In Person Workshops

Every workshop includes pre-visit and post-visit activities and resources.

Our Learning Team is always on hand to discuss COVID considerations and to adapt our tours and workshops to suit your needs.

Alternatively, our Digital Workshops and Handling Boxes offer schools the opportunity to explore our collections without leaving the classroom.

If you don’t see anything to suit your class in the options below, get in touch with our team to discuss other options: learning@dltrust.uk.

We have space for your class to enjoy their packed lunch, plus LOADS of outdoor space and an awesome play park! Coach parking is available on site.

Agents of Empire? Christianity, Commerce and Critical Thinking

In this session for Third Level students, we explore and discuss the role of missionaries and explorers in Western expansionism and the colonial project.

Beginning with a brief introduction to David Livingstone’s story, the session will then invite students to analyse his letters and journal entries, considering Livingstone’s motives and his impact on communities in Africa. The session then uses object handling as a springboard for discussions around Victorian preconceptions about African culture and how these ideas may affect our own contemporary outlook.

We end with a zine making workshop – encouraging students to creatively respond to what they’ve learnt throughout the session.

By the end of the session, you will: Understand better the motives and impact of people like David Livingstone (missionary and explorer) in the historical context of Western European expansionism and the contemporary context of Global Inequality.

Curriculum Link

We develope a sense of my heritage and identity as a British, European or global citizen and can present arguments about the importance of respecting the heritage and identity of others.

  • SOC 4-02a We investigate a meeting of cultures in the past and can analyse the impact on the societies involved.
  • SOC 4-05c We asses the impact for those involved in a specific instance of the expansion of power and influence in the past.
  • SOC 4-06d We continued to experiment with a range of media and technologies, handling them with control and assurance to create images and objects. I can apply my understanding of the properties of media and of techniques to specific tasks. EXA 4-02a.

Audience: P5 – P7.

Duration: 90 minutes.

Costs: £4 per pupil for South Lanarkshire Schools. £5 per pupil for all other schools.

Onsite Workshop SOC 4-02a SOC 4-05c SOC 4-06d EXA 4-02a

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Industrial Revolution, the BIG Questions

In this session, we will explore the museum galleries, looking for answers to the BIG questions about the Industrial Revolution. What happened in the Industrial Revolution and why did it happen? Who was impacted and where did they live? How did new inventions and machinery make it all possible? And what impact has this had on the world we live in today?

Classes will be provided with worksheets to take around the museum and the tour will involve object handling, original source analysis and a role-playing activity.

By the end of the session, you will: Know more about the Industrial Revolution and how innovations in technology changed Scotland and the wider world. Know more about David Livingstone’s life and how it was shaped by the times he lived in. Be thinking about the connections between the industrial revolution in Britain and the expansion of the British Empire overseas.

Curriculum Link

  • SOC 2-03A I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events, or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.
  • SOC 2-04A I can compare and contrast a society in the past with my own and contribute to a discussion of the similarities and differences.
  • TECH 2-05A I can investigate how product design and development have been influenced by changing lifestyles.

Audience: Suitable for: P5-P7.

Duration: 90 Minutes.

Costs: £4 per pupil for South Lanarkshire Schools. £5 per pupil for all other schools.

Onsite Workshop SOC 2-03A SOC 2-04A TECH 2-05A

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Also See


We are very grateful to our key funders the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government for their support in helping us deliver the Birthplace Project.

National Lottery Heritage Fund
Scottish Government
Historic Environment Scotland
Note: Please note that David Livingstone Birthplace (and the David Livingstone Trust) is no longer part of National Trust Scotland (NTS). NTS members will therefore no longer receive discounted/free entry to the Birthplace Museum.

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