Overview

This Standard is about devising a strategy for interpretation and learning in a creative or cultural organisation. Interpretation and learning strategies may involve identifying single or multiple events such as exhibitions, displays, performances, outreach activities, co-productions and use of multi-media systems or print materials. Events may be accessed in venues, outside spaces or online.

It includes reviewing current strategies, determining objectives, identifying and assessing viable possibilities for interpretation or learning, agreeing and recording strategies and evaluating them.

This standard is for anyone who is responsible for devising an interpretation and learning strategy in a creative or cultural organisation.

Performance criteria

You must be able to:

  1. review relevant information about the success of the organisation's current or past interpretation and learning strategies and those of competitor organisations
  2. determine new, or revise current, objectives when required to develop or improve strategies
  3. explore key themes or ideas relating to your area of work and identify viable possibilities for interpretation that will meet the needs and learning styles of the organisation's target audience
  4. assess the potential benefit for audiences, customers or visitors against the organisation's policies and objectives
  5. make sure strategies are inclusive of all audiences, customers or visitors in line with organisational diversity and inclusion policies
  6. use reliable information to identify the physical, intellectual and economic obstacles to, and the risks of strategies to the organisation
  7. use reliable information to identify the benefits of the strategies to the organisation and the opportunities for meeting customer, audience or visitor requirements
  8. consult with relevant people when developing ideas and evaluating strategies, ensuring others in the organisation contribute when required
  9. agree strategies with all relevant people at appropriate times
  10. record and disseminate strategies in line with organisational processes
  11. evaluate the organisation's ability to implement strategies within resource, staff time and budget constraints

Knowledge and understanding

You need to know and understand:                       

  1. the organisation's current strategy for interpretation, policies and objectives that impact on interpretation
  2. sources of information about whether past objectives have been met
  3. the possibilities for interpretation, different interpretative approaches, types of interpretative activities and the reasons for mixing them
  4. current national debates and the latest developments in interpretation thinking and practice and how to research them
  5. the potential problems encountered by users with mobility, hearing, sight impairment, autism spectrum disorder or specific learning difficulties
  6. the different strategies available to enable access to interpretation and learning for visitors with special needs
  7. how to generate new ideas
  8. how the cultural context can affect the interpretation strategy
  9. different learning styles and what they mean for interpretation and learning strategies
  10. how to assess information about, and identify the needs of, current and potential audiences, customers or visitors and their educational, leisure and study requirements
  11. who are the relevant people that need to be consulted
  12. the likely obstacles to the strategy
  13. the types of risks and benefits that need to be assessed
  14. the opportunities provided by the strategy
  15. how to gather, assess and evaluate information
  16. how to identify current and potential resources
  17. when you should use different types of evaluation