International Thinking on Children in Museums

International Thinking on Children in Museums
Author: Sharon E. Shaffer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2020-10-12
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1000200051

International Thinking on Children in Museums introduces current research, theory, and practice about young learners in museums around the world. The book imparts vital knowledge about the nature of childhood and children’s learning that will improve understanding of the very youngest museum-goers. Including contributions from practitioners, scholars, and consultants around the globe, this volume examines museum practices and children’s learning across a range of distinct cultural and geographic locales. The framework of the book is based on research and current thinking in the realm of developmental psychology, sociology, and anthropology, allowing the contributors to examine the evolution of early learning and children’s programs through a sociocultural lens. This broad-based look at international museum practices for children offers a rare view of the field from an important, but oft-neglected perspective: that of society and culture. International Thinking on Children in Museums will broaden understanding of museum practice across cultures and geographic regions and, as such, will be of interest to scholars and students engaged in the study of museum education, museum studies, and early learning. It should also provide a much-needed source of inspiration for museum practitioners working around the world.

Slow Looking

Slow Looking
Author: Shari Tishman
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2017-10-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1315283794

Slow Looking provides a robust argument for the importance of slow looking in learning environments both general and specialized, formal and informal, and its connection to major concepts in teaching, learning, and knowledge. A museum-originated practice increasingly seen as holding wide educational benefits, slow looking contends that patient, immersive attention to content can produce active cognitive opportunities for meaning-making and critical thinking that may not be possible though high-speed means of information delivery. Addressing the multi-disciplinary applications of this purposeful behavioral practice, this book draws examples from the visual arts, literature, science, and everyday life, using original, real-world scenarios to illustrate the complexities and rewards of slow looking.

Learning in the Museum

Learning in the Museum
Author: George E. Hein
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2002-09-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 113486048X

Learning in the Museum examines major issues and shows how research in visitor studies and the philosophy of education can be applied to facilitate a meaningful educational experience in museums. Hein combines a brief history of education in public museums, with a rigorous examination of how the educational theories of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky and subsequent theorists relate to learning in the museum. Surveying a wide range of research methods employed in visitor studies is illustrated with examples taken from museums around the world, Hein explores how visitors can best learn from exhibitions which are physically, socially, and intellectually accessible to every single visitor. He shows how museums can adapt to create this kind of environment, to provide what he calls the 'constructivist museum'. Providing essential theoretical analysis for students, this volume also serves as a practical guide for all museum professionals on how to adapt their museums to maximize the educational experience of every visitor.

Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today

Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today
Author: Joni Boyd Acuff
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2014-07-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0759124116

Aimed at museum educators, Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today seeks to marry museum and multicultural education theories. It reveals how the union of these theories yields more equitable educational practices and guides museum educators to address misrepresentation, exclusivity, accessibility, and educational inequality. This contemporary text is directive; it encourages museum educators to consider the critical multicultural education theoretical framework in their day-to-day functions in order to illuminate and combat shortcomings at the crux of museum education: Museum Educators as Change Agents Inclusion versus Exclusion Collaboration with Diverse Audiences Responsive Pedagogy This book adopts a broad definition of multiculturalism, which names not only race and ethnicity as concerns, but also gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, age, and class. While focusing on these various facets of identity, the authors demonstrate how museums are social systems that should offer comprehensive, diverse educational experiences not only through exhibitions but through other educational activities. The authors pull from their own research and practical experiences which exemplify how museums have been and can be attentive to these areas of identity. Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today is hopeful and inspiring, as it identifies and commends the positive and effective practices that some museum educators have enacted in an effort to be inclusive. Museum educators are at the front-line interacting with the public on a daily basis. Thus, these educators can be the real vanguard of change, modeling critical multicultural behavior and practices.

Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge

Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge
Author: Eileen Hooper Greenhill
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 243
Release: 1992-01-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134912692

Museums have been active in shaping knowledge over the last six hundred years. Yet what is their function within today's society? At the present time, when funding is becoming increasingly scarce, difficult questions are being asked about the justification of museums. Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge presents a critical survey of major changes in current assumptions about the nature of museums. Through the examination of case studies, Eilean Hooper-Greenhill reveals a variety of different roles for museums in the production and shaping of knowledge. Today, museums are once again organising their spaces and collections to present themselves as environments for experimental and self-directed learning.

Object Lessons and Early Learning

Object Lessons and Early Learning
Author: Sharon Shaffer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2018-07-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351332902

The twenty-first century is a time of change for early learning in museums, due in part to society's evolving view of childhood, from an age of innocence to understanding the robust learning that defines the first years of life. This perspective is a catalyst for international conversation and continues to raise attention and interest across society. Object Lessons and Early Learning leverages what is known about the cognitive development of young children to examine the power of learning through objects in museum and heritage settings. Exploring the history and modern day practice of object-based learning, Shaffer outlines the rationale for endorsing this approach in both formal and informal learning spaces. She argues that museums, as collecting institutions, are learning spaces uniquely positioned to allow children to make meaning about their world through personal connections to cultural artifacts, natural specimens, and works of art. A range of descriptive object lessons, inspired by objects in museums as well as from the everyday world, are presented throughout the text as examples of ways in which children can be encouraged to engage with museum collections. Object Lessons and Early Learning offers insights into strategies for engaging young children as learners in museum settings and in their everyday world, and, as such, will be essential reading for museum professionals, classroom educators, and students. It should also be of great interest to academics and researchers engaged in the study of museums and education.

Teaching in the Art Museum

Teaching in the Art Museum
Author: Rika Burnham
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2011
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1606060589

Teaching in the Art Museum investigates the mission, history, theory, practice, and future prospects of museum education. In this book Rika Burnham and Elliott Kai-Kee define and articulate a new approach to gallery teaching, one that offers groups of visitors deep and meaningful experiences of interpreting art works through a process of intense, sustained looking and thoughtfully facilitated dialogue.--[book cover].

Engaging Young Children in Museums

Engaging Young Children in Museums
Author: Sharon E Shaffer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2016-06-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 131542956X

What does a museum do with a kindergartner who walks through the door? The growth of interest in young children learning in museums has joined the national conversation on early childhood education. Written by Sharon Shaffer, the founding Executive Director of the innovative Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, this is the first book for museum professionals as well as students offering guidance on planning programming for young children.This groundbreaking book:-Explains the various ways in which children learn-Shows how to use this knowledge to design effective programs using a variety of teaching models-Includes examples of successful programs, tested activities, and a set of best practices

Museums, Children and Social Action

Museums, Children and Social Action
Author: Sharon E. Shaffer
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2023-12-15
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1003834000

Museums, Children and Social Action examines the role that museums play in reaching, teaching and inspiring children as global citizens of the world and, looking to the future, argues that the sustainability of museums will come from strengthening relationships with young visitors. Presenting a diverse range of programs, exhibitions and outreach from museums across five continents, Shaffer highlights how museums are already serving children and making a difference in their lives. Arguing that museums have a unique responsibility to connect this audience with relevant social issues and challenges, such as social injustice, racism, climate change and poverty, Shaffer simultaneously acknowledges that a large number of children are still on the margins of the institution and its mission. Recognizing the ways in which museums are currently serving children, the book also considers what museums could and should be doing as they plan for the future, raising critical questions about core values, community partners and social agendas. Museums, Children and Social Action is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of museums, social justice and childhood. It encourages museums to make it their mission to educate and serve this audience and their families for the good of children, as well as museums, while also considering what their institutions can do to make a lasting impact on children and their families.