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
>
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