Teaching through living history - An educational roleplay featuring life at an abbey in the 14th-15th century

Community archaeology is about people engaging with archaeology. This could be as participants in an archaeological excavation but also by interacting and creating meaning with material gained through archaeological research.
As an example of the latter, Museum Skanderborg is offering local community schools the possibility of participating in an educational roleplay in the excavated ruins of a monastery from the 15th century – Øm Abbey. As they dress up in the woollen dress of the Cistercian order and receive new names, they enter and experience a simulation of a part of medieval life.
This paper presents the experiences of a type of museum learning, a scenario based roleplay. The content of the play is laid out as inspiration to others, who might want to try this form of museum learning. The paper also discusses the learning premises of school classes visiting museums, when a schoolteacher cooperates with an external teacher.