Museums are not just places to visit on field trips. They are rich sources of learning that can enhance your school curriculum in many ways. In this article, you will discover how you can partner with museums to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for your students.
Partnering with a museum can offer many advantages for your school, such as access to a variety of resources like artifacts, exhibits, and experts that can stimulate creativity in your students. It also provides opportunities to incorporate cross-curricular and interdisciplinary themes into your curriculum, which can help your students gain a better understanding of various topics. Moreover, museums are great for inquiry-based and project-based learning, as they provide an opportunity for students to explore real-world questions and present their findings to an authentic audience. Additionally, this kind of partnership can expose students to different perspectives and experiences, while also providing teachers with the chance to network and learn from museum educators and other teachers.
I love this topic because I did exactly this for many years while teaching middle school Social Studies and partnering with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Just knowing that the people we were studying from the ancient past - Egyptians, Greeks, Romans - could all be found through the objects they left behind was a huge teaching advantage. We also had an annual field trip to the MFA, and students loved coming face-to-face with the artifacts we talked about in class.
By working closely with museum educators to integrate their resources into the school′s curriculum (i.e. Develop lesson plans that incorporate museum exhibits, artifacts, or online resources to enhance classroom learning).
In my experience museums add just the right amount of variety to bring certain standards to life. If planned correctly, students can experience learning in a unique and memorable way. This combination is what often envelops the learning with emotion and seals in the desired outcome. Go to the museum ahead of time and plan the lesson in alignment with the exhibit make it meaningful, but don't over do it. Make sure you communicate what students need to leave the museum knowing and enjoy! The @Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale always planned with me and it was a great partnership!
Partnering with local museums is beneficial to the community. Museums offer students a global perspective on a topic and students can learn how to use interactive tools to work on projects connected to a museum exhibit.
We need to understand that there are different learning spaces and museums can become interesting options that enhance school learning. To achieve this, teachers must have prior positive experience with these spaces and be able to think about them from a teaching resource perspective.
To find museum partners, you need to do some research and outreach. Start by identifying your learning goals and needs, such as topics or skills to cover in your curriculum or resources and support from museums. Search for museums that match your interests and goals using online directories like the American Alliance of Museums or the Association of Science and Technology Centers. You can also ask your colleagues, parents, or community members for recommendations. Contact the museums that interest you by emailing or calling the museum education department, filling out an online form, or visiting the museum website or social media. Build a relationship with the museum staff by arranging a meeting, a site visit, or a phone call to discuss your goals and expectations. Don't forget to ask for feedback, suggestions, or referrals from the museum staff.
While most big cities have museums like the MET in NYC, the Getty in LA, and the MFA in Boston, there are so many more that don't get as much attention but can be equally powerful in engaging students. The beauty of working with a smaller institution is that they are often eager to partner with teachers, and to help you make the most of their collection as a teaching tool. For example, there's an amazing gem in Chestnut Hill, MA near Boston College called the Metropolitan Waterworks - an old Victorian-era pumping station for Boston. It's got these huge pieces of preserved machinery, and great opportunities to talk to kids about water, urban planning, engineering, and history.
Designing museum-based curriculum requires collaboration with the museum staff and your students. You should align your curriculum with the museum resources and standards, as well as involve your students in the planning and implementation. Ask them to choose the topics, questions, or projects they want to explore, based on their interests and curiosities. Furthermore, incorporate pre-, during-, and post-visit activities to prepare your students for the visit, facilitate their learning, and extend their learning after the visit. By doing so, you can ensure that your curriculum is relevant and rigorous.
Most museums have interactive websites that often allow for thematic collection searches. One of the first things I talk to my students about is the importance of provenance, and ethical collecting. It's important the students understand the differences between archaeology and treasure hunting - not 'digging for treasure,' but instead 'digging for information.' Most museums also have outreach, education, or community engagement professionals that can help guide you to the right kinds of learning experiences - both online and on site. Just as librarians are a library's best asset, the museum staff really are the engine behind the institution.
A curriculum which is taking a Project Based Learning approach, is a natural fit for a museum-based collaboration. In PBL units, teachers (and their students) are charged with finding ‘experts’ in the real world who do the type of work they are asked to mimic, answer similar types of questions these experts seek to answer, and provide insights into resources and solutions for the driving questions embedded in the projects. Museums are full of experts!
To evaluate museum-based curriculum, you need to collect and analyze evidence of your students' learning and engagement. Utilizing formative and summative assessments, such as quizzes, tests, rubrics, or portfolios, can measure your students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Qualitative and quantitative data can be gathered from surveys, interviews, or focus groups. Additionally, observations, field notes, or photographs can be used to capture your students' behaviors, interactions, or emotions. Feedback and improvement cycles should be used to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and to identify areas for improvement. Sharing findings and recommendations with museum staff and colleagues can help gain input and support.
In many ways, evaluating museum-based curriculum is similar to evaluating any other curriculum tool for efficacy, accuracy, and relevance. But, when thinking about on-site visits to museums, there are other factors to take into account - especially considering your student population first. For many, this may be their first time in a place like a museum, and things the adults take for granted may need to be taught explicitly to students - about getting too close or touching artwork, about using the informational tags, and avoiding 'museum fatigue' by trying to see every single object in a gallery. And, teaching middle school, I always had to prepare the students not to be too shocked at the 'clothing optional' Greek statues.
In order to sustain museum partnerships, it is essential to maintain communication and collaboration with the museum staff and your colleagues. To do this, you can express your appreciation and recognition by sending thank-you notes, certificates, or gifts. Additionally, you can share your successes and challenges with the museum staff by inviting them to visit your classroom or join your online platforms. Furthermore, it is important to explore new opportunities and possibilities by looking for ways to expand or deepen your museum partnership. This could include applying for grants, joining networks, or creating new programs. You can also seek out new museum partners or collaborate with other teachers to diversify your curriculum and learning experiences.
The ideal partnership isn't jus based on a single event like a field trip or a virtual presentation - Instead, it should be relevant to the classroom throughout the school year. And, as teachers build relationships with museum staff and get to know the educational programming and the collection better, they can refine and deepen the connection each year, crafting new lessons and revising existing ones.
A partnership between a school and a museum can be very productive because museums have a wealth of knowledge just waiting to be discovered! This summer we took our daycare children on a field trip to an art museum. It was Gari Melchers mansion and studio. We got to see the art and the mansion the artist lived in. The kids participated in a scavenger hunt. Each item found was of historical significance. There was a studio children could sit and create art in. We learned about the artist;how he lived and who he lived with. We got to stand in his hallway and look out of the window to the most spectacular views. It was such a fascinating learning experience.
Além das visitas presenciais, muitos museus oferecem recursos educacionais online, como vídeos, apresenta??es e materiais didáticos. Explore esses recursos para enriquecer ainda mais o aprendizado.