Last week, in honor of Bastille Day, we opened the PlayHouse Art Room to the public with a flag-making activity. We saw a range of flags created by kids and parents. As I share them, imagine some music playing, something vaguely patriotic but from an imaginary or unknown country. There were French-inspired flags: There were PlayHouseContinue reading “When do we edit participation?”
Category Archives: Museum Education
Exploring empathy: Research on a hot (but tricky) topic
This post shares a presentation made by Adam Nilsen, Miriam Bader, and myself at the American Alliance of Museums conference last week. Adam Nilsen is a graduate student in Stanford University’s School of Education, where he is studying empathy in a variety of settings, including museum settings. Prior to working on his PhD, Adam was aContinue reading “Exploring empathy: Research on a hot (but tricky) topic”
How can museums foster empathy?
The other day my 11-year-old son told me, “Poor people are poor because they don’t try hard enough.” I hope that he said this just to provoke me into debate (like mother like son). But the truth is, I think that empathy is something that he – like many people – struggles with. Intellectual smarts,Continue reading “How can museums foster empathy?”
What is “Classroom Management” in the museum?
On March 2, I blogged about classroom management, and invited readers to complete a (now closed) survey. The 29 completed surveys include a great deal of information worth mining, and I am trying to find a way to share all of the answers with anyone who might want to take a look. A number ofContinue reading “What is “Classroom Management” in the museum?”
Why do we need “classroom management” in museums?
At the end of this post there is a link to this survey. Please help me more deeply consider the question of classroom management by completing and sharing the survey! A few months ago, I was tagged in a tweet asking whether I knew of any good resources for classroom management in the museum setting.Continue reading “Why do we need “classroom management” in museums?”
What is the role of research in museums’ K-12 programming?
This guest post is from Michelle Grohe. For the past ten years Michelle has been the Director of School & Teacher Programs at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, where she has overseen the School Partnership, an intensive multiple-experience program with local Boston schools, including in-depth professional development with classroom teachers. Michelle hasContinue reading “What is the role of research in museums’ K-12 programming? “
Schools and Museums: Can Museums Teach Content to School Groups?
A few people have responded to my recent post Goals for Students to suggest that history museums are likely to focus on content rather than more general skills and understandings (see Anne Dealy’s comment on Goals for Students; others have responded privately). The implication is that school visitors to history museums expect are more likely to expectContinue reading “Schools and Museums: Can Museums Teach Content to School Groups?”
Schools and Museums: Goals for Students
This week, I am beginning the process of reflecting on the past 25 posts about field trips. In this post, I am interested in goals and value: How do the many contributors to Museum Questions answer the question, “Why should school groups visit museums?” What do their answers tell us about the current state of museums, museum education, and school fieldContinue reading “Schools and Museums: Goals for Students”
But will YOU be here? An argument for tours that encourage life-long museum-going
This is the fifth guest post in the Schools and Museums series. Jackie Delamatre has been a museum educator for over a decade. Until this fall, she was an educator at the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. She recently moved to Providence, RI where she is an educator at theContinue reading “But will YOU be here? An argument for tours that encourage life-long museum-going”
Schools and Museums: Interview with Kylie Peppler
Kylie Peppler is Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Director of The Creativity Labs at Indiana University Bloomington. An artist by training, her research focuses on the intersection of arts, new media, and informal learning. How does your research relate to museums? I’m a learning scientist, which means I study learning in real world contexts.Continue reading “Schools and Museums: Interview with Kylie Peppler”
Museum Questions 