Jill et al:
Ms. Mentor certainly gives some good advice for those seeking to enter
academia. Yes, in order to teach on the college level, it is necessary to
be a subject area expert. In a college class, an instructor needs to know
and teach the latest theories and research with his or her students, which
why colleges and universities encourage -- dare I say require -- their
professors and instructors to pursue research and publish in academic
journals.
However, most museum educators are dealing mainly with a K-12 audience, with
a decided emphasis on the elementary grades. This audience isn't going to
be interested in or even understand theory and its related jargon. With
that in mind, I am not convinced that an educator needs an advanced degree
in art history or to be a "subject matter expert" in order to explore color,
line, shape, and texture in paintings with a group of 2nd graders.
It would be wonderful if all museum educators were experts in their subject
matter as well as in educational theory. But, as someone with advanced
degrees both in a subject area (history) and in museum studies, I find that
I draw considerably more from my coursework in museum studies than my
coursework in history. (And I have worked in the education departments at
history and art museums.)
Best,
Suzi
---
Suzi Fonda
Project Coordinator, Teaching American History Grant
Maxwell Library, Room 312
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater, MA 02325
508.531.2166
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Jill [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 10:08 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Art Museum Educator Survey Response and education in
general
Deb et al:
I must refer you to that fount of wisdom, Ms. Mentor. Her column, "Can just
anyone teach?" can be found at the following URL:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/07/2000072101c.htm
Please read it for a practical and wise explanation of why one does, in
fact, need to be a subject area expert in order to teach.
a sample:
"Ms. Mentor, more tactful and more gentle, will point out that there are
reasons for degree requirements: to make sure that the individual knows the
subject, knows the research, uses the most current teaching methods,
understands the theoretical jargon, and can share the rules of the field
with students. (Would you trust a mentor who had never been an academic?) "
Although Ms. Mentor's advice is for academics, I find her advice useful on
the museum track as well. And it sticks with me - I'm sure I read this
column two or more years ago when it was new, but the minute I read Deb's
response to the survey, I thought of it.
Jill R. Chancey, Curator
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
Laurel, MS
(phone) 601-649-6374
(fax) 601-649-6379
> Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 06:43:01 -0800
> From: Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Art Museum Educator Survey Response and education in general
>
> --- Treden Wagoner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > The two backgrounds are necessary. You have to have a command of the
> > content and methods of art historian and a foundation in educational
> > research and theory. To be an effective museum educator you need to be
> > able to speak the language of art and know how people learn.
>
> While I agree with the need to have a background in both education and
subject
> matter in order to be a museum educator, do you have to have an advanced
degree
> to do it?
>
> For example, if you are mainly doing grade school programs, is an MA in
art
> history really necessary? Do 10-12 year olds really need to know the
minutia of
> Renaissance painting or do they need to understand why medieval paintings
look
> "flat" and why Renaissance paintings look more realistic? The later is
> something that anyone with a basic art history background - not
necessarily an
> art history degree - could explain.
>
> One of my frustrations in the education world is talking to people trying
to
> hire educators or develop education programs and trying to get around this
> notion that people have to be subject matter experts to be educators. For
> example, I worked at a major planetarium for 4 years as a part-time
educator. I
> don't have a degree in astronomy but am a member of a local astro club and
> worked in planetariums in high school through college. The majority of
people
> in my audience didn't need astrophysics explained to them but wanted to
know
> how the find the north star and the big dipper. I think I did a better job
than
> some of the physicists on staff because I understood education and how to
break
> complex concepts down to a public education level. Trying to find an
answer for
> a 5-year-old who asks "How many stars are there in the sky" is much harder
than
> it sounds. Young children think 20 is a big number so "billions and
billions"
> is just not a concept they understand.
>
> So while I agree that the ideal for a museum educator would be to have
advanced
> degrees in both a subject and education, I don't think it is practical or
> necessary.
>
> And on the subject of education, I would also like to stress that if you
work
> with school groups, which most if not all of us do, you MUST have a
background
> in classroom education. I've seen too many museum education programs which
are
> very well written and put together that are impractical for the classroom
> teacher. Personally, I think all museum education programs should have a
class
> on traditional classroom teaching and a practicum/inservice with a local
public
> school. I think this would give museum people a basic understanding of the
> limitations and restrictions of what classroom teachers face which would
help
> educators better tailor programs to the needs of classroom teachers.
>
> Deb
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
> http://platinum.yahoo.com
>
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
