Creating Meaningful Museum Experiencesfor K12 Audiences: How to Connect with Teachers and Engage Students is the first book in more than a decade to provide a comprehensive look at best practices in working with this crucial segment of museum visitors. With more than 40 contributors from art, history, science, natural history, and specialty museums across the country, the book asks probing questions about museum-school relationships, suggests new paradigms, and offers creative approaches. Fully up-to-date with current issues relevant to museums work with schools, including anti-racist teaching approaches and pivoting to virtual programming during the pandemic, this book is essential for both established and emerging museum educators to ensure they are current on best practices in the field.
The book features four parts: Setting the Stage looks at the how museums establish and finance K-12 programs, and how to engage with the youngest audiences. Building Blocks considers the core elements of successful K-12 programming, including mission alignment, educator recruitment and training, working with teacher advisory boards, and anti-racist teaching practices. Questions and New Paradigms presents case studies in which practitioners reconsider established approaches to museums work with schools and engage in iterative processes to update and improve themfrom evaluating K12 museum programs to diversifying program content, to prioritizing virtual programming. Solutions and Innovative Models offers examples of programs that have been reimagined for the current landscape of museum-school collaborations, including practicing self-care for teachers and museum educators, investing in extended school relationships over one-time visits, and highlighting the stories of enslaved people who lived at historic sites.
IntroductionTara Young
Part I: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1: Unpacking the Field TripTara Young
Chapter 2: Taking First Bites Out Of Museum Education In The Big AppleSamantha Hirsch and Sierra Van Ryck DeGroot
Chapter 3: A Challenging Proposition: The Financial Realities of Museum EducationErik Greenberg
Chapter 4: An Ideal Partnership: Museums and Museum SchoolsKatherine Kelbaugh
Chapter 5: Partners in Learning: Early Childhood Visitors, their Companions, and MuseumsDena Rapoport and Meghan Lally Keaton
Chapter6: Integrating Engineering and Empathy in the Pre-K/K ClassroomMelissa Higgins and Michelle Cerrone
Part II: Building Blocks
Chapter 7: A Pedagogical Philosophy as a Guiding Light for Museum Education DepartmentsJason Hanley, Deanna Nebel, and Mandy Smith
Chapter 8: Creating an Effective Teacher Advisory BoardMegan Clark and Heidi Moisan
Chapter 9: Building the Museum Educators of the Future: A New Model for Staffing School ProgramsSuzi Fonda
Chapter 10: Sustainable Training for Museum Education StaffSarah Sims and Maria Russell
Chapter 11: Exploring Impacts of Whiteness on Art Museum Field Trip TeachingHannah D. Heller, Michelle Antonisse, and Amanda Tobin
Chapter 12: Everything But the Education: The Importance of Mastering Field Trip LogisticsOlivia Edlund
Part III: Questions and New Paradigms
Chapter 13: Rethinking Museum School Partnerships: Collaborating with Teachers to Develop Personalized Programs Kyla Cook, Jenny Flowers, Wendy Quinlan, and Heidi Rouleau
Chapter 14: Powerful Educational Partnerships: A State Museum Association Model for Access and LearningHeidi Lung
Chapter 15: Into the Classroom: Making Museum Education Essential in School CurriculumGwyneth Mac Murtrie, Jetta Walls, Nancy Merriman, and Richard Segerdahl
Chapter 16: Inspiration QuotientJason Pallas
Chapter 17: Representation Matters: Diversifying School Tour CurriculumJessica Fuentes
Chapter 18: A Decade ofThink Like an Archaeologist: Sustaining and Evolving a Cross-Institutional Partnership and Multi-Visit Outreach ProgramLeah Burgin, Geralyn Ducady, Mariani Lefas-Tetenes, and Sarah Sharpe
Chapter 19: Teaching Beyond the Apocalypse: Taking Virtual Learning from Pivot to PriorityJacqueline Eyl and Lucy Stirn
Part IV: Solutions and Innovative Models
Chapter 20: Sparking Innovation in Museum/K12 Programs through Self-Care and Social-Emotional LearningRachel Straughn-Navarro, Molly Nevius, Amanda Martin-Hamon, and Kristina Walker
Chapter 21: Eight Months and Five Days: Student& Teacher Learning During Classroom in Residence at the HammerTara Burns
Chapter 22: Teaching Slavery at a Historic Site: Interpretive Approaches, Audience Engagement, and Lessons LearnedMargaret Hughes
Chapter 23: Passport to Museum Learning: Academic programs at Shelburne MuseumMollie Davis
Chapter 24: Influence with Integrity: Two Models for Museum-Based Youth Development ProgramsKeni Sturgeon
Chapter 25: Developing Online Teaching Materials on Contemporary Asian ArtSharon Vatsky and Queena Ko
About the Editor
About the Contributors
