Recent years have witnessed a surge in field-wide discussion about how to talk openly about race and culture within museum education. This article provides an analysis, using case studies from three culturally specific museums to explore how these identity-driven institutions navigate challenging, and often controversial, approaches to discussing…

Social phenomenological analysis is presented as a research method to study gallery talks or guided tours in art museums. The research method is based on the philosophical considerations of Edmund Husserl and sociological/social science concepts put forward by Max Weber and Alfred Schuetz. Its starting point is the everyday lifeworld; the…

This article looks at the notion of what, not who, is underserved in museum education. The importance of looking through, in, and from objects in order to uncover underserved questions and themes is vital. A willingness to consider new ways to approach collections and display is necessary to have a dialogue with our audiences about how museums can…

Since museums are cultural, educational, and social institutions, providing access to people with disabilities has increased in recent decades. This research examines the need and development process of the educational program, the Nature Senses Traveling Trunk, to serve children with Autism Spectrum disorders and visual impairments at the Lubbock…

This paper focuses on how peace education at a peace museum is promoted by a volunteer guide service for visitors. Peace museums are places where many materials related to war and peace history are on display. To support the learning experience of museum visitors, many peace museums in Japan provide a volunteer guide service. The Kyoto Museum for…

In April 2013, The Museum of Modern Art entered into a partnership with MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) provider Coursera to offer professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers all over the world. Since entering into that partnership, MoMA has developed two MOOCs: "Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies for Your…

The Gifted Specialist from the Florida State University Schools (K-12) and the Curator of Education from the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts planned a year-long project in which FSUS gifted elementary students (second to fifth grade) curated a one-gallery exhibition, entitled "Elementary Reflections," from the museum's…

Learning occurs in myriad ways yet most art museums remain wedded to visual instruction. Adult visitors touring the galleries are offered audio guides or lecture style tours to complement the visual but are there other ways to enhance learning? This article reports on a case study that found that active, multi-sensory experiences in art museums…

This case study of "Listen, Look, & Do," a multi-visit preschool program at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, provides a model for how other history museums can program for young learners in their neighborhoods. In striving to meet local community audience needs identified by annual evaluations, staff created a program that…

Museums have been transformed from facilities once preoccupied with collecting and displaying artifacts to institutions now mostly focused on education. Museum educators have been added to museums' staff, and large amounts of money have been dedicated to adult and K-12 educational programming. Stakeholders have asked to see the impact of their…

In this study, Simon Hayhoe investigates the experiences of blind museum visitors in the context of the relationships between the artworks they learned about in museums, those they experienced when younger, and the social, cultural, and emotional influences of their museum experiences. The three case studies he presents support his hypothesis…

This essay examines the educational practices at the Moderna galerija, a national museum of modern and contemporary art in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in the last twenty years. Its aim is to reflect on the museum education in relation to broader historical context, of the former Yugoslavia (the country Slovenia was a part of until 1991) and discuss how…

At a time of economic recession, museums are called upon more than ever to demonstrate their public value while simultaneously finding funding for their work. This series of case studies examines how three museums balance mission-based programming with generating revenue for their organizations. The Newseum, in Washington, DC, has repurposed…

This phenomenological case study investigates the lived experiences of five educators who engage in on-board educational programs, offered by the non-profit environmental organization "Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc", and follows their stories of place-conscious development leading to place-based educational engagement. By analyzing…

This case study focuses on "Walking Home Carrall Street," a series of walks with youth that took place in the autumn of 2010 on and around Carrall Street in Vancouver, BC. Through participant observations, interviews and analysis of the written reviews submitted by the youth, the purpose of the study is not to provide generalisable…