Just as a side note, I'd like to thank everyone participating in this discussion. I have a degree in Classics and I'm researching the various options available to me from this point. I'm leaning heavily toward museum education and this particular strand of discussion has offered more anecdotal and statiscal tid bits than practically any other source I've looked into so far.
From: Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Art Museum Educator Survey Response and education in general >Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 12:30:49 -0800 > >--- Jill <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > > > 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. > >For those who haven't or can't read the article, Ms. Mentor answers a question >from a person who wants to teach at a community college but doesn't want to get >an MA or PhD in the subject matter. > >For advanced HS and up, I'd definitely agree that you should have an advanced >degree in the subject matter in order to teach. On that level, the amount of >detail you will be teaching would only be truly understood by someone who has >had advanced coursework in the subject. > >But as I pointed out in my post, most museum education is done on the K-12 - >elementary to high school level. While I think all educators should constantly >be learning about their subject matter and advanced coursework is a way to do >it, you also have to understand that probably 90% of that knowledge will never >be used when dealing with the public and especially with children. > >And on the flip side, having advanced degrees doesn't mean that you can teach >either. I work as an education specialist with subject matter experts to >develop advanced coursework. Some people have a natural talent to teach and do >pretty well getting the basics of a course developed. Some should never step >foot in a classroom. It's rare to find someone who is equally gifted with both >teaching and being a subject expert. My job comes in with not developing or >correcting content but making sure that the content, activities and evaluations >accurately reflect course goals and objectives. (Otherwise known as, "Do not >abuse Powerpoint". :) > >So if I was looking to hire someone to develop and lead school museum education >programs, I'd pick someone with a strong education background and little >subject matter expertise over someone with a strong subject matter expertise >and little education background. Museums will always have subject matter >experts around. They don't always have good educators. > >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).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).