At heritage sites, the best school programs start from a fundamental understanding of the goals of history education.In Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts, Sam Wineburg, a Professor of Education at Stanford University, explains how historians think about the past and how they use primary sources.Good history instruction, he tells us, promotes a kind of literacy, not one of names and dates, but one based on discernment, judgment, and contextualization The "Historical Thinking Skills" that...
The HRC thanks Julie Frey, Curator of Collections at the Litchfield Historical Society in Litchfield, CT, for volunteering to be a guest author for the following entry and for sharing her insight and experience with our readers.Are you struggling to manage your museum's collection?Are you unsure what records are important to properly document a new donation?Are you stuck with an antiquated cataloging or numbering system?Are there resources available that can help you?Absolutely! Managing museum collections...
Student field trips to museums are a great way for teachers to enhance their curriculum using authentic objects in a unique and enriching environment.However, the student-centered approach to teaching in the modern classroom (interactive group work for example) can look very different than the more traditional methods often employed in the museum gallery setting (such as the lecture-style guided tour).So Each May Learn by Harvey Silver, Richard Strong, and Matthew Perini is a great place...
People like to learn.That's the good news.The challenge for museums, however, is that people have many options competing with museum collections and exhibitions when it comes to where and how they learn new things. Lessons Without Limit by John Falk and Lynn Dierking introduces the reader to the concept of free-choice learning and outlines the characteristics of the learning public at various ages in ways that can help a museum stay competitive. The authors define...
"Excellent museum programs change adult lives." That's a quote from the introductory pages of Adult Museum Programs by Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer, et al., a helpful book that takes a fresh and professional look at educational programs geared for adults in the museum environment.Adults are a growing audience for educational programs in museums, and appear eager to participate in both traditional learning events such as lectures, tours, and workshops as well as newer presentation models such as...
