museum education and development

Swagata Mukhopadhyay

Museum: A Learning Centre Engaging the Audience


What is a Museum?

A museum is an organization that is vested with the responsibility of upkeep of the collection of artefacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The continuing acceleration in the digitization of information, combined with the increasing capacity of digital information storage, is causing the traditional model of museums (i.e. as static “collections of collections” of three-dimensional specimens and artefacts) to expand to include virtual exhibits and high-resolution images of their collections for perusal, study, and exploration from any place with Internet connectivity.


What is Museum Education?

A Museum is not an educational institution in the formal sense rather is in its broader sense of the word. Museum can offer an educational experience across a wide range of variables. The meaning of museum education is that museums provide a learning situation in which the visitors experience learning which generally involves attending to an object, a display, label, person, element or some mental construct of these. The data a visitor receives during a museum visit tends to bear a ‘contextual map’. The museum visit represents a collection of experiences rather than a single unitary phenomenon. These experiences will become embedded in memory altogether with the result that any one facet of these experiences can facilitate the recapitulation of the entire experience. Thus Museums are rather a source of intellectual stimulation and entertainment.


Comparison of Formal Education and Learning in Museum

Options Academic Learning Museum Learning

Free Choice None Yes

Basis of Lessons Text Objects

Sense s Most Used Oral Visual

Curriculum Syllabus-bound Personal Experience

Formal Appraisal Yes None

Time-Schedule Yes No

Learning Linear non-spontaneous

Prompt, comprehensive and miscellaneous


Changing role of Museum

Initially museums were personal curio collection of royalties and nobilities and access to these collections was a prerogative of the same and some noted scholars. Nevertheless two epoch-making events in World History, i.e. American war of Independence (1776) and French Revolution (1789) resulted into the declaration of Human & Civil Rights which subsequently opened new vista for the development of education and culture.This new development further intensified the collection of objects of art and culture and a gradual increase in public access to museum collections. Education was put as one of the major function of museums.

ICOM’s Definition of Museum


A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.


American Association of Museums defines a Museum as

“An organised and permanent, non-profit institution essentially educational or aesthetic in purpose, with professional staff which owns and utilizes tangible objects, earns for them and exhibits them to the public on some regular schedule.”

This author defines a museum as a service

provider for the spread of knowledge.


Thus, conspicuously there are three distinctive accountabilities of a Museum:

1. Educational

2. Social 3. Entertainment

Of which Educational accountability is

prime and most prominent


DEFINITION OF EDUCATION

Education is defined as the process of experience, generally called learning which brings in desirable changes in human behaviour; with respect to knowledge, outstanding skill and attitude.


Capable to cater to different audiences Digital Learning

Gallery Interpretation

How a museum is centre of Education and Learning?


Best Practices those can be adopted as means to impart Education and Knowledge

Label Gallery InterpretationVisitor Survey: Assessment

and implementation of museum plan.

Audience Management: Visitor friendly watch & ward staff

Programme for Community Learning (Family, Children, Adult, Disabled etc.)

Reception: Physical and Intellectual orientation

Information Management: Signage, map, info volunteer etc.

Practical Wing: Pottery, Photography, Musical or Art workshops/studios

PR tool, Publication & Museum Shop


Key tools for Educating and Engaging Audiences


Modes of Learning in Museum


EDUCATION CAN BE IMAPRTED THROUGH:

Exhibition

Gallery Talk/

Guided Tour

Object / Diorama

Label

Programmes for

differently abled visitors

Electronic

technology

Publication &

Research

Outreach Program

mes: Loan kits,

Mobile Exhibitio

n Activities for

children


Advanced and expert label and label book writing

Most of the Indian museums are following the same old dowdy mode of label writing which needs to change immediately. As prevailing in some leading international museums, they have an entire separate division for Label Writing in a very innovative manner. Label is the direct most source of interpretation of exhibits to a visitor. Naturally it needs to be presented very precise yet stylishly. The colour combination, font and text should be very innovative but brief and simple at the same time. So that it interests young, adult and senior visitors alike. The idea of Label Book also seemed very innovative. To avoid the monotony or even to draw the attention of (especially curious)visitors towards a gallery or particular exhibit the use of label book can be very unique. This label book should be spiral-bound and kept in a space which is easily noticeable to the visitors like near visitors’ bench or the introductory label. Under the prevailing circumstance, museologists and experts in the field may concentrate on improving the allover arrangement of label for a better interpretation of objects to the visitors.


Gallery Interpretation

Development Principles

i)Varietyii) Focus

iii) Extensioniv) Participation

Strategic Aimsi) Digital

interpretationii)Audio-tours

iii) Access for Visitors with disabilities

Categorized Gallery

Planning


DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES


Variety:

Interpretation promotes learning

by offering a variety of ways into the collections that appeal to visitors of different ages and backgrounds.


Focus:

The primary purpose of gallery

interpretation is to help visitors engage with the Museum’s collections on-site; it should be available alongside the objects and galleries that it refers to.


Participation:

Visitors’ voices are core both in

the development of the interpretation and in the continued life of galleries after opening. Opportunities for dialogue and consultation with visitors are actively sought.


Balance:

Interpretation should be

sensitive to the objects, complementing rather than overwhelming them. It should be presented in a style that is in keeping with the gallery design.


Strate

gic Ai

ms


Digital

Now-a-days to reach out to a greater section of populace, digitization of every possible aspect of museum is very important. The web-site should be thoroughly updated and user-friendly as well as fresh. Museums should avail the capacities of online media/services. Installation of kiosks, screen and alluring presentation through them will also pull a great number of people especially young ones.


Audio-tours

Audio interpretation of galleries or exhibits is a very effective mode of narrating things to the visitors. A recorded voice-over can be run in general in every gallery or headset can be provided for visitors’ personal heed at a particular place inside the museum or each gallery.


Access for visitors with disabilities

Brail scripts of labels, sound box, wheel-chair etc. should be made available for differently abled visitors.


G-Goal: The goal of museum as a centre of Education is to attract as much audience as it can reach-out to – Nationally and Globally – and make them aware of their heritage and culture.

R-Reality: Present Indian museums are not fully utilizing its capacity as an informal educational institution

O-Option: to identify its strength which are already available with them and put the same into practice. Also it can considerably publicize its activity and potency through proper channel.

W-Way-forward: The foremost function of a modern museum is to utilise the objects of the past as tools to generate knowledge and thereby enlighten the minds of the public.

G-R-O-W

model


Independent Departments and Learning Centre

Engaging students of related discipline as well as public, conducting research programs and teaching are some key accountability of modern museums. Separate wings should be introduced to effectively carry-out such functions. Apart from this workshops and studios can be set up to involve students and other visitors as well as for their hands-on experience. The necessity of learning is, one, to engage the visitors more closely with the collection in order to increase audience and attract new audiences. Secondly, this way a museum will successfully be able to raise its profile and visibility. And finally it will generate awareness regarding art, culture and heritage among the populace.


Why and How to implement the policies regarding Learning Centers in Museum

In order to meet this requisition a museum must identify the types of audiences it will provide its services to. Broadly, there can be visitors like specialists, artists as well as people from creative industry, students, personally curious and enthusiasts or people who will visit museum without any definite purpose in mind or just for the sake of visiting. Whoever the audience is their purpose for coming into the museum can be such:

Knowledge Skills Pleasure Social experience Motivated by curiosity and internal incentives To gain general experience, not restricted by conventional subject

boundaries. Outside their own area of expertise they will be novice learners

The kinds of events that can be arranged for engaging museum audiences in learning are:

Informal Talk or tour, film, performance demonstration, music, lecture or interview, study day or seminar, conference and symposia, course and most importantly practical workshop or Master Classes.


PublicationPublication and exhibition are the two salient facets of any museum. Publication is the key tool for learning as well as marketing. This can be digital or direct. The direct techniques involve, publishing leaflets, postcards, catalogues, posters, gallery sheet, any other popular and scholarly publication etc. The digital mode, most accessed, accepted and appreciated as well, involves Web-site, SEO and Links, E-mails, social media, radio channel and even apps. Whatever the means is, the basic motive is to make people aware, involve & connect with them.


PR tool & Museum Shop

Another means of engaging the target audience in Museum Learning is through Public Relation. Preview Articles of the events and exhibitions of museum or Interviews, Listing and Reviews can be done as part of Public Relation management. Museum shop should have a tasteful assortment of articles related to Museum Collection, of various types of visitors’ curiosity. All the scholarly or popular publications related to Museum collection and events or any other research should be available in Museum Shop to cater to inquisitive audiences.

museum education and development

Government & Nonprofit

museum collections

museum visit

meaning of museum education

audience swagata mukhopadhyay

development of education

learning centre

learning situation

collection of objects