| Description | Scope and content: policy and programme, 1972-1998; Audio-Visual, 1984-1987; lectures, 1950-1987; schools, 1991; performances, 1982-1983; poetry, 1984-1986; voluntary guides, 1975-1980; photographs, 1973-1988. |
| Administrative History | The history of educational events at Tate stretches back to 1914 when an official guide was appointed to conduct two parties a day and other groups by special appointment on a tour of the collection. The Gallery was closed from 1915 to 1920 but from 1921 a programme of official lectures was given by invited speakers. In 1920 Mr Edwin Fagg was appointed an official lecturer. Guided lectures were suspended in 1939 and not resumed until June 1951, with a part-time lecturer on the staff.
In 1967 a permanent full-time lecturer was appointed as the first step towards an education service; Education became a completely separate department in 1980. The permanent staff is supplemented by visiting lecturers and voluntary guides who are trained in the department. The Public Events section of Interpretation and Education deals with the adult events programme.
The purpose of the Education Department is primarily to draw the attention of the public to works of art in the Collections and to communicate excitement and interest in them; to enable a more complete response from the public; and to provide information that may enhance that response. The principal means used are lectures, tours and poetry readings in the galleries; lectures, films, video and other audio-visual programmes, symposia and discussions in the auditorium. Programmes of documentary and feature films that may be more distantly related to the collections are also shown. Introductory courses are given to teachers, enabling them to bring parties to the exhibitions. School parties are offered worksheets and guided visits to the gallery. The Department produces a variety of publications. Holiday events are organised for children and their parents. The training of a group of Gallery Guides was set up in 1976 in collaboration with the Friends of the Tate Gallery. These volunteers are recruited every few years and trained in art history and appreciation as well as the techniques of public communication. They provide a programme of tours for the public, students and children. The Department mounts occasional exhibitions for the visually handicapped and gives special consideration to other disabled visitors.
In 2000 the Tate Gallery Education department at Millbank was restructured in to a new Tate Britain department of Interpretation & Education, and a similar Interpretation & Education department was created at Tate Modern. At Tate Liverpool, Interpretation was embedded in the team in 2005. In 2007-2008 the education function across all Tate sites was renamed Tate Learning, reflecting wider audiences and signifying a shift in thinking and approach. From the end of 2012, the Learning Team at St Ives became part of a new Programme Team, bringing together exhibitions and displays curators with learning curators. |
| Custodial History | Most of the material relating to education stems from the Education Department itself. This has been supplemented by a few related files which pre-date the existence of an official education service at the Tate. |