A Reflection for Art Museum Education

By Olga M. Hubard.

Abstract:

Acknowledging that the purpose and form of inquiry processes can vary across and within disciplines, this article focuses on interpretive inquiry: the kind of inquiry conducted to interpret works whose reading is not “rigidly pre-established and ordained” by a set of cultural references, but rather invite “freedom of reception” (Eco 1989, 6). Through comparison of two real-life inquiries, the author shines a light on the distinctive features of interpretive inquiry. These include a web-like meaning making process, a reliance on analogies and metaphors, and the possibility of accepting uncertainty as part of the work’s meaning. Implications for art museum education practice are explored.

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• Olga M. Hubard (hubard@tc.edu) is assistant professor of art education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120 Street, New York, NY 10027.

DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2011.00079.x

© 2011 The California Academy of Sciences

By George E. Hein.

Abstract:

John Dewey’s association with Albert C. Barnes significantly influenced his monumental Art as Experience, a fact Dewey fully acknowledged both in that work and in other writings. Yet Barnes’s contribution to Dewey’s ideas has seldom been discussed. Even those who write about Dewey’s aesthetics frequently ignore it, or provide distorted descriptions of Barnes’s life and of the two men’s relationship. Dewey was drawn to dynamic individuals who provided empirical evidence for his philosophical views. Barnes’s passion for education, conviction that looking at visual art could transform lives, and faith in action all influenced Dewey’s thinking. An examination of the Dewey-Barnes correspondence and of some of their joint activities helps set the historical record straight about Dewey’s debt to Barnes. It also contributes to our understanding of both men’s aesthetic theories and is particularly relevant as the Barnes Foundation moves to a more public venue in Philadelphia in 2012.

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• George E. Hein (ghein@getty.edu) is professor emeritus at Lesley University.

DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2011.00077.x

© 2011 The California Academy of Sciences

Victor D’Amico and the Museum of Modern Art, 1937–1969

By Briley Rasmussen

Abstract

This essay addresses the pioneering work of Victor D’Amico, the first director of education at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and an influential art educator. During his tenure at MoMA, D’Amico explored the role of museums in developing creativity through direct aesthetic experience and the larger social implications of art museum education. Victor D’Amico led the Education Project at MoMA, which began as a part-time school partnership program in 1937. By the time he retired in 1969, he had become an internationally recognized leader in the field of art museum education. Yet today his influence is little known and seldom discussed. This essay focuses on two important programs he developed at MoMA: his most widely acclaimed and influential program, the Children’s Art Carnival (1942-1969), and the groundbreaking art education television series Through the Enchanted Gate (1952-1953).

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• Briley Rasmussen (brasmussen@lacma.org) is manager of museum learning at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90036.

DOI: 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2010.00046.x

© 2010 The California Academy of Sciences

by Linda Duke

by Beverly Sheppard

by Jessica J. Luke, Karen Knutson

Abstract

The Learning Science in Informal Environments report holds great potential for creating change among those who work in the field of science education. But to what extent can it inform other sectors of the informal education world? This article explores how the LSIE report might influence research and practice in art museums. By comparing the report to a recent study in art education, the authors point out areas of overlap and divergence relative to content and skills, identity, and communities of practice. We suggest several implications for how art museums and science museums might learn from one another. A call to action is made for further research and discussion about common learning goals and outcomes for the art museum experience.

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by Vera Michalchik and Lawrence Gallagher

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners concerned with STEM learning (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) occurring outside the institutional boundaries of schools recognize the need for assessment approaches that accommodate the characteristics of informal learning. These approaches, to be viable, must align with the activities, goals, roles, and outcomes we find in informal settings. A plausible starting point is in making use of naturalistic assessments—people’s own on-going, developing awareness of who can do what under which circumstances. People regularly and informally assess one another to shape and support learning activities, goals, and outcomes. This article seeks to make a case for developing a new research program for assessing learning outcomes by capitalizing on people’s everyday attunements, which are already in place, and by getting more value out of the cultural apparatus that exists for recognizing one another’s capabilities.

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• Vera Michalchik (vera.michalchik@sri.com) is a Senior Social Scientist at SRI International in Menlo Park, California.
• Lawrence Gallagher (lawrence.gallagher@sri.com) is a Research Social Scientist at SRI International in Menlo Park, California.

by Jon D. Miller

Abstract

This article outlines a different view of the changing nature of adult learning in the Internet era. The old model of learning—the warehouse—is being replaced by a “just-in-time” system of information acquisition. The NRC report focuses too heavily on finding missions for existing institutions and pays too little attention to the pervasive changes in information acquisition and adult learning in all areas. An analysis of existing data demonstrates the relative impact of formal and informal learning and points to opportunities for enhanced adult science learning in the future. In a just-in-time world, museums and similar informal learning institutions will need to be less dependent on their physical setting and more focused on learning as the end product. It will also be necessary to find a viable revenue model to support this emerging mission.

Note: The bound copy of this issue of Curator: The Museum Journal contains an error. Figure 3 is incorrect; the correct figure is below:

Figure 3: Museum Visits by Adults, 1982-2007.

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by James Kisiel, David Anderson

Abstract

The National Research Council report Learning Science in Informal Environments provides a much-needed synthesis of what research says about informal learning. LSIE makes key observations about science learning and emphasizes the challenges faced in trying to understand and document those complex processes. Yet assumptions about how—and under what conditions—people learn science are not necessarily universal constructs. Such assumptions are driven by the theoretical perspectives of the researchers, as well as the culture of the learners themselves. The limited scope of the volume prohibits it from fully addressing such cultural and historical contexts, and the subsequent implications for methodological approaches. Nevertheless, the report is an important starting point for informing educators, researchers, and policy-makers who work with or within informal science institutions.

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by Andrew Shouse, Bruce V. Lewenstein, Michael Feder, Philip Bell

Abstract

In this article, the editors of the recent National Research Council report Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits discuss the report’s implications for museum professionals. The report is a synthesis of some 2,000 studies and evaluations of learning in non-school settings such as museums. Here we focus on three specific topics discussed in the full report, which we see as particularly important for museum professionals. These are: a framework for developing and studying science learning experiences; cultural diversity as an integral resource for learning; and assessment of learning. Many museums include “learning” among their goals and many researchers concern themselves with how museums and other settings can be organized to support learning. Yet this wealth of research is rarely brought into focus and offered as guidance to the museum community.

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• Andrew Shouse (awshouse@uw.edu) is associate director of the Institute for Science and Mathematics Education and visiting assistant professor of Educational Psychology, University of Washington. 
• Bruce V. Lewenstein (b.lewenstein@cornell.edu) is professor of science communication, Cornell University.
• Michael Feder (mfeder@nas.edu) is a senior program officer with the Board on Science Education, National Research Council.
• Philip Bell (pbell@uw.edu) is director of the Institute for Science and Mathematics Education and associate professor of the Learning Sciences, University of Washington, 1100 NE 45th Street, Suite 200, Seattle, WA, 98105.