According to Matthew A. White:
>
> (Reply pending while I put on my flame retardant coat)
> As a person who has NO Museum "Classes" to my credit but graduate degrees in
> both history and teaching, I am rather rashly going to recommend that you
> take very  few "museum" classes, but focus instead on practical experience
> such as internships, volunteer work, and low paying part time jobs that may
> seem beneath you at first.  Once in these positions take on as many different
 
.................. students in these programs, and I do not mean to denigrate
> the value of that education, but my experience and that of many of my
> colleages convince me I am right, practical experience is more valuable than
> formal education in the job market and as an indicator of job performance
> when hiring.
 
I disagree and agree - of course!  The ideal combination is
someone with a sound liberal arts/disciplinary background with
a number of museum studies courses to indicate a familiarity
with the state of the profession, and some good practical
experience that shows one can translate the theory into
practice.  NO ONE entering a profession is going to have all 3.
 
The liberal arts/disciplinary background is essential not only
to provide a base to work from and develop from, but an
educator in an art museum without an art background is
seriously handicapped - same is true in other disciplines.
 
The museum studies courses are essential to learn the theory
and state of the profession - if one expects to learn it all
once on the job he/she will be sadly undereducated.  MOST jobs
do not permit the luxury of spending extensive time in reading
and expanding one's horizons outside the necessities for the
job.  It is also very unusual to be exposed to the details of
museum philosophy and operation for disciplines other than that
of your own institution.  Natural history museum folks can
learn a lot from history and art, and the reverse is also
true.  That exposure is more likely to come from courses and
workshops than from a job.
 
And of course, experience is essential.... for every level of
jobs in museums.
 
A profession grows by building on the knowledge and experience
of the past.... the body of information passed on to students
in museum studies course provides a basis to work FROM and to
add to.  Someone who does not have the luxury of spending a
year or two in a formal course structure, can gain that same
basis through a dedicated effort of self education and use of
workshops - but someone who does not dedicate him/herself to
that effort (and many, many people will not) will miss a great
deal of what the profession is and has to offer - and the
museum field will continue to merely repeat traditional modes
of operating instead of building new ones.
 
Institutions would do themselves and the profession a great
deal of good by assisting their employees to develop a
self-training program... through a combination of readings,
in-house workshops, and off-site workshops.  The profession at
large should require this of the institutions as a way to
continuously improve the level of standards of the museum
professionals.
 
my two cents!
 
--
Paisley S. Cato, Ph.D.                          e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Curator of Collections                          phone:  703-666-8634
Virginia Museum of Natural History              fax:    703-632-6487
1001 Douglas Ave., Martinsville, VA 24112