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Culture
came first, learning second. In American museums, the earliest examples of
the term education in museum mission statements were directed toward
promoting democracy. In this way education in American museums was tied
to the very identity of the nation.
During the late 1700s and early 1800s education in American museums can be
simplified as a time of conflict between scholarship and popularization.
Arguably, many of the early American public museums were little more than
sideshows of curiosities. The infamous American showman P. T. Barnum
exploited public interest in natural history by exhibiting the supposed skeleton
of a mermaid and entertaining crowds in institutions that were theatrical
venues as much as museums. Two exceptions were the Peale museums in
Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They were created as
institutions to help people better their lives. The Peale Museum in
Philadelphia used its exhibition space for public health campaigns and
demonstrations of the latest technological wonders. For example, its
exhibition of piped gas lighting was an entertaining, but convincing, display of
how gas lighting could transform Philadelphia. This was the beginning of the
public museum where the display of objects was for the enlightenment and
entertainment of the public.
The late 1800s were a boom time for American museums. Great institutions,
such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of
Natural History, both in the New York City, and the Art Institute of Chicago
opened during these years. Amateur-scientist societies were opening the doors
to their cabinets of curiosities for the betterment of the public. American
librarian John Cotton Dana was writing about the museum as an instrument
for popular culture. He wanted museums to be founded out of the highest
ideals for citizens. Yet this period marked a shift in public education
institutions, and by the first quarter of the twentieth century, universities had
become the primary institutions for public education.
A Shift in Education
One theory of how public education shifted from museums to universities in
the early 1900s points to differences in assessment. As schooling became more
common, a large system of assessment grew along with it. Museums did not
embrace assessment in their educational activities. Assessment in schools
provided the leverage necessary for additional public and government
support. Another theory was that the educational activities of museums relied
too much on the inherent ability of objects to speak for themselves. It was
thought that anyone who studied the object carefully enough, even untrained
observers, would understand the object's meaning. Public interest waned
when faced with multitudes of objects and little interpretation. In addition,
museums faced increasing competition from world fairs, which offered more
entertainment than the usually serious museums.
By the 1930s there was already a need to argue that museums could provide a
role in public education, even as an assistant to the education that took place
in schools. A new generation of curators in museums was focused on
collections, not education. Education in museums was no longer built on the
production of new knowledge, and instead focused on entertaining and
educating the public about information (that was not necessarily up to date).
Museums began to turn increasingly to educating schoolchildren.
In the 1990s research showed that museums not only provided rich education
experiences for families but also provided direct support for schools.
Museums played a role in the national infrastructure that supported public
education. Some argued that museums played a unique role by offering
benefits not found in schools: Museums were nonthreatening environments
that appealed to a wide range of audiences; they offered an interdisciplinary
approach; they had more flexibility than schools; and they had the capacity to
bring students, teachers, and the public together in new ways. Museum
education at the end of the twentieth century was much more than school
group tours and classes for adults.
New Directions
As museums positioned themselves in the educational infrastructure at the
beginning of the twenty-first century, there was increasing pressure to address
public issues, including failing school systems, community building, and
diversifying audiences. Museums responded to this pressure by expanding the
range of their educational activities. Education came to encompass the
development and interpretation of exhibitions, events, workshops, and even
the study of visitors' experiences and educational outcomes. Museum staff has
been involved at a national level in establishing standards for education.
Educational training for teachers has been offered through pre-service classes
and professional development. Education for children and adults has reached
diversified audiences through new programs in new locations, including
access programs for visitors with physical or mental impairments, and after-
school clubs and activities in museums, churches, and public housing.
Education in American museums, as Stephen E. Weil summarized it, has
shifted from being about something to being for somebody.
See also: NAT
Read more: the Museum as an Educational Institution - The Birth of Public
Museums, Museums after the Civil War, A Shift in Education -
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