The diverse and egalitarian nature of Estonian education has been attributed to the relatively high degree of teachers’ autonomy. Among other things, teachers are free to decide how and where to ...teach, and it is very common to teach in out-of-school settings such as museums, science centres, etc. The network of different learning sites that schools use has not been thoroughly described in previous literature and is thus somewhat hidden and vulnerable to rapid societal changes. Thus, this article aims to describe the practice and perceived role in formal education of on-site educators from museums, environmental centres, and other similar institutions of science and culture. Seven semi-structured focus-group interviews were carried out with 27 educators. This purposeful sample was compiled with the help of experts in the field. The limitation of this sample was that it brought together representatives of outstanding providers of curriculum-related learning activities, and so it describes the practice of excellent rather than novice or un-motivated educators. On the other hand, such a sample gives us a deeper understanding of the best practices and possibilities of the field. We found that similarly to previous results, the core practice of on-site educators involves creating, developing, and carrying out learning activities, and general organisational work. Based on the interviews, the practice of on-site educators can be described as flexible, spontaneous, collaborative, seasonal, place- and theme-specific, and project-based. Their practice is also diverse in terms of tasks both on daily/yearly basis and throughout their careers, thus illustrated by low routine and high creativity. The background of on-site educators is diverse and there are no standard career or education paths, but they can be described as strongly oriented towards constant self-development and learning, although the majority of interviewees had obtained both theoretical and pedagogical training from university and had also worked as teachers at some point in their careers. They enjoy their work and feel that it is important to connect students with nature, culture, art, or whatever their field is, to enrich their lives, support their studies, and build a better society. Thus, they often explain the value of their work through the lens of life-long learning of their students. We conclude that out-of-classroom education in the form of field trips to museums and other similar institutions is deeply connected with curriculum and helps to achieve sustainable development goals. However, as the funding for field trips has steadily increased in the past years and there are more and more schoolteachers who have no professional pedagogical training, an increasing number of schoolteachers seem to be unprepared to support students in out-of-school learning environments. We describe and expand on good practices to support schoolteachers in out-of-school learning activities and in collaboration of museum on-site educators and schoolteachers; for example, joint training programmes for in-service schoolteachers and on-site educators (especially for supporting students with special needs and content- and language-integrated learning in the context of Russian speaking students), and career changes between schools and museums (on-site educators becoming teachers and vice versa). We documented some clever funding schemes that act as boundary objects and enhance collaboration between schoolteachers and on-site educators, but we also suggest avoiding pressuring the content of learning activities through funding, as this could hinder teacher autonomy and lead to unnecessary standardisation. We suggest creating coherence between different ministries who govern schools, museums and providers of environmental learning activities, and involving on-site educators more in wider educational discussions. Education is much more than schools, and on-site educators should be considered as equals to schoolteachers when it comes to funding and decision-making about education.
Müzeler, sosyal bilgiler dersinde yararlanılabilecek okul dışı öğrenme ortamlarından biridir. Sosyal bilgiler dersinde okul dışı öğrenme kapsamında müzelerden etkili bir biçimde yararlanmak için bu ...konuda yapılan bilimsel çalışmalar ilgili alanyazına önemli katkılar sağlamaktadır. Sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimi ile ilgili çalışmaların incelenmesi bu çalışmalardan elde edilen sonuçlardan daha etkili bir biçimde yararlanmayı sağlayacaktır. Bu araştırmada Türkiye’de sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimine yönelik yapılan çalışmaların meta-sentez yöntemiyle değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada 2010-2021 yılları arasında yayımlanan sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimine yönelik nitel bulguları olan iki yüksek lisans tezi ve 17 araştırma makalesi incelenmiştir. İncelenen çalışmalara Yükseköğretim Kurulu (YÖK) Tez Veri Tabanı, TR Dizin, EBSCOhost ve Google Akademik veri tabanlarından ulaşılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında yer alan her bir çalışma amaç, araştırma deseni, çalışma grubunun seçimi, veri toplama araçları, sonuç ve öneriler başlıkları çerçevesinde analiz edilerek incelenmiştir. Veriler betimsel analiz tekniğiyle çözümlenmiştir. Türkiye’de sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimine yönelik yapılan çalışmalar genel olarak incelendiğinde, çalışmaların katılımcı görüşlerini almaya yönelik olduğu, yöntem kapsamında daha çok olgubilim deseninde yürütüldüğü, çalışmalarda veri toplama aracı olarak en çok görüşme formunun kullanıldığı, araştırmaların çoğunda çalışma gruplarını öğrencilerin ve öğretmen adaylarının oluşturduğu ve çalışma grubu belirleme yöntemine yer verilmediği görülmüştür. İncelenen çalışmalarda sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitiminin zorluklarına ve yararlarına ilişkin benzer sonuçlar bulunmaktadır. Yine incelenen çalışmaların öneriler bölümünde sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimine yönelik görev yapan öğretmenlerin eğitimine, öğretmen adayı eğitimine, araştırma konusuna ve müze ile eğitim sürecine ilişkin öneriler sunulmuştur. Araştırma sonuçlarına dayalı olarak, sosyal bilgiler eğitiminde müze eğitimine yönelik uygulamaya dayalı çalışmaların yapılması ve araştırmaların yöntem bölümünde verilen bilgilerin detaylandırılması biçiminde çeşitli öneriler sunulmuştur.
While there is extensive evidence that STEM careers can be important pathways for augmenting social mobility and for increasing individual prestige, many youth perceive a STEM trajectory as an ...unattractive option. In the USA, women and members of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups continue to be underrepresented across STEM disciplines. One vehicle for generating and sustaining interest in STEM is providing youth long-term access to informal science education (ISE) institutions. Here, we incorporate triangulation methods, collecting and synthesizing both qualitative and quantitative data, to examine how participation in a longitudinal ISE out-of-school time (OST) program facilitated by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) impacted the STEM trajectories of 66 alumni. Findings revealed that 83.2% of alumni engaged in a STEM major, and 63.1% in a STEM career, the majority whom were females and/or members of historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Based on interviews with a purposeful sample of 21 AMNH alumni, we identified four program design principles that contributed to persistence in STEM: (1) affording multiple opportunities to become
practitioners of science
; (2) providing exposure to and repeated experiences with STEM professionals such as scientists, educators, and graduate students to build
social networks
; (3) furnishing opportunities for participants to develop
shared science identities
with like-minded individuals; and (4) offering exposure to and preparation for a variety of STEM majors and STEM careers so that youth can engage in
discovering possible selves
. These findings support our central thesis that long-term engagement in ISE OST programs fosters persistence in STEM.
The involvement of all participants within all aspects of the research process is a well-established challenge for participatory research. This is particularly evident in relation to data analysis ...and dissemination. A novel way of understanding and approaching this challenge emerged through a large-scale international, 3-year participatory research project involving over 200 disabled people. This approach enabled people to be involved at all stages of the research in a manner that was collectively recognised to be participatory and also delivered high-quality findings. At the heart of this emergent approach to participatory research is an engagement with risk. This research note explores the types of risks involved in delivering research that seeks to be authentically participatory.
Closing the Gap between Museums and Schools Zbuchea, Alexandra; Ivan, Loredana; Timofte, Mona-Silvia ...
Culture. Society. Economy. Politics,
12/2022, Letnik:
2, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Museums’ roles are diversifying considering their dynamic relationships with the present-day economy, society, and communities. Nevertheless, education is the main constant marketing museums’ complex ...activities. An important part of the educational mission of museums is designed with and for teachers and their students. Nevertheless, these partnerships are complex and they need more understanding for designing more effective educational programs. Having this in mind, the present study analyzes the way primary-school teachers in Bucharest, Romania, interact with museums and how they use their collections as educational resources in class. The qualitative investigation implemented shows that there is a high potential for partnership and teachers need more guidance and cooperation opportunities coming from museum educators and curators.
The term ‘social responsibility of museums’ implies various associations, most frequently referring to the sphere of management and the activities of commercial entities in accordance with the ISO ...26000 standard. In this article, we report on some of the tasks performed in connection with a project based on a sociological perspective and addressing the social responsibility of public cultural institutions such as museums. As this concept is relatively new, we decided to check how it is understood in the social world of Polish museum professionals. The research was therefore carried out using elements of the grounded theory methodology, i.e., the concepts (categories) were not defined at the outset, but defined and characterised in the course of the research according to the understanding of the respondents. Using a triangulation of methods, an analysis of found data, individual interviews in Polish museums (IDI) and focus group interviews (FGI) in Polish and international groups were conducted. A particularly interesting strand of the Project was museum education and its growing importance. This article focuses on the conducted focus group interviews (FGI). A specific commentary on the findings is provided by the reflections given during a guest lecture by Dr Bernadette Lynch organised as part of the Project.
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have been increasingly incorporated into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, leading to greater inclusion of ...students in real-world STEM practices. Implicit within the definition of CUREs is the notion that generated research findings will have relevancy to one or more communities beyond the boundaries of the classroom. However, limited studies have examined this dimension of CUREs, and those that have present conflicting results. To address these concerns, we conducted an exploratory mixed methods study to investigate the impact of embedding a museum education experience into a one-semester introductory biology CURE on student, faculty, and staff outcomes. Analysis of student survey data indicated improvement in attitudes, confidence, and science/museum skills following participation in the CURE. Semi-structured interview responses provided by CURE faculty and museum staff revealed similar perceptions, highlighting the value of museums as a novel avenue for engaging CURE students. Collectively, these data suggest that involving and supporting STEM students in the design and installation of museum exhibits has the potential to be a powerful tool for achieving broader relevance in CUREs.
Museum education is a dynamic and evolving field, requiring a commitment to continuous professional growth and the integration of best practices as they develop. As the field has shifted towards ...creating participant-centered experiences that encourage active learning and dialogue, museum educators have been seeking new ways to enhance their practice and provide visitors with meaningful experiences. One such approach is the adoption of a coaching mindset, drawing on core competencies from the professional field of performance coaching to support museum educators. This article will explore how the effective application of five key coaching competencies, alongside a coaching mindset, can empower museum educators in their practice, improve their museum teaching, and enhance the visitor experience. By exploring the impact of coaching competencies and mindset on museum education practice, this article aims to contribute to a broader understanding of the potential benefits of utilizing coaching approaches in the field of museum education.
Recent literature on mentoring revises the long-held notion of a dyadic, master-apprentice affiliation to better reflect the fluid, flexible, and even non-hierarchical dynamics that occur between ...mentors and mentees today. Relational mentoring, intersectional mentoring, and co-mentoring models offer frameworks for reconsidering the role of mentoring in the museum education field, both for newcomers and for museum professionals with many years of experience. Centering four mentor-mentee conversations about the role of mentoring in their professional lives, this article captures the crucial, though rarely documented, importance of mentoring, and also enumerates various ways that mentoring shows up for museum education professionals at various points in their careers. In doing so, it makes space for mentoring as part of the larger discourse around how we navigate the profession and care for one another in the process.
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