Toward sustainable museum education practices: confronting challenges and uncertainties

Director of the Einar Jónsson Museum, PhD, AlmaDís Kristinsdóttir, Iceland, will give a presentation based on her 2017 article "Toward sustainable museum education practices: confronting challenges and uncertainties" published in the journal Museum Management and Curatorship.

• Time: October 7 from 13:00 to 14:30 p.m. Danish time (Iceland time zone: 11:00 to 12:30)
• Link: Join Zoom Meeting
  https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/64695034196
  Meeting ID: 646 9503 4196

“In this article, I review literature spanning 35 years in relation to the contested educational function of museums and argue that as a profession, museum education faces serious practical and theoretical challenges within the organizational structures of museums, leaving museum educators in a precarious position. I ask what conditions and qualities contribute to sustainable and pedagogically successful museum education. I contend that museum education practices need to shift focus and to situate the profession within a broader theoretical context. Discussing the findings through three lenses – looking back, looking at, and looking toward – I propose sustainable museum education practices that require supportive organizational structures and the adoption of museum learning theories, and that encourage empowerment of museum educators as change agents.”