Research Informing the Practice of Museum Educators
Research Informing the Practice of Museum Educators

Author: David Anderson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-12-09

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 9463002383

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Museums are institutions of both education and learning in service of society, that is, they are sites where educational experiences are designed and facilitated, and also places where visitors learn in broad and diverse ways. As such, the role of public education in museums today is highly important, if not at the centre of museum activity. As museums contemplate the growing significance of their educational roles and mandate within a changing society, so too they are increasingly in need of information about the audiences they serve and their own professional practice as they strive to achieve their educational missions in service to the communities in which they are embedded. Accordingly, this edited book focuses on informing, broadening and enhancing the pedagogy of museum education and the practices of museum educators. The chapters in this book report independent research studies conducted by the authors who have explored and investigated a variety of issues affecting museum education practice, contextualized across a range of institutions, including art galleries, natural and social history museums, anthropology museums, science centres, and gardens. These studies address a cross-section of contemporary issues confronting the field of museum education including studies of diverse audiences and their needs, the mediation of challenging topics, professional training, teaching and learning in informal settings, and reflective practice and praxis. Together these themes represent a set of topical issues germane to informing, broadening and enhancing educational practices in diverse museum settings, and will be of considerable interest to a broad spectrum of the museum and non-formal education fields.

Patterns in Practice
Patterns in Practice

Author: Susan K Nichols

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 1315422875

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This comprehensive anthology features 47 selected articles from the Journal of Museum Education plus ten new introductory essays by leaders in museum education and related fields. The articles and essays explore some of the fundamental issues concerning the role of education in museums today, from serving diverse communities to motivating visitors in an informal learning setting. The book is divided into five sections which 1) trace the evolution of the museum education profession; 2) explore the field's theoretical base; 3) consider methods of research used; 4) provide examples of how theory is translated into practice; and 5) summarize issues relating to professional development. Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable

A New Role for Museum Educators
A New Role for Museum Educators

Author: Elizabeth Wood

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-06-26

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1000850315

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A New Role for Museum Educators shows how learning happens in communities, how volunteers and professionals approach their work, the underlying principles and philosophies that guide the work of museum education, and how these practices are always evolving to remain relevant. Museum education in its most expansive definition is about communicating messages, creating learning experiences, and, at its most aspirational, promoting human development for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and circumstances. This edited volume revisits the legacy of museum education practices, reflecting on the changing context of community and the role of cultural institutions, and provides insights into new directions that museums can take with a visitor-centered mindset. It provides foundational concepts around educational philosophies that guide practice, applied methods and approaches for implementation, and the ethos of an educational institution intended to support community learning and engagement that are essential to provide for the wide-ranging needs of all audiences. International perspectives from a variety of museums are considered, including art museums, children’s museums, history museums and historic sites, science museums, botanical gardens, zoos, and aquariums. Chapters include thought-provoking reflections on contemporary practices, concrete examples from across the globe, and useful tools for anyone working with public audiences. Grounded in practice and informed by research, this volume will be a go-to resource for arts and cultural organization practitioners, particularly those working in Museum Education. It will also be essential reading for students of Museum Studies, Education, and related fields

Multimodal Narratives in Research and Teaching Practices
Multimodal Narratives in Research and Teaching Practices

Author: Lopes, J. Bernardino

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2019-02-01

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 1522585710

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While already validated by the scientific community, multimodal narratives have the potential for a broader application, especially for improved teaching practices from a professional or a theoretical point of view. Applying multimodal narratives within professional development courses creates a focus on the teaching practices rather than the content itself. Multimodal Narratives in Research and Teaching Practices provides educator and researcher perspectives on the use of multimodal narratives as a tool to reflect and improve teaching practices. Covering such topics as professional development, online learning, and teacher education, this publication is designed for educators, academicians, administrators, and researchers.

The Museum Educator's Manual
The Museum Educator's Manual

Author: Anna Johnson

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-08-09

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1442279060

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The Museum Educator's Manual addresses the role museum educators play in today's museums from an experience-based perspective. Seasoned museum educators author each chapter, emphasizing key programs along with case studies that provide successful examples, and demonstrate a practical foundation for the daily operations of a museum education department, no matter how small. The book covers: volunteer and docent management and training; exhibit development; program and event design and implementation; working with families, seniors, and teens; collaborating with schools and other institutions; and funding. This second edition interweaves technology into every aspect of the manual and includes two entirely new chapters, one on Museums - An Educational Resource for Schools and another on Active Learning in Museums. With invaluable checklists, schedules, organizational charts, program examples, and other how-to documents included throughout, The Museum Educator's Manual is a 'must have' book for any museum educator.

Patterns in Practice
Patterns in Practice

Author: Museum Education Roundtable

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13:

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This is the second anthology of the "Journal of Museum Education." This edition reflects the maturation of the field of museum education, reports on its evolution, and reminds the reader of the diversity to be found in the field. Introspective essays by numerous authors challenge museum educators to reexamine their goals, attitudes, work, and audiences they serve. Divided into the following five sections, some essays include: Section 1, "Coming of Age:""The Museum's Role in a Multicultural Society" (Brown); "Afro-American Museums: A Future Full of Promise" (Dickerson); "To Realize Our Museums' Full Potential" (Madden); "Professional Standards for Museum Educators 'American Association of Museums Standing Professional Committee on Education' Preface" (Williams); Section 2,"Reflecting on Things and Theory:""Object Knowledge: Every Museum Visitor an Interpreter" (Schlereth); "Vision and Culture: The Role of Museums in Visual Literacy" (Rice); "Naive Notions and the Design of Science Museum Exhibits" (Borun); "Passionate and Purposeful: Adult Learning Communities" (Baldwin et al); "Sending Them Home Alive" (Olds); Section 3: "Considering the Museum Experience:""New Directions for Research" (Diamond); "Visitor Participation in Formative Exhibit Evaluation" (McNamara); "The Family Museum Experience: Implications from Research" and "Afterword" (Dierking); "Understanding Demographic Data on 200 Visitors" (Birney, Heinrich); Section 4: "Putting Plans into Practice:""Ideas on Informal Learning and Teaching" (Mayer); "Decentralizing Interpretation: Developing Museum Education Materials with and for Schools" (O'Connell); "Education Programs for Older Adults" and "Afterword" (Sharpe); "Learning about Reptiles and Amphibians: A Family Experience" (White, Marcellini, Barry); "Theater Techniques in an Aquarium or a Natural History Museum" (Rutowski); and Section 5: "Thinking about Ourselves and Our Field:""Your Private Temple: Fighting Change" (Muhlberger); "Concept, Method, and Professional Exchange" (Matelic); and "Preparation for Empowerment." Each section contains an introductory essay, followed by essays with varied perspectives on the theme of the section. (EH)

Museum Educators and Technology Expanding Our Reach and Practice
Museum Educators and Technology Expanding Our Reach and Practice

Author: Susan B Spero

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-29

Total Pages: 89

ISBN-13: 1315424045

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Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable, this is volume 36, Number 3 of the Journal of Museum Education (JME) on Museum Educators and Technology Expanding Our Reach and Practice, published in the fall of 2011. This edition includes articles on the digital redux, the use of technology expanding the reach of the museum, collection datasets, game-based learning, online communities, using virtual technology and distance learning programs.

Theorizing Equity in the Museum
Theorizing Equity in the Museum

Author: Bronwyn Bevan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-08-30

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 1000427803

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Theorizing Equity in the Museum integrates the perspectives of learning researchers and museum practitioners to shed light on the deep-seated structures that must be accounted for if the field is to move past aspirations and rhetoric and towards more inclusive practices. Written during a time when museums around the world were being forced to reckon with their institutional practices of exclusion; their histories of colonization, both cultural and intellectual; and, for many, their tenuous business models, the chapters leverage a range of theoretical perspectives to explore lived experiences of working in the museum towards changing the museum. Theories of spatial justice, critical pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, critical race theory, and others are used to consider how the museum’s dominant cultural structures and norms collide with museum professionals’ aspirations for inclusive practices. The chapters present a mix of empirical research and reflections, which collectively operate to theorize the museum as a potential force for enriching, empowering, and transforming an inclusive public’s relationship with some of our most powerful ideas and aspirations. But first they must change, from the inside out. Grounded in practice and practical problems, Theorizing Equity in the Museum demonstrates how theory can be used as a practical tool for change. As a result the book will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums, education, learning and culture, as well as to museum practitioners with an interest in equity and inclusion.

Reculturing Museums
Reculturing Museums

Author: Doris B. Ash

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-02-27

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1000536122

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Reculturing Museums takes a unified sociocultural theoretical approach to analyze the many conflicts museums experience in the 21st century. Embracing conflict, Ash asks: What can practitioners and researchers do to create the change they want to see when old systems remain stubbornly in place? Using a unified sociocultural, cultural-historical, activity-theoretical approach to analyzing historically bound conflicts that plague museums, each chapter is organized around a central contradiction, including finances ("Who will pay for museums?"), demographic shifts ("Who will come to museums?"), the roles of narratives ("Whose story is it?"), ownership of objects ("Who owns the artifact?"), and learning and teaching ("What is learning and how can we teach equitably?"). The reculturing stance taken by Ash promotes social justice and equity, ‘making change’ first, within museums, called inreach, rather than outside the museum, called outreach; challenges existing norms; is sensitive to neoliberal and deficit ideologies; and pays attention to the structure agency dialectic. Reculturing Museums will be essential reading for academics, students, museum practitioners, educational researchers, and others who care about museums and want to ensure that all people have equal access to the activities, objects, and ideas residing in them.