30
JANUARY
ORGANIZATION OF LEARNING
Reading No. 1
Self-Directed Learning
Journal of Museum Education
Richard Banz
Reading No. 2
John Dewey's "Wholly Original Philosophy" and its Significance for Museums
Curator: The Museum Journal
George E. Hein
Reading No. 3
Exploring Staff Facilitation that Supports Family Learning
Journal of Museum Education
Scott A. Pattison & Lynn D. Dierking
Reading No. 4
Scaffolding Visitors Learning Through Labels
Journal of Museum Education
Joyce Wang & Susan Yoon
Reading No. 5
Who is Educating Whom? Two Way Learning in Museum/University Partnerships
Journal of Museum Education
Fern Silverman & Bradford Bartley
Reading No. 6
Shared Journeys Curriculum Theory and Museum Education
Journal of Museum Education
Julia Rose
CLASS LECTURE NOTES:
Review this weeks class lecture notes
Self-Directed Learning (SDL):
"A process in which individuals take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes."
SDL models consist of linear models as well as interactive frameworks
Proponents believe that education on some level has a degree of self-directions.
Adults attend museums:
seek knowledge
socialize
build skills
love museums
increase appreciation and meaningfulness of the world
FREE-CHOICE LEARNING IS NOT SDL!!!
The characteristics that define free-choice learners aren't' the same as SDL learners.
Free-choice is often characterized by non-formal (not in school) learning, whereas SDL focuses on formal and informal environments
SDL is the larger umbrella over free-choice learning--important because this larger scale framework is important in partnerships that museums establish between educational and community institutions.
Responsibility of the learner may be achieved without the assistance of other individuals
Learning is the INDEPENDENT CHOICE of the learner vs stressing the choice of the learner into ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY.
SDL is always the choice of the learner but certain external forces may encourage the learner to seek our that independent choice. (ex. Maybe you'll get a raise if you attend this conference. Maybe your mom took you to the library a lot as a child so you're more likely to seek out learning opportunities.)
*"an environment which facilitates and encourages autonomy will result in higher levels of self-directedness on the part of learners."
Humans develop self-direction through maturing process
Reading No. 1
Self-Directed Learning
Journal of Museum Education
Richard Banz
"Museums and other cultural institutions allow for a freedom of non-intervention that invokes the personal desires of self-directed learners."
Self-Directed Orientation toward Learning (SDOL):
2 models of self-directed learning:
1. Linear thinking: details and plans
2. Learning holistically: information in intervals
*Self-Directed learners can use completely differnet learning styles and therefore have different learning needs. Linear --------- Abstract
Personal Responsibility Orientation (PRO):
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Balance must exist between the learner's level of self-direction and opportunities for self-directed learning is possible.
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Builds on previous concepts, doesn't occur in isolation, and learning exists on a continuum
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Learners don't always have control over their environment
Translating for museum practice:
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Self-guided tours: good for visitor to make their own paths and independent thinking will result in greater self-awareness and direction
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Learning is engaged the moment an object attracts interest
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If all you have is the display and you have questions but no member of staff is there to answer them--encounter road block
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When self-directed learners experience the museum together, they're less likely to hit road blocks-discussing viewpoints
Reading No. 2
John Dewey's "Wholly Original Philosophy" and Its Significance for Museums
Curator: The Museum Journal
George E. Hein
"...the purpose of the educational system is to educate children to take their place in a progressive society, one that strives toward increased participatory democracy."
Dewey recognized the need to maintain a sense of community and social responsibility in a society that appeared to be losing these values to changing social, economic, and cultural factors.
EXPERIENCE and THOUGHT were not and should not be separated
“…forces that have influenced me have come from persons and from situations more than from books…”—LEARNING OVER KNOWLEDGE
Dewey’s approach is focused on PROCESS rather than on a search for ‘truths’ or ‘entities’
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Rejection of Dualisms (divisions): common western view that there were sharp distinctions of kind between categories of life, experience, and thought
*Eviatar Zerubavel concept of ‘LUMPING & SPLITTING’: the mental process of grouping “similar” things together in distinct clusters and separating “different” clusters from one another. The role language plays in providing us with seemingly homogeneous mental niches for lumping things together yet at the same time allowing us to carve seemingly discrete categories out of experiential continua directs the sociological study of classification to intersubjective, conventional mindscapes that are neither personal nor “logical.”
“Mankind likes to think in terms of extreme opposites”
“…moral value needed to be based on the results of particular actions, not on presumed categorical differences between invented categories”
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Dewey had faith in democracy: “…it was truly an article of faith a fundamental component of his worldview”
“Experience becomes essentially a synonym for culture”
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Instrumentalism: human actions and the consequences of thoughts and actions
CONTINUITY
Experience has a continuity—contains both a past and future (includes both EDUCATIVE and NONEDUCATIVE experiences)
Experience includes all memories and previous associations with a life event and ‘external consequences of a sensation’
“…in order to understand an experience we must consider what happened before, and to evaluate it we need to consider future actions for which it serves as precursor.”
“Experience of nature includes not only the sensations derived from natural phenomena but also what the individual brings to the experience and how he or she interprets and applies it to future thoughts and actions”
1. Experiences that educate are those that involve problem solving
2. Consists of activities that promote social interaction and allow each student to achieve his or her full potential within a cooperative community.
1. First Cycle: Reflection—What a visitor can do (mentally/physically) that results in reflection and continued engagement with the exhibit
“What is this about?”
“What happens if I do this?”
2. Second Cycle: Developing Inquiry—enrich experiences and help make connections between exhibitions and the world
“How does this match what I read on the label?”
“Why would the museum have this exhibit?”
“Is this true for all objects?”
“Does this match what I remember from school?”
3. Third Cycle: Long-term Impacts—How has the museum experience impacted engagement and learning on future behavior
In Dewey’s opinion, traditional education misses the mark because it focuses too much on the particulars and practices, rather than on the IMPLICATIONS and long term applications.
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Inquiry: appropriate learning situations are those that provide opportunities to mentally (and physically) manipulate the situations that pose problems
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Overt Social Agendas: use of museums to promote social agendas—controversial? but also can be argued that ANY museum activity is political. * More service focus for museums
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Change the Museum: strive for education that reflects a democratic society—how does this intersect with their practices and policies (what they show and don’t show)
Reading No. 3
Exploring Staff Facilitation that Supports Family Learning
Journal of Museum Education
Scott A. Pattison & Lynn D. Dierking
"Real knowing occurs through experience and much of what we learn through experience cannot be conveyed in words"
Front line museum educators can play a powerful role in supporting learning
Visitor/Staff interactions also lasted longer when staff approached visitors
Staff facilitation prompted families to engage in more learning conversations
3 Distinct phases of role and goal negotiation between staff and adult visitors:
1. Initiating the interaction: staff members engage to establish role as learning facilitator, adults will communicate willingness (or not) to engage in interaction (TENSION is ongoing in this phase)
2. Facilitating the activity: staff and adult family members use strategies to support family learning and engagement, Adults try to maintain leadership by co-facilitating, sharing their knowledge, or overtly directing the learning
3. Introducing new learning goals: Staff members (sometimes adults) suggest a new focus to switch from free exploration to understanding the task at hand, adult visitors evaluate the new learning goals and will verbalize (or not) their support of the new goal and its transmission onto the family unit.
*Adult family members acted as gatekeepers—without support of this adult, it was difficult for staff members to establish themselves as facilitators to the learning experiences.
Physical and social contexts supported or inhibited staff members’ abilities to engage with families.
Staff members took advantage of situations where no instructional text was present to establish their role as an expert or knowledgeable.
Positive interactions occurred often when family members were confused about how to begin an activity or how to use the exhibit.
Implications of this research:
1. Museum staff should become familiar with family learning research and build programs and staff training around these models and principles.
2. Front-line museum staff should support the unique role of the adult family member in family learning
3. Designers and exhibit developers should work to create environments that support museum staff in supporting family learning.
Reading No. 4
Scaffolding Visitors Learning Through Labels
Journal of Museum Education
Joyce Wang & Susan Yoon
"Learners should be given the space to reflect on their past experiences to challenge the status quo and think critically about new experiences in the future."
Used three types of labels:
1. Visual digital augmentations: integration of computer-generated virtual elements with the real world—increases visitor engagement, but doesn’t focus on actual learning
2. Text-based questions: visitors are more likely to offer answers and ask their own open ended questions—encourages critical thinking
3. Text-based instructions: how to use a device—for purposes of study used to encourage collaboration
labelling increases understanding and enhances problem-solving and helps make associations with prior knowledge
***Collaborative learning positively impacts student achievement
Just one label is necessary for an impact on learning, but the type of label doesn’t matter
CLASS LECTURE NOTES
How do the learning experiences you've had reflect charts from previous week's readings
What are the different ways in which people learn vs how museums are organized
Immersive learning is very important—immersion learning can happen outside of aesthetic frameworks
Different mediums for learning—video, audio, interactive (something that can engage you) Something for everybody—have to have something for everyone because not everyone gets the same thing out of the same activity. Cater to everyone as much as possible
Visiting as family groups—create dialogues and conversations--intergenerational dialogues, something you can't get from a label
Personal experiences are different than experiences on a school trip
Visiting on your own can tend to be either really aesthetically pleasing while others that were aesthetically terrible
Expectation raised by something interesting, but then left feeling un-fulfilled is disappointing and puts a damper on the overall learning experience
Personal interests--does the museum have local ties or history? How does it represent it's location?
Building on previously learned knowledge is powerful
Providing opportunites for more in-depth learning: workshops, lectures
Are learning opportunities set aside specifically for children or has the education team integrated aspects of learning that is accessible for all visitors?
Do museums provide public outreach programs?--How is the community involved?
Do they offer pre and post learning opportunities?
How do you balance temporary exhibitions with permanent ones so that visitors can take away important knowledge and feelings from both--should they be balanced in what they offer and what visitors should expect?
How does architecture play a role in accessibility—get lost and don’t understand the flow--are maps really helpful? Was the building purpose-built or is the museum making an existing building work...why is that building important? Architecture can either be a big advantage or a big disadvantage to how visitors experience museums.
Reading No. 5
Who is Educating Whom? Two Way Learning in Museum/University Partnerships
Journal of Museum Education
Fern Silverman & Bradford Bartley
"...museums are responsive to the societies in which they exist"
Museums educators are also learners who must be open to engaging with those outside of the museum—community groups/organizations
Increasing accessibility means being open to new ideas and input from outsid and for both sides to be willing to “re-learn” (“two-way learning”)
How do we make museums more inclusive for those with varying disabilities and differences from our own?—This means creating ways for people to PARTICIPATE as a part of, not SEPARATE from the rest of the community:
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Could bring museum to them, but would that be as good as being in the museum? Being in the museum is as much of a social aspect—going out into the world/community as it is about the actual content and learned knowledge and experiences from the objects.
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Some theatres offer autism sensitive shows—keep lights on, reduce the noise performers make on stage—could this be an option for individuals?
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Providing braille plaques and signage or large print versions of text
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Providing sign language interpretation on videos
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Are there quiet spaces that act as buffers to sometimes overwhelming public spaces?
Successful partnerships:
1. Neutralize power imbalances: knowledge can flow in both directions in this scenario, as roles are more equal and both parties feel valued
2. Partners believe that their work will create real/positive impact
3. Can create goal-oriented outcomes—in this case increased social inclusion
Learning Circles: suggestion is made by one party and modifies based on that new knowledge *adds layers of understanding (Constructivism)
Reading No. 6
Shared Journeys Curriculum Theory and Museum Education
Journal of Museum Education
Julia Rose
“As curators, what we collect, whose stories we preserve, what inter- pretations we present, and our mandate to convey those decisions to millions gives us power. The power to determine who and what has value ...”
Debates about curriculum:
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Ethics
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Accessibility
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Accountability
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Power
How does language include and exclude potential learners?
Who’s voice should be heard?
Which interpretation should be on display?
Curriculum has been influenced by:
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Literary criticism
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Sociology
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Anthropology
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Psychology
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Theology
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Aesthetics
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Philosophy
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Gender studies
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Natural and Physical Sciences
Constructing curriculum takes into consideration:
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Who are the learners?
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When is a good time to address a particular subject?
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How do we represent the subject?
Like those who construct traditional curriculums, museum educators must select knowledge and provide its interpretation and narrative.
Museums educators must ask themselves, “How am I implicated in this interpretation?” and “How have I avoided implication in this interpretation?”
Intersections between traditional curriculum theory and museum education:
1. Knowledge Production: producing knowledge and legitimating truths—who’s point of view?
2. Adherence to a Democratic Ideal: Question the powers embedded in knowledge—can everyone’s voice be heard?
3. The Art of Act and Choosing: choosing certain knowledge draws on sets of values that serve the interest of the chooser, operates on aesthetic & political judgements
4. Curriculum as Text: “World Worlds”
5. Ethics of Interpretation: “Act of education are acts of influence”—we have the power to determine what and who has value—we must recognize this and act accordingly
“Museum educators recognize that knowledge production is a politically charged endeavor and are increasingly asking politically minded questions to inform their practice of making museum exhibits and programs available to broader audiences.”