Join our amazing team! The Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum is hiring a Membership and Marketing Coordinator, a part-time (29 hours per week) position with a flexible schedule. This staff member will be in charge of the museum’s membership program, as well as considering data across the museum and coordinating marketing, especially on social media and the museum’sContinue reading “Jobs at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum”
Author Archives: Rebecca Shulman
Journey to the Sea: Exploring the environment in a children’s museum
This post is one I wrote with artist Margaret LeJeune for the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice, which we are resharing here!
How can the reference interview inform Maker spaces? Interview with Joel Spencer
Interview with Joel Spencer: Maker Spaces and the Reference Interview Joel Spencer is a native of Champaign, Illinois. Joel graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in history in 2008, and a master’s degree in library and information science in 2010. While in library school Joel focused on community engagement and teenContinue reading “How can the reference interview inform Maker spaces? Interview with Joel Spencer”
What do children learn by making? An interview with Edward Clapp
Edward Clapp is an author of Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their Worlds. This book, and the research behind it, are an initiative of the Agency by Design project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero. One of the challenges in talking about “making” is how big our definition can grow.Continue reading “What do children learn by making? An interview with Edward Clapp”
Play and Learning: What can children tell us?
This week’s guest post is by Nicole R. Rivera, Ed.D. Nicole is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at North Central College. She is also the Academic Research and Evaluation Partner of the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, IL. For the past two years, I have been working with the DuPage museum to explore what parents andContinue reading “Play and Learning: What can children tell us?”
Can Museums Be Neutral?
A few months ago, Mike Murawski, in partnership with LaTanya Autry of the Mississippi Museum of Art and The Empathetic Museum, created t-shirts to support a “Museums are not Neutral” campaign. Murawski wrote, “Museums have the potential to be relevant, socially-engaged spaces in our communities. Yet, too often, they strive to remain “above” the political and socialContinue reading “Can Museums Be Neutral?”
Is Failure Useful?
There’s a cult of failure these days. A google search for “failure” brings up articles like “Why success always starts with failure” and the New York Times article “On campus, failure is on the syllabus.” In fact, failure is so in vogue that there is now a museum dedicated to it. Failure is hot in museums,Continue reading “Is Failure Useful?”
What does it take to create a great education program?
As we plan for 2018 at the Peoria PlayHouse Children’s Museum, we have decided to reduce the number of programs we offer, holding workshops and home-school programs monthly instead of semi-monthly, and cultural festivals bi-monthly instead of monthly. The goal is to leave more time to ensure excellence of programs, and to build strong systemsContinue reading “What does it take to create a great education program?”
What is the job of a culturally-specific museum?
This post is by Janine Okmin, Associate Director of Education at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, where she develops resources for schools and teachers, and trains museum tour guides. Formerly the Associate Manager of Learning Through Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Janine has led teacher workshops nationwide and in Taiwan. She has also developed programsContinue reading “What is the job of a culturally-specific museum?”
Should museums be storytellers or truth-tellers?
What do museums have to say about, or learn from, recent events in Charlottesville? Museum leaders and professionals have shared statements condemning and consoling, from their position as community leaders. Bloggers and professional organizations have also shared resources, as museums take on the role of educators. Thankfully but not surprisingly, museums and museum professionals are advocatesContinue reading “Should museums be storytellers or truth-tellers?”
Museum Questions 