Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Role of Museum in Children Education
The Role of Museum in Children Education
The Role of Museum in Children Education
THE ROLE OF
MUSEUMS IN
CHILDERN EDUCATION
Submitted to:
Dr. Gul Rahim Khan
Submitted by:
Muhammad Sher Ali Khan
(Research Scholar, Ph. D)
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT MUSEUM
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A Working Definition
Classification of Museums
1. Societies Museum
2. National Museum
3. Specialized Museum
4. Archaeology Museum
5. Site Museum
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Ethnological Museum
Arts and Crafts Museum
Historic Houses Museum
Virtual and Science Museums
Working Museum
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Computer and Interactive Media
Practical Workshop
Learning Games
Educational Demonstrations
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INTRODUCTION
Museum; the preserver of cultural material and as an institution, has been a vital
asset of teachers by utilizing its objects as resources as well as it provides an ideal
setting for learning (Bonner 1985:288). Like libraries, museums are holders and
protectors of information and research. In its early days, museum was merely a
place of collection of object and artifacts from the past, but as time passed the
scope and function has been no more a place of collection but has the potential of
transmitting knowledge to a large community of users which in the past were
considers as passive visitors. The aim of the present essay is to explore the role of
museum in children education.
The first part of the document deals with the basic concepts of museum such as
definitions, origin and development as well as classification of museums. It is
essential because if it is a science museum or history and art, the task of every
museum is to build up and transfer knowledge to the community. On the other
hand, people use different museum for certain task; for instance, the science
student can find best a science museum to visit than an art gallery.
The next part devises museums users in term of purpose they visit. For example,
many people in the business who are equally in the service of community
manage exhibitions and workshop for the public. For this they heir museum
space and utilizes the museums building or sometime its resources. On the other
side educational users have more consecutive applications of museums
resources. A large part of these people is general visitors come to museum for
amusement and recreation.
The museum primarily, in todays world, is to build an environment for learning
and even sometimes it stresses more on learning desire than the learning itself. In
this children education becomes very critical and a challenging task for schools
and museums authorities. Museums provide various services and the schools
organize tours and visits to these museums. Children learn in the museum or
from its material whereas the museum education develop their thinking ability,
motivation, the capacity of analyzing and synthesizing, the aptitude of problem
solving and build up creativity and intellectual capability.
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ABOUT MUSEUM
A Working Definition
Traditionally museums are considered to be the protectors of arts and history,
but due to its rich repository and other revolutionary functions museum has
been more than a mere historical object. It collects artifacts related to the past and
constructs the presence of history. In addition, the popularity and an increasing
number of visitors as well as multidisciplinary approaches have given a new
dimension to its concept and an invitation to the concerned authorities to re-visit
the current definition of museum. In this regard many positive responses are
helpful to redefine the term. Some of representative concepts are as under:
The Museum Association (UK) defines a museum as an institution which
collects, documents, preserves and interprets material evidence and associated
information for the public benefits. (Ambrose & Paine 1993:8)
International Council of Museum (ICOM) further elaborate the structure of
museum as it is a non-profit making permanent institution in the service of
society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves,
researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education and
enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their
environment. (Boylan 2010:222)
The American Association of Museums harmonizes the structure and function of
museum as mentioned above definitions but delineates some of its terms and
defines the term museum as a non-profit permanent, established institution, not
existing primary for the purpose of conducting temporary exhibitions open to
the public and administered for the public interest. Further it explains these
aspects that museum is conserving and preserving material for study, interpreting
and exhibiting them to the public for instructional, enjoyment and educational
purposes. Moreover, it must artistic, scientific, historical and technological
materials (Op. cit.). Thus museum is not only a building made for this purpose but
also include all natural and cultural heritages such as historical houses and sites,
botanical gardens, zoological parks and historical societies etc.
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Classification of Museums
1. Societies Museum
Early learned societies are one of the originators of public museum. These
societies were form to explore and research in the indigenous cultures, arts and
literature, science and technology, and other aspects of native antiquity and
history. This was so particular in Asia. In India the Calcutta Museum; the most
imposing of Royal Asiatic Societys museums, was originally the protector of the
extensive material from its culture and civilization.
2. National Museum
This is sometimes referred to Historical Museum. The aim of such museum is to
construct national identity through its repository and collections. It is distinct
from other museums aiming stimulating patriotism by directing attention
toward objects of the history of a particular community, in the form of art and
archaeology, even the existence of specimen of other kinds.
3. Specialized Museum
The purpose of these museums is to collect objects of some specialized subjects;
such as musical instruments. In fact, through diversified aspects of human
culture, attention was given to industrial design and technical achievements are
considered to the vehicle of museum formation. On the other hand; such
museums targeting youth and children, often arrange exhibitions and
educational programmes, or other interactive material on wide range of topics.
4. Archaeology Museum
Archaeology museums are specialized in exhibiting artifacts from the past. The
museums repositories are arranged in chronological order and constructs from
antiquity and history. However, the archeological wealth may be classified
according to genres and are provided galleries; for instance, ancient artifacts,
historical documents or objects, and modern or contemporary artworks etc.
Generally the term museum is interpreted with this class of museum among the
common people.
5. Site Museum
Site museums are established for the excavated finds from archaeological site. It
provides an opportunity of visit and study material in context. Moreover, the site
is being preserved is important in its own right. Thus interpretive facilities are
provided to the visitors having a special concern regarding the environment of
site as well as to maintain the site in a possible good condition.
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6. Ethnological Museum
Ethnological wealth includes implements of people of primitive material culture,
their garments, idols, and other objects created by them. It visualizes the social
and cultural life of a community. These museums generally collect tools,
instruments, and weapons etc. to construct the evolutionary phases of a culture.
7. Arts and Crafts Museum
In addition to the archaeological and ethnological museums, the arts and crafts
museum aims to collect and conserve artworks for the benefits of public. These
museums are sometimes called as art galleries. In one respect this is the
foundation concept of museum where people in the past initiated to collect and
display celebrated artworks of the great masters. In modern concept, such
museum does not display these artworks but kept them in print room as a
primary record. Drawings, prints, paintings, ceramics, metal works, furniture,
artists sketchbooks or notebooks and other types of the arts and crafts etc. are
the fundamental objects these museums have.
8. Historic Houses Museum
The concept of preserving houses and buildings or residences related to some
historical person, event or so was developed in the mid of nineteenth century.
These buildings are considered as national heritage. In such museum objects
associated to the historical person are kept and preserve for the purpose of
interpreting the person as well as a reflected time period.
9. Virtual and Science Museums
In the contemporary society with the growing of technology such as the
expansion of web are the pretexts of virtual museum. Digital images from
diverse sources are managed to interpret the cultural and natural heritage as well
as to share and communicate the information with a wide range of audience.
Science museum revolves around the scientific achievements and to interpret
complicated inventions through interactive media or demonstrations. In
addition, geology, botany and zoology are among the main subjects of this type
of museums.
10. Working Museum
Such types of museums are aiming to organize workshops where traditional
crafts are manufactured for the purpose the benefit of museum. Artisans and
craftsmen create objects of their respective cultures or regions and authorities of
the museum exhibit, promote and sell these crafts.
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2. Educational Users
Another group of museums users is the learners; the professional or scholars
and the students. Though museum is not a formal institution but an informal
training or most correctly establishing awareness in the community is a far
reaching purpose of museum. Why efforts are made to collect artifacts of a
culture, resorting and displaying them and preserving them? What is the
purpose of museum in the preservation and conservation of a culture of
indigenous and international level? These and other so many questions one may
ask to understand purpose of a museum. But a simple answer to these questions
is that the museum reconstructs knowledge and let public and community to
participate in the knowledge culture and serve people in education.
According to ICOM museums are the permanent institutions in the service of
society and its development. Of the two types mentioned above one are the
scholars who survey the collection of a certain museum and present them to the
community in understanding communities of the past and plan for present or
future. Thus these people need more than ordinary visitors. On the other hand
student in a field also the immerse users of the museum collections and
resources. These two kinds of people are the real interpreters of these resources.
Some of the educational group are students of museology and are trying to
interpret the museum, its collection and management aspects of the museum
rather than the contents.
3. Recreational Users
The most common group of museums users is the people who visit museum for
amusement, enjoyment and recreation. Like many of recreational centers such as
parks, theaters, art galleries, historical site or other important spot, museum is
also a place where visitors come and commemorate their visits.
Most people who travel beyond their cities and country keep a special schedule
in their programme. Because of increasing views museums are regarded as
tourist destinations. For this group of people the museum provides a number of
possibilities. The museum for them becomes a place of amusement and they
enjoy the artworks; they try to interpret indigenous material culture and its
historical background; and also construe the intercultural motives and
derivations from collections of the museum.
Some scholars, such as Booth, suggest three kinds of users these are general,
educational and specialist. The above-mentioned groups may be further divided
into a number of other criteria; such demographic, institutional or individual,
group or single etc. but these studies are generally conducted by the museum
authorities and students of museology to understand museum and its users.
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The function of museum has been changed time to time in different areas. In its
early infancy the museum was only a way of collecting objects from the past,
then came the learning phase where elites were using masterpieces for training
purpose and its last phases it became a place of conservation and protector of the
cultural material. In the current time, the function of museum is more than a
place of conservation and preserving the past in tangible form but it must share
and continuously reinterpret them.
The increasing awareness and curiosity regarding subjectivity, meaning and
identity the museum has become a place of learning (Hooper-Greenhill 2007:1).
Because they are playing part in shaping knowledge by putting its collections
which are combined from finds of disparate and fragmentary status to a logical
order. Consequently the government and museum policies are reshaped to fulfill
this criterion. However, learning and education are two different aspects of the
process of getting knowledge.
The learning in one respect is a way of getting information or knowledge in an
informal means, but the term education is understood in a different mood. The
education then means to get a formal training in or from museum and its
collections. In the first it has no limitations while the other is restricted to
predefined procedures such as syllabus and a teaching system.
The idea of the first is that many people are neglecting their own history and
cultural values and have limited or no knowledge of other cultures. For this
museum evoke patriotism and national identify. In the second, the museum
provides service to students and professional from different subject areas.
In the present study the term education is used in a sense where museum adds
some special values to the formal school and college system, or as it is a kind of
teaching aids. Demographically the museum users who use its resources for
educational purpose may be divided form age-group or learning level; such as,
the kids or school children, youth or college students, and the qualified and
scholars particularly in scholars of the universities. The later two groups are
beyond the limits of the present study and a focus is given only on children.
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CHILDREN EDUCATION
The museum experience and education can be best analyzed by the type of
museum and objectives of the educational programme or session. However,
there are certain considerations beyond the individual studies (specific subject
such as history, science or arts) where a number of levels for deducing which
can be measured to interpret learning from or in the museum. These are
discussed as follow (a major part of this is taken from J. G. Donald 1991).
Retrospective Learning
This is the most common concept that museum researcher and analysts adopt for
the effectiveness of museum. The criterion is that children spend time in a
focused task activity with how much they learned during that session? Those
who have investigated such type of studies are in the opinion that time on task
variable has a major effect on learning. This impact can also be measured from
the perspective of before-and-after or compare and contrast study designs.
To add more, the first visit may be compared to the next. Because as researches
reveal that museum environment, exhibits and labels are foreign to children,
therefore in its early commencement students give more attention to the exhibits
than labels or they give more response to peers while observing graphics. In any
respect children seek knowledge and learn more in the museum setting than
formal classes or school environment.
Tangible and Tactile Teaching Aids
The importance of Teaching Aids is crucial in learning process especially in kids
and children education. When these aids are tangible or tactile, it increases the
weight even more. Objects and exhibits in the museums are tangible rather than
visual or charts; for this children feel it a real environment. Moreover, there are
more possibilities for students to get involved in various activities. They enjoy,
converse with strangers, observing and even acting, and thus the whole
environment pleasing rather as compare to classrooms. In addition, the visit may
be used as a follow-up step in learning where instruction and certain lessons are
supported by guided tour or activity.
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