Hermanutic In The Museum

“I teach Hermeneutics. My students are in their last semester for the M.A. in Education. Some of them are already teaching in classes.”?Marta Filipe Alexandre,?a teacher in the?School of Education and Social Sciences at the Polytechnic of Leiria, presented me with her course.

Together we planned three classes in Museu de Leiria.

We are sitting in the school's colorful cafeteria where long blue lamps hang from the ceiling. Marta shared her insights about our project.

“From their reflections about the project I learned that giving students lots of free time in the museum is very important. First, they wander around and find what captures their hearts. Then, they deepen their view in one text, whether a painting, object or even a caption.”

“One of the students mentioned that, when she dived into the painting, you appeared in the gallery and you asked her to look for relations between the shapes in the painting and the frame. You gave her an idea to look at the painting from a fresh angle.”

How did you empower their Hermeneutics vision in the museum?

“Any text, but perhaps most readily seen with an art object or archaeological piece, has meanings that the situated viewers bring to the piece that the artist or author creator may not have intended. Meaning is construed and negotiated within context.”

What was the highlight of the visit?

“The highlight of the project was inviting Liliana to the museum.?Liliana is a lady who became blind in her late thirties. When Liliana shared her challenges as a blind lady my students were attuned.”

"Liliana touched the museum’s map for blind people, which is a relief at the entrance. She climbed the stairs. A student described her the welcoming photo: A cider tree, a blue river, and a mouse … Before she completed her description … Liliana jumped back. She was sure that there was a real mouse in the room."

"From that moment on students were more sensitive about the words that they described the objects to Liliana."