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Transcript of Learning in the Museum: The Hepworth a Case Study By Charlotte Preston MA Art Gallery and Museum...
Learning in the Museum: The Hepworth a Case Study
By Charlotte PrestonMA Art Gallery and Museum Studies
‘Everyone should be able to learn from the wonderful treasures that museums
and galleries have to offer’. - The Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Culture, Knowledge and Understanding: Great Museums and Libraries for Everyone
– Arts Council England (ACE)
Questions To Examine• How should we define learning in museums?
• How has the approach to learning in museums changed over time?
• How can we measure the success of learning programmes?
• Why do museums and galleries now feel obliged to measure the success of their learning programmes?
• What has led to the popularisation of the term “learning”; why not “education”?
• What is the most effective approach to learning in the museum (in terms of facilitating the learning of the most visitors) - Didactic, Discovery, Constructivist, or something else?
• Why have some strategies taken precedence over others?
• What are the tensions between promoting active learning and maintaining the aesthetics of the gallery space?
• What are the government’s desired outcomes of museum learning programmes in terms of their impact on individuals, local communities and the economy?
Some Key Theorists
• Graham Black• Pierre Bourdieu• George E. Hein• Eilean Hooper-Greenhill• Brian O’Doherty
Today’s Focus
• What has led to the popularisation of the term “learning” in the museum; why not “education”?
• How should we define learning in museums?’
• The Hepworth Wakefield = the relocation and expansion of Wakefield Art Gallery.
• Built to house:– Wakefield’s collection of 20th century art– The Gott Collection – The Hepworth family gift
• May 2011: gallery opened to the public.
• Part of a city-wide regeneration strategy.
• Catalyst for: – Further regeneration?– Attracting people?– Attracting money?– Improving people’s perceptions of the city?– Raising the aspirations of young people in Wakefield?
GRAHAM BLACK, 2005
‘what really matters is not year-one figures for a new or largely redisplayed museum, but those achieved in years three and beyond when a
project is no longer new or a tourist destination has lost
its initial attraction’.
• Educational value?
• Ability to reach new audiences?
• What is the impact of these activities on the traditional art museum audience?
What has led to the popularisation of the term “learning” in the museum; why not “education”?’
Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, 1994
The use of the term “learning” is: ‘a measure of the acceptance of
the basic premise of constructivism: that learners
construct their own meanings and make sense in their own way of the learning opportunities they
experience’.
GRAHAM BLACK, 2005
• By reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in.
• Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current and past knowledge.
What is Constructivism?
Sir Andrew Motion, Chair of the MLA The word “education”
‘carries with it connotations of formal,
didactic, curriculum-based, teacher-led
processes’.
How should museums define “learning”?
• ‘The acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught’. The Oxford Dictionary
• ‘Learning is what you do when you don’t know what to do’. Guy Claxton
• ‘Learning is any more or less permanent change in behaviour, which is the result of experience,’. Peter Jarvis
We intend to build, ‘a shared quality framework that draws on models like Inspiring Learning for All [a programme launched
by the MLA]’.
The MLA’s Definition of “Learning”:• ‘Learning is a process of active engagement with
experience.
• It is what people do when they want to make sense of the world.
• It may involve the development or deepening of skills, knowledge, understanding, values, ideas and feelings.
• Effective learning leads to change, development and the desire to learn more’.
The Transmission Model of Communication
‘active engagement’ suggests that the MLA
rejects this model.
Barbara Hepworth is
ACE!a
CURATOR
FATIGUECROWDS
NOISY KIDSHUNGER
BLADDER PRESSURE
‘The receiver is conceived as cognitively passive, and
contributing nothing to the process. The role of the receiver is
simply to receive’. (Hooper-Greenhill)
‘Once a receiver is brought into the process to play a more active role, the whole process changes and begins to break up […].
The work of meaning-making begins to be shared between the two parties. The greater this sharing process, the more likely effective communication is to take place’.
Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, 1994
Shared Meaning Making
‘Communities […] want to participate in the interpretation of
collections; they want to discuss and debate the issues raised and share
their views with others’.
The MLA Say:
‘[learning] may involve increase in skills,
knowledge, understanding, values and capacity to reflect’
‘
GRAHAM BLACK, 2005
‘In truth, learning is a continuous process, a state of becoming, rather than a unique product with distinct and totally quantifiable outcomes. […]
Specifically, any effort to define, observe and measure the effects of a visitor’s interactions with museum objects and exhibitions, that seeks to understand how those interactions contribute to that individual’s growth, change and/or development, must be conducted over a reasonably large framework of time and space’.
The Problem with Attempting to Measure Learning