story Books, The Deep, Flour Power and the Archers,Showcases: Grand Tour, Halifax Piece Hall, Books of Concern about Tourism, Tourist Traces, Tourist Typologies, The Growth of Educational Tourism, The Field Studies Council, etc
 
 
Idealog - November 2006
A blog of ideas, comments and notes
 
 
Travel To Understand: Belfast
Telling the stories of troubled times
 
 
World Quiz 2010
Geography with a tourism angle
 
 
The Monterey Bay Aquarium
An outstanding educational facility in California
 
 
Chicago: Tourism Re-Imaging
A closer view of an iconic city
 
 
Colonial Williamsburg
A Virginia history showcase
 
 
A Social Club Outing By Train, 1935
How to do Scotland in 30 hours flat
 
 
Going Dutch
Presenting the past in the Netherlands
 
 
Keukenhof: Business is Blooming
Using tourism to promote an industry
 
 
A View of Italy for the City
Trentham Gardens Revived
 
 
A Case Study in Heritage Management
A curious tale of misleading publicity
 
 
Old Rice Farm
The story of the house in the 'holler'
 
 
Perfection in Paradise: The Eden Project
New page being added: The Eden Project's design for success
 
 
Escaping From Slavery: Facing Our Past
The US National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
 
 
Prague Tourist Shows
Outstanding showcase attractions in the city
 
 
Retracing the Steps: Tourism as Education
ATLAS Conference paper given in Finland, 2000
 
 
Tourism and Historic Towns: The Cultural Key
A background paper for a Council of Europe Conference
 
 
The Social Helix
Visitor Interpretation as a Tool for Social Development, 1989
 
 
Malta Residential, 14-21 Feb 2006 - Page 1
Reports and Pictures
 
 
Malta Residential, 14-21 Feb 2006 - Page 2
Photos and reports of Friday 17 Feb onwards
 
 
Malta Residential, 14-21 February 2006 - Page 3
Reports and pictures from Sunday, 19 February onwards
 
 
Tourism Alumni Reunion, 8 March 2003
Leeds tourism students reunion 2003
 
 
World Geography Quiz 1
A test of your knowledge
 
 
The Adventure of the Timely Tourist
The answers
 
 
Tall Ships Race 2010 Converged on Hartlepool
A major event-based boost for tourism in the town
 
 
Plymouth: From the Tamar to the Sea
Starting point for explorations round the globe
 
 
Plimoth Plantation
A reconstruction of the Mayflower settlers' village of the 1620s on the north east coast of North America
 
 
World Geography Quiz 2010 - Answers
Geography with a tourism angle
 
 
World Geography Quiz - Answers
 
 
Christmas Quiz 2009 - Answers
 
 
Oxford
A day in the city including the Botanic Garden
 
 
Tourist Showcases
Examples from around the world
 
 

Idealog - November 2006

Header

Early postings on this page appeared previously on www.westwood232.blogspot.com
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Eden Project visitors

Returning Confidence to Outdoor Education

29.11.06

(Above: the Eden Project attracted 1.1m visitors in 2005, many of them on school excursions. The Eden Project is one of the partners in the Outdoor Manifesto initiative.)

The UK Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, has announced help to encourage more field trips by schools. This week he launched a £2.7m fund that is available to help increase the use of teaching out of the classroom. A new council will examine problems of safety on visits and how these affect teachers' responsibilities. In recent years court sentences have been passed on teachers deemed to have been at fault when acidents, sometimes fatal, have occurred, such as by a pupil drowning.

"Learning outside the classroom should be at the heart of every school's curriculum and ethos," Johnson said. "Children can gain valuable learning experience from going on cultural visits overseas, to teachers simply using their school grounds imaginatively. Educational visits and out-of-school teaching can bring learning to life by deepening young people's understanding of the environment, history and culture and improving their personal development"

The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers currently has a policy which attempts to dissuade its members running field trips.

Mr Johnson was launching the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto at the Natural History Museum. He plans to urge schools to use the wealth of educational opportunities on their doorsteps and further afield, to inspire and motivate pupils.

The Government claimed it is the first time a a government has committed itself to making learning outside the classroom an integral part of school life, with the Manifesto being used to set out specific measures to help schools widen access to quality educational experiences.

The Manifesto is a growing coalition of over 100 education providers and local authorities who support schools in providing a wide range of experiences ranging from lessons in school grounds to visits to museums, city farms, parks, field study centres, nature reserves, residential activity centres and places of worship. Those signed up so far include the RSPB, The Eden Project, The Natural History Museum, The National Trust, Outward Bound Trust, Youth Hostel Association and the Arts Council.
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Tourism and Knowing Belfast

See also "Travel to Understand - Belfast" in the panel to the left

Loyalist political mural, Belfast

And the Other Side of the Story

28.11.06

Across the high wall-and-fence of the 'peace line' in this part of Belfast are the Loyalist murals. They tell of the Protestant cause amongst the people who came here under English encouragement, many from Scotland, to found a community loyal to the English Crown. Many of the industrialists who created the city's wealth and manufacturing power were also from 'across the water', from John Bull's bigger island. A deeply-ingrained set of traditions separated them from the Roman Catholics who also lived in the north, one which at its worst was coloured with a hatred far removed from the Christian philosophy which both were supposed to share. Unfair political strategies increased the divide as people strove to defend their own ways of life from others that they feared. The Protestant, Loyalist community felt pressured by a growing Roman Catholic, Republican community. In some of the most neglected and often exploited, run-down areas of the city these feelings turned to violence on both sides, the one helping create and to define the other.

The story goes that in resent years the Nationalist/Republican communities were first to realise the value of tourists visiting their memorials and political murals. The Loyalist/United Kingdom communities were less enthusiastic until they saw the success of the opposing faction in spreading its message by word of mouth and pictorial souvenir. Now, tourism is accepted by them as an effective channel of communication, too.
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Bobby Sands - political mural

The Art of Polemical Tourism

27.11.06

Works of art on walls are a Northern Ireland speciality. There must be a lot of effort and feeling put in to the creation of murals like these. They don't cost much and they get to their intended audiences travelling round the streets. And they satisfy a traditional urge to take the revolution on to the streets - literally. Each one has a tinge of the romantic, not in the sense of lovers walking into the sunset but of activists storming the barricades. Bobby Sands was a revered nationalist martyr who starved himself to death in jail in the cause of Republicanism. He was proposed for parliament and elected as an MP within his final days, a symbolic act as he would never have taken up his seat.

This mural is painted on the end wall of the Sinn Fein Party HQ in Belfast - the nationalist, Republican movement's offices. As I took this photo a BBC Northern Ireland news crew was filming the mural as part of a report on a forthcoming Sinn Fein press release. For tourists now once more arriving in Belfast and photographing this mural, there could almost be the postcard caption added - "Wish You Were Here" - and the political message spreads around the globe via this wall, that TV report, those holiday snaps - and the world wide web.
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Black Cab Tour - in a red taxi

Black Cab Tour - In A Red Taxi

25.11.06

Hiring your own driver for a couple of hours is more expensive than the usual sort of coach tour. It's worth it if you can. Billy Scott drove Victoria and me round the city and fed us a stream of detailed knowledge of its history and culture. These cabs get round the traffic and have plenty of comfortable space inside. First we 'did' the docklands, then the housing estates with their political murals and memorials.
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McCusker's Pub at the Ulster Folk Museum

Museum Street Scene

24.11.06

McCusker's Pub was not moved lock, stock and beer barrel but newly created for the Museum, based on one which once stood in Armagh, owned by a Hugh McCusker. It was recalled by an elderly former customer who said there was an exclusively male clientele who often paid 'on the slate', settling debts on pay day. The building forms part of one of the Museum's streets. These are slowly, but surely, growing into a representative townscape of life as it used to be in Northern Ireland.
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Ulster Folk and Transport Museum - print shop

Good Impressions

19.11.06

The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra was established in 1958. The large hillside park contains several exhibition and service buildings and around 50 historic buildings moved from places within the province. Some are well spaced within fields to represent rural communities and others grouped to make the nucleus of a 'town'.

Baird's Print Shop is within one such building, which also contains a newspaper room and a library that came from Andrews Mill in Comber, County Down. The collection of books had been provided for the workers and for any other townspeople who wished to use it.

The print shop has a number of small presses, including the Columbian shown here. Operating with movements like those of an ancient wine press, the hand-powered Columbian employed three men to position, ink and "pull" impressions on paper laid flat on the assembled metal type. To an audience often more used to computer inkjet printers, the demonstrations might appear to show a totally alien world, but of course it was the printed paper like this that spread knowledge and ideas across the land. The historic changes shown in the museum could only come about through the agency of this communications powerhouse.
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Ulster's last weaver at work

Traditional and Distinctive History

17.11.06

John McAtasney is the last handlook weaver in Northern Ireland. At the Ulster Folk Museum he can be found at certain times demonstrating damask weaving, making table napkins. He describes to visitors the intricate craft of the weaver and tells of his own, long commitment to the work over several decades.

John works in one of the museum's Open Air buildings which are now part of a growing, reconstructed 'town' which represents Ulster in days gone by. Besides the weaver's workshop there are a printer's shop and a woodworking shop, but elsewhere in the town can be found a police barracks and exhibition about the often dangerous and sometimes divisive life of Northern Ireland's police forces. The story of Ulster is complex and highly charged emotionally. Understanding it is just one way to redress the wrongs of the past and to restore the respect the province deserves.
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Thompson Dock, Belfast

A Fitting Start

The Titanic was launched from No 3 Slipway at the Harland and Wolff Yard and then fitted out in the Thompson Dock. The slips are only visible through chain-link fences at present, but a handy stairway into a neighbouring building allows a better view of the dry dock. In time the area will be conserved in order to help visitors understand the setting of the construction sites which also produced the Olympic and Brittanic liners.
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Titanic tours

Titanic Tours

16.11.06

Belfast might have been more known for the sectarian troubles between the late 1960s and '90s, but as the home of the Titanic and a lot more besides it has other histories to offer. The slipway and dry dock where the ship was built and completed are easy to see though not to inspect close up. That will probably change as new developments alongside the River Laggan and Belfast Lough take shape. "It was perfectly all right when it left here" said our taxi driver on a Black Cab Tour, reminding us with dry humour that it was an English captain and a Canadian iceberg that did the damage, not poor quality workmanship. Troubles and titans depend on media reporting as part of the process that creates them. Going to see for yourself helps dispel the limited perceptions built by reliance on the media alone, and in the case of this fine city bring home the fact that these days Northern Ireland's future is looking far more positive.
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At the Crown Liquor Saloon

Blogs About Belfast

04.11.06

A recent flying visit to Belfast produced a remarkable tour of parts of the city from the Crown Liquor Saloon shown here, via the slipways where the RMS Titanic was built to the political murals on housing estates and finally the Ulster Folk Museum. Given that a few hours as a tourist is not an in-depth understanding of a complex city, the change in the atmosphere since my last visit in 1987 was remarkable. More pix and prose on the way. Picture: Victoria and Jay lunching.
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