I can see that, but is it really about educating the public about
"the museum" or about what the museum is about?? As a member of the
public, I'm not going to a museum to find out about their policies. I
could care less. I DO care, however, about that fabulous Diplodocus
in the main hall, how it was built, where it was dug up, the science
of digging up, the wonderful characters who dug it up, whether all of
it is actually bone and how casts are made. Then, I want my children
to have an intimate, engaging, out of the box experience learning
about that diplodocus in a way that expands their life.

That's Museum education to me. It's the wonderful part of education,
not the dry crap. As for looking for someone with an education
background for a position, that's fine, but an education background
and a museum education background are often very different paradigms.

Just my two cents.

Cecelia Ottenweller


--- "Bodman, James" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Shirley,
>
> In my opinion, museum education means what it says.  Educating the
> general
> public about a museum's policies, museum's collections, museum's
> exhibitions, and museum's special programs.  Generally, the
> functions range
> from writing docent learning materials to traveling to schools in
> the area
> to educate children on a collection.  This is why a museum look for
> a person
> with an education background to hold this position.
>
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shirley Brown [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 10:29 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Definition of Museum Education
>
>
> Hello,
>
> What is Museum Education? I have been asking myself this question
> for the
> past few weeks and my definition has changed with research in
> learning
> theories, teaching styles, etc. I would like to ask everyone what
> is your
> own personal definition of Museum Education? Why is Museum
> Education
> special?
>
> Why am I doing this? I am fine tuning my definition of museum
> education for
> myself, and to see where I really want to go in the field.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Shirley Brown
>
> Email Address: [log in to unmask]
>
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