Summer Forum: Critical Thinking Skills in Museums
By Ann Caspari, Manager of Museum Programs at the Smithsoian Early Enrichment Center.

The MER August Forum, held Tuesday, August 14, 2007, at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, was well attended by both MER members and non-members. The August Forum was based on summer issue of the Journal of Museum Education, Critical-Thinking Skills in Museums.

Sharon Shaffer, Executive Director of the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center and I spoke about fostering critical thinking skills in young children. Although young children cannot engage in abstract thought the way that older students can, the building blocks of critical thinking are an important part of learning for a young child. Museums are wonderful environments for developing these critical skills for young children because of the richness of material for children to think about.  

Diane Goldman, Program Coordinator for the Jewish Historical Society of DC followed this presentation with a discussion of Thomas Eakins’ Baby at Play based on Visual Thinking Strategies questioning techniques. In the image, a child is building with blocks. Building blocks on each table allowed participants to express their understanding of the artwork. Some tables chose to recreate the structure that the child in the image had built, while others interpreted the artwork’s structure using the blocks. This activity provided on opportunity to discuss how simple objects can help deepen the experience with a visual image.

Finally, Corinne Cannon, School and Youth Groups Coordinator at the National Building Museum, introduced a thoughtful look at critical thinking in exhibitions after which the attendees visited the National Building Museums exhibition, David Macaulay: The Art of Drawing Architecture. Cannon encouraged participants to identify and critique the exhibition’s strategies for engaging visitors. The exhibition includes special labels for children, areas where visitors may draw, models of the artist’s work, and the artist’s journals, sketches, and perspective drawings. In a wrap-up session at the end of the program participants discussed how these different exhibition features work for different learners. Museum educators discussed how exhibitions can serve as an educational tool to develop critical thinking for different audiences.

You may learn more about the exhibition at the National Building Museum at http://www.nbm.org/Exhibits/current/macaulay/index.htm

Ann Caspari serves on the MER board of directors.

email: CaspariAK@si.edu