My last post, on the role of education research in planning museum programs, sparked debate in person and on LinkedIn about whether museums emphasize content knowledge or an understanding of pedagogy when hiring, training, and supporting museum education staff. For better or worse, it’s essential that museum educators know both. They need to understand the content they are…
Recently, I have been thinking about the role of research in museum education work thanks to the podcast Sold a Story. This podcast shares the rise and fall of Reading Recovery, a popular reading program in elementary schools. Reading Recovery took schools by storm in the 1980s, but it is based on ideas that have…
Over the past few months, numerous experiences have been driving me toward the question: What do museum educators need to know? First, in February I attended a MuseumExpert webinar during which Martin Storksdiek discussed an attempt by ASTC and NSF to identify “the skills, knowledge, values, and other capabilities that enable [an informal science educator]…
In the past few months, I’ve visited the museum Eastern State Penitentiary twice. The museum is exemplary for its excellent audio tour (which you can hear parts of here) and the way it incorporates art into a historical site. More strikingly, it is notable for drawing attention to a contemporary issue (largely, but not exclusively,…
Since I started the work of figuring out the next stage of my career, I’ve been having amazing conversations with museum colleagues from around the United States. These conversations remind me how much I love having a museum community, and how amazing our colleagues are. Museum educator, consultant, and self-proclaimed pirate Rachel Ropeik (who left…
It has been over two years since my last Museum Questions post, in November 2020. To everyone reading this post: congratulations on getting through the past few years. What’s changed for you professionally since early 2020? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below. WordPress tells me there are nearly 1000 subscribers to…
This post comes out of a conversation between Rebecca Shulman and Jackie Delamatre. You can see other Museum Questions blog posts by Jackie Delamatre here and here. Proceeds from the sale of non-living collections are to be used consistent with the established standards of the museum’s discipline, but in no event shall they be used…
Lane Beckes is Associate Professor of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience at Bradley University. Lane studies social processes at the intersection of cognition, emotion, and neurobiology. His research interests include social bonding, empathy, emotion, and prosocial behavior. Read a previous interview with Lane in Museum Questions here. Lane, over the past few months I have heard,…
Dr. Steven Snyder is the President & CEO for the Fleet Science Center in San Diego, CA. Since taking on the role in 2013, Steve has redefined the Fleet’s role, taking it from a science center in Balboa Park to a community organization dedicated to helping all San Diegans achieve their place in our shared…
Lisa Cowan is Vice President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; in this capacity she helps with strategy, development and oversight of foundation programs and grantmaking. Lisa has been working with community-based organizations for the last 25 years, first as a community health educator and program director at several youth-serving agencies, then as a Senior…
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