International Journal of Education & the Arts

Citation: White, B. (2023). Museum education: Multiple perspectives. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 24(si1.0). http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea24si1.0

We might call this issue a pandemic offspring. Initially, colleagues and I received federal funding to conduct a study of teacher education student learning prompted by interactions with artworks at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. We had barely got started when the pandemic forced the closure of the museum and drastically altered our teaching and research strategies. Our study depended upon interactions with actual artworks (not digital reproductions), extensive in-person group work, and flexible scheduling, so it became immediately apparent that our original plans were not going to work. Rather than trying to redesign our study into something we felt would be a pale version of the original plan, we decided, instead, to invite museum educators to write about their current work; and we would publish the papers, in one format or another. This issue is one result of that call for papers. It provides an overview of educators currently working within the contexts of their particular and varied connections to museum education, and from many parts of the world.
This issue contains eleven articles divided into five sections. Links will be apparent, not only within sections but from one to another. Where the goals of the author(s) signal a somewhat different direction, I have inserted a new section. The first section, articles 1 & 2, address primary education specifically. The second section, articles 3 & 4, take a more global view of museum education, although article 3 does also prioritize primary education. Section 3, articles 5 – 7, look at museums where art is not the primary focus. Section 4, articles 8 & 9, return to a focus on art museums, but for purposes unlike those addressed in the earlier articles. The final section, articles 10 & 11, look at equity and related issues from quite different standpoints. At the risk of over-simplifying, here, I will provide a brief overview of the articles.