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The Journal of Museum Education is the premier publication promoting and reporting on theory, training, and practice in the museum education field. Journal articles, written by museum, education, and research professionals, explore such relevant topics as learning theory; visitor evaluation; teaching strategies for art, science, and history museums; and the responsibilities of museums as public institutions. Published three times a year. ISSN 1059-8650 The Journal of Museum Education began publishing in 1973 as Roundtable Reports. Since 1985, MER has published the journal as Journal of Museum Education. MER members receive the Journal as a benefit of membership. Adult Learning in Museums From the Guest Editor Nonformal and Informal Adult Learning in Museums: A Literature Review Museum Education: A Nonformal Education Perspective New Directions in Adult Education Self-Directed Learning: Implications for Museums
Rethinking Museums’ Adult Education for K-12 Teachers Out on the Floor: Experiential Learning and the Implications for the Preparation of Docents From the Editor Place-Based Education and the Museum From the Guest Editors Dynamic Museum Place: Exploring the Muld-Dimensional Museum Envirorunent An Interview with Artist Fred Wilson The Barnes Foundation: A Place for Teaching Our Place in History. Inspiring Place-Based Social History in Schools and Communities Myth Making and the Power of Place in the Middle School At the Heart of It: Museums and Place-Based Study in Rural Communities Folkpattems: A Place-Basect Youth Cultural Heritage Education Program Eco-Visualization: Promoting Environmental Stewardship in the Museum Geo-Caching: Place-Based Discovery of Virginia State Parks and Museums Howard A Sense of Place in Museum Public Programming: Three Case Studies This Is the Right Place: Community-Based Art Education at Utah's Springville Museum of Art From the Editor MUSEUMS AND RELEVANCY Relevancy has reentered the national discourse among museum colleagues, triggering discussions about whether or not museums can demonstrate their public value, and whether or not museums are viable players in building healthier communities. Relevancy, while a topic of discussion over the past century, initiated in large part by John Cotton Dana’s seminal work in the early 1900s, is now being discussed anew and with a backdrop significantly different than a hundred years ago. This current discourse is causing us to ask new questions, rethink our approaches to our work, and challenge the worth of museums in today’s complex world. Obviously, what is relevant is open to broad interpretation and diverse opinions, but it is clear that determining what is relevant cannot be defined and shaped through internal discussions and decision-making. Museums need to engage their respective communities and publics on an ongoing basis, and to listen and learn about the issues impacting them and the challenges they need help resolving. When a community is decidedly improved as a result of its partnership with a museum, this is perhaps one of the most compelling examples of museums being relevant and engaging in meaningful practices. Community Collaboration: A New Conversation Museums and Funders Embracing New Constituencies Are Museum Educators Still Necessary? Measuring Museum Meaning: A Critical Assessment Framework Exhibiting Tragedy: Museums and the Representation of September 11 The Power of Storytelling: An Interview with Mari-Louise Olsson, the Head of the Museum of Mölndal
The field trip—an emblematic program for many museum education departments—remains a staple for school audiences. As each museum defines the characteristics of its own field trip experience, innovations emerge as models or paradigms to which other museums turn to inform their own programs. Over the past 25 years, educators have made tremendous strides to transform the face of the museum to meet the range of interests, motivations, and learning styles of diverse audiences. Our ability to engage school groups has been shaped by a broader understanding of learning, from Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences to John Falk and Lynn Dierking’s model of free-choice learning. If we embrace learning as a dynamic process, not limited to an isolated experience, why do we approach a single field trip as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime event, packed full of logistical details and multiple expectations from a range of stockholders? This issue of the Journal of Museum Education explores how some educators are questioning their own field trip practices and considering the possibilities for change. A Thing of Lasting Beauty: The Evolution of the Japanese American National Museum’s School Programs If You Build It: Revitalizing the Standard Art Museum Visit through Collaborative Design Building Capacity: Re-envisioning Field Trips at the Chicago Architecture Foundation Exhibit Development with Schools in Mind Transforming Mysteries into Histories: Evolutionary Currents in the Field Trip Experience
“A facility that fosters creativity . . . is a place that allows people to discover, develop, and exploit their own natural intelligences. It’s a place where there are no stupid questions, and it is not a place where there is only one right answer. It’s a place that values irreverence, the lively, the dynamic, the surprising, the playful. And it is a place that values, above all, curiosity and the ability to make connections, to make those cognitive leaps.” —Peter Richards Richards seems to be describing museums at their best, as places where visitors feel encouraged to engage in minds-on and hands-on learning and exercise their creativity. Creativity is certainly a hot topic in the museum world these days, and many professional publications, including a recent issue of the Informal Learning Review, have been addressing its place in our field. What is the role of museums, and specifically museum educators, in nurturing creativity? What are some successful museum program techniques and formats for fostering it among our visitors? To answer these questions, we must come to some understanding of creativity itself. Each of us believes we know it when we see it, but few of us could probably articulate, or agree on, its definition. Psychologist Fergus Hughes describes creativity in the following three dimensions: “First, it is a personality characteristic, an attitude toward oneself and the world that is characterized by mental flexibility, spontaneity, curiosity, and persistence. . . . Creativity is also an intellectual process, a way of thinking, an approach to solving problems. . . . Finally, creativity results in a creative product, which is an original contribution to the appreciation, understanding, or improvement of the human condition.” Science Museums and the Arts of Imaginative Thinking Celebrating the Creativity of the Young Child The House of Muses: Where Inspiration Lives Creative Endeavors in Art: Looking, Thinking, Making, Articulating, and Reflecting Taking Care of Your Creativity
Museums open doorways into memory, both personal and collective. Paul Klee's blue boats, a Foucault pendulum, the creaky descent into a shadowy coal mine, a certain bench, a marble stair: encounters with spaces and objects in museums may transport us to other times and places, shape identity, inform desire, and remind us of values we hold dear. Memories are not always, however, beautiful or welcome. Injustice, warfare, and traumatic loss are as much a part of our collective past as great works of science, invention, and art. In a time of warfare and trauma on a massive scale, we consider the role of museums that are dedicated to remembering the darker side of the human condition, and those that are struggling with these memories. Memory researcher Daniel Schacter writes of the deep importance, both personal and social, of passing on stories from one generation to the next: “The need to preserve memories across intergenerational time," he says, "is a fundamental human imperative.” With their storehouses of objects and their places where people can meet and talk, museums and historic sites play a vital role in the process of remembering and making sense of the past, even memories of the darker chapters in human history. Museums can also support personal healing. Old photographs and mementos enhance recall of personal memories, support storytelling, and may aid in psychological healing. When Generation Y Asks, Why Vote? Making the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Relevant for Young People Designing Memory, Memorial, and Remembrance Experiences for Museum Web Visitors Memories in Transition: Memory and Museums in the “New” South Africa Whom Should We Remember? Japanese Museums of War and Peace Atomic Museums of (Partial) Memory Collective Memories and the Changing Representations of American Slavery The Evil That Men Do. . . Places of History and Remembrance
A growing recognition that they are part of a larger educational, social, and cultural fabric has prompted many museums to support literacy among their audiences both within the walls of their institutions and out in their communities. Over the past two decades, major changes have occurred in the information we navigate. Vast amounts of information intrude on our lives daily and are required for even the most basic living activities. Alternatives to reading for information and pleasure are easily available in the proliferation of images and sound on television, videos, computer games, and the Internet. Everyday technology requires a level of sophistication unimaginable just a few years ago. In the United States, recent immigration by people whose first language is not English, who may not have been literate in their first language, or, like the Hmong, had no written language until recently, continues to increase. These and other factors have affected the ability and interest in reading and other forms of literacy among large segments of the population. In this context, museums have recognized the tremendous content they hold in their collections that can interest and motivate adults and children to improve literacy in reading, math and science. They have realized that an understanding of learning in informal settings is a potential tool in building literacy. Finally, their credibility and the fact that they are surprising settings for the literacy message are valuable assets in advancing literacy. Reading Beyond the Museum Book Arts and Literacy Museums Inspire Reading through Real-World Experiences Paintings and Stories: Making Connections Making Meaning Together: Family Literacy and Museums The Continuing Conversation: A Model for Sustaining Relationships with Schools Threads of Connection: Reading the Landscape, Ourselves, and Others
This issue looks at the practice of soliciting and including visitors’ voices within the context of museum exhibitions, primarily through visitor comments that are available for other visitors to hear, read, or perhaps even respond to. At one end of the spectrum are the visitor comment books, often provided to solicit feedback on the overall exhibition experience. While typically more visitors read other people’s comments than write something of their own, one wonders, when scribbling a missive into one of these guestbooks, whether the museum staff ever read the comments. At the other end of the spectrum are exhibits that are only interesting because of visitor contributions of some kind. They range from exhibits where people can “weigh in” with a vote—usually a yes or no proposition—to exhibits that rely on the contribution of visitors for most or all exhibit content. Visitor Voices Talking Back Let the People Speak The Voices in Your Head: Meaning-Making and Intertextuality in Visitor Experiences of A Question of Truth A Question of Truth: A Cacophony of Visitor Voices Visitor Voices in Art Museums: The Visitor-Written Label “They Said That the Glass Is Full of Friendship”: Visitor Voices in a Memory Exhibition
This is the second issue in a two-part series about sociocultural perspectives on museums. The purpose of this series is twofold: first, to establish a shared understanding of what it means to take a sociocultural perspective on learning in museums, and second, to establish the value of taking such a perspective. Although both issues include discussions of theory and practice, the articles in the first issue focused on describing and developing sociocultural theories about museums. The articles in this issue focus on the practical implications of sociocultural theory for understanding learning in museums. Visitors and Voices: A Dialogic Approach to Learning in Science Museums Dialogic Inquiry and Biological Themes and Principles: Implications for Exhibit Design Balancing Act: Activity Theory Applications to Exhibit Designs Watching the Chaperones: An Ethnographic Study of Adult-Child Interactions in School Field Trips Leaving a Trace: Supporting Museum Visitor Interaction and Interpretation with Digital Media Annotation Systems
Museum educators have long appreciated that the museum experience is social in nature. How, then, is a sociocultural perspective different from existing understandings of the social museum experience, and what do we gain from it? Those who subscribe to a sociocultural perspective can tell you that it makes many demands, but the gains are worthwhile. The articles in this issue of the Journal of Museum Education, along with companion articles in the next issue, unpack diverse implications of a sociocultural perspective on museums. Communicating Art in Museums: Language Concepts in Art Education A Curriculum-Theory Model of the Art Museum Milieu as Teacher Changes in Collective Memory: The Schematic Narrative Template of Victimhood in Kharkiv Museums Museum Learning Collaborative Redux
Museums are engaging with their communities with renewed energy and effort, and conversations and collaborations are among their most challenging work. This issue of the Journal of Museum Education explores ways that museums are striving to work with their communities, not just for their communities. These articles present more questions than answers: Who will do community work – educators, directors, or specialized new staff with new titles and responsibilities? And who will fund this work – the museum or community groups? Confronting Demographic Denial: Retaining Relevance in the New Millennium Families Exploring Science Together Help Wanted: The Everyday Work of Community Liaisons in Denver Listening to the Voices in Our Communities “If I Ever Start a Museum”: Toward Increased Community Involvement and Program Relevancy Building Value through Offsite Community Programs: The Women of the West Museum
From our arrival at the entrance a break in the café, our experience of the museum is shaped by physical environment. Architectural magazines often celebrate the monumental or reverential features of museum buildings; but it is the interior spaces that support learning, or frustrate it. The size and shape of spaces, and lighting, sound, and scale, are among the features of museum environments that may help us to focus attention, to remember, and to hear ourselves think. The articles in this issue explore one of the more neglected dimensions of the museum experience - the physical environment. Museums as Learning Settings: The Importance of the Physical Environment Shaping Spaces for Learners and Learning Delightful Sound and Distracting Noise: The Acoustic Environment of an Interactive Museum Museum Visits: Experiences of Special Education and Typically Developing Children The Science Center as Sanctuary: A Place of Comfort during Traumatic Times
"Museums are at a crossroads," Michael Kimmelman declared in The New York Times just days before the events of September 11 overtook us. By early October, museums were not only at a crossroads, but in what a Wall Street Journal headline called an "altered landscape." In the stark light of recent weeks, questions of value and purpose stand out in high relief. Just as many turned to museums to get their bearings after September 11, in this issue of the Journal of Museum Education we turn to cherished memories to help us consider the question of value. When we remember museums we love, what can we learn about what a museum can be? Each of the authors reflects on his or her own experience of museums and considers what, in the light of recollection, matters most. Alan Friedman, director of the New York Hall of Science, remembers visits to the Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark clipper ship, and Maritime Museum at Greenwich, England, and speaks of the stories, the unanticipated juxtapositions, and the encounters with the authentic that can help us make sense of the world. Caryl Marsh, guiding spirit behind the first Discovery Room and the long-running traveling exhibition Psychology, remembers her early visits to the Metropolitan Museum and speaks of the importance of taking time, paying close attention - and of physical settings that make that possible. Sara Taber, herself a writer, recounts her visits to the homes of Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth and evokes the power of a place and of authentic objects to touch and inspire - and to build a sense of who we are. Karen Coody Cooper of the Smithsonian's Center for Education and Museum Studies recalls the freedom and comfort of her childhood visits to Oklahoma's Woolaroc Museum with its eclectic collection of cowboy saddles and ostrich eggs and wonders whether there's a place for such freedom and whimsy in the blockbuster shows of big-city museums. Ames Bradburne, Director of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, recalls the advice of Kenneth Hudson, who, shortly before his death two years ago, prophesied that the museums that survive in this century will be those with "charm" and those with "chairs." Bradburne writes of his own experiments, in several museums, in making places for conversation, place of the kind Hudson favored.
Exhibits and programs reflect the culture in which a museum is situated; increasingly, they are influenced by wider cultural currents as well. Looking at similarities and differences in museum practice in different cultural contexts can lead to a deeper understanding of staff and visitors' presuppositions and experiences - and help us become smarter about what makes for effective learning environments for an increasingly diverse public. This issue brings together perspectives from art and science museums in Europe, Australia, and the United States and raises questions about processes of contact, translation, and interpretation. Whose Scientific Culture Is It, Anyway? Going Global Bicycles and Traffic Jams: Translating a Web Site In the Eye of ... On Relationships among Translation, Interpretation, and Paintings Excerpt from “The Cultural Nature of Human Development” Roundtable: Reports, Reflections, and Resources Science Centers in Asia: Global Models, Local Variations Cultural Tourism in Ecuador: A Canadian Perspective
In increasing numbers, Americans are living healthy and productive lives well into their 70's and 80's; by 2030 about 25% of the U.S. population will be over 65. While many stereotypes about the older members of our society endure, the image of old age may be shifting as more and more of us reach it. Conditions once thought to be a part of old age, such as heart disease or senility, are now understood to be diseases rather than a normal part of aging, and many of these are preventable through behavior and life-style changes. Current research is unlocking many of the mysteries surrounding the aging process. This revolution in the sheer number of older people, as well as in how aging is perceived and understood, is having a profound impact on many aspects of society, from family life to the economy to the way kitchens and cars are designed. This issue of the Journal examines the possible impact of the far-reaching social shift on museums, their visitors, volunteers, and employees. Museums and Aging: Reflections on the Aging Visitor, Volunteer, and Employee Gerontologist Personal Narratives Older Adults at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Presenting Information to Older Adults Exhibition Accessibility and the Senior Visitor Listening to Voices of Experience: A National Study of Adult Museum Programs The Museum Experience: One Mature Visitor's Perspective
Throughout the issue, the voices of young people are heard, speaking of shyness, uncertainty, and challenges, and of how museums have opened new doors for them. As one young Vietnamese immigrant says, looking back on her time in a museum’s youth program, “I started to have faith in myself.” Museums and Healthy Adolescent Development: What We Are Learning from Research and Practice In Their Own Words: Voices of Teens in Museums Creating Hybrid Space: The Native American High School Student Guide Program at the Heard Museum How We Worked with Teens to Develop Animal Eyes
Temple, forum, or both? Over the years, some have argued for the priority of one function or the other. This double issue examines an aspect of the museum experience that has received scant attention in recent years: the museum as the home of reverie and reflection, a place not only for new ideas and good talk, but for collecting our wits and becoming more ourselves. Echoes of Quietude: Alonetimes in Museums Images of Art Museums: "Quiet Places We Have Known" Tales of Alonetime and Owntime in Museums Look Again!: Planning an Exhibition with Social interaction in Mind Solitude and Reflection in Science Centers Abode of the Modern Muse
This issue explores the interrelationship of folklore and education and discusses how museum educators use the interdisciplinary approach of folklore in their work. Folklorists study the vernacular and expressive culture of ordinary people learning, doing, behaving, and expressing themselves in their social world. The unique perspective of folklorists is used in developing exhibitions, in educational programming, and in developing relationships with the diverse communities museums seek to engage. This issue offers concrete models and case studies that demonstrate the relationship between folkloric theory and practice in museum education. Crafting Community-Based Museum Experiences: Process, Pedagogy; and Performance Gathering and Interpreting Tradition: Rethinking the Role of the Museum Port Penn Interpretive Center: Trials and Transformations “Keeping Taonga Warm”: Museum Practice and Maori Guardianship Talk Stage: Using Stories in Living Cultural Exhibits Stories from the Fields, Hills, and Labs Special Supplement, 1999 This special section has been designated to honor both the past and the future, with due respect for the present, by featuring the end of the Museum Practitioner Seminar. For two decades, 19 presentations were sponsored by the George Washington University's Museum Education Program, offered to the field in conjunction with Museum Education Roundtable. The four presenters whose work is included in this section participated in the inaugural (1979-80) and concluding (1998-99) seminar series.
Museums have been part of city life since the times of the original museion in the ancient city of Alexandria. It's hard to imagine Chicago without the Field Museum, Manhattan without the Metropolitan, Paris without the Louvre. As planners attempt to bring downtowns back to life or to create a sense of "center" in urban areas that grew up with the automobile, museums are once again serving as cultural magnets. Together with collection, preservation and research, the twin aspects of education reflected through exhibition design and interpretation have been seen as the museum's major raison d'etre, and the indisputable justification for public support. Yet museums have another vital function, one not unrelated to their capacity to stimulate curiosity, encourage exploration, and support learning. Museums are also public places, serving as landmarks and destinations and giving shape to urban space. Museums are places where people gather informally, places of collective memory and imagination.
How do museums generate, prepare for, manage, and/or repress the controversies that may surround their exhibitions and programs? This issue includes a controversy timeline, case studies, reflective essays and practical recommendations by a wide variety of authors who have dealt with sensitive topics in a museum setting. Readers will want to keep this issue as a handy reference for years to come.
In this issue of the Journal of Museum Education, museum educators who are engaged in school reform efforts discuss new alliances between museums and schools from a variety of perspectives: museum schools, object-based learning, teacher enhancement, technology, and systemic reform. Will such innovations ultimately transform museum-school relationships? To answer this question, we need to know more about them, the forces that have created them, and the questions they raise about the appropriate educational role of museums. |
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Date Last Modified: 6/18/2004