(R)EVOLUTION OF MUSEUM EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In the paper the results of research titled Cultural Institutions during COVID-19. Museum Strategies for Reaching the Public are presented. It was conducted by the Forum of Museum Educators as commissioned by the National Institute for Museums and Public Collections (NIMOZ). The main purpose was to show the impact of the pandemic on the operations of museums after 12 March 2020 when the decision was made in Poland to close the culture sector to the public; the aim was also to diagnose and analyse problems that the pandemic caused, and to point to the directions of impact on cultural institutions possible in the future, namely after restoring ‘normality’. The perspective adopted in the research, i.e., institutional and individual one, enables a multifaceted analysis of the processes initiated by museums in response to unclear and often complicated mechanisms of the new pandemic reality, which still today, some dozen months since its outbreak, continues for museums the source of challenges as far as logistics and financing issues are concerned.

Redesigning Post-Graduate Courses for Future Museum Educators in Time of a Pandemic: An Experience from University Roma Tre

The present paper aims to illustrate the reorganization of the second year course “Standards for museum education” of the two-year post-graduate course “Advanced Studies in Museum Education” promoted by the CDM (Museum Education Centre) – Dept. of Education at University Roma Tre, that was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to analyse the educational strategies adopted in terms of museum educators’ professional development to face the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown of Italian museums and universities. The results, taking into consideration the activities and digital tools proposed, show in university students the efficacy of the course reorganization, in terms of transverse and professional skills development, critical thinking and collaboration in particular. Moreover, the data analysis offers useful indications in terms of university online lectures, e-learning laboratory activities and practices, evaluation tools and methodologies aimed at promoting professional development of in-training museum educators in a university learning context.

Professional development of in-training museum educators: an experience of curriculum improvement in time of a pandemic

The present paper aims to illustrate the reorganization of two post-graduate courses, “Museum Education. Theoretical aspects” and “Advanced Studies in Museum Education” promoted by CDM (Center for Museum Studies) - Dept. of Education at Roma Tre University, carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to analyze the education strategies adopted in terms of museum professionals development to face the Covid-19 museum and universities 2020 Italian lockdown.The results emerging from the quantitative evaluation of the module “Museum and Social Networks”, taking into consideration the activities and digital tools proposed, show the efficacy of the courses reorganization, in terms of transverse and professional skills development in university students, critical thinking and collaboration in particular. Moreover, the data analysis give useful indications in term of university online lectures, laboratory activities and practices in e-learning mode, evaluation tools and methodologies aimed at solliciting professional development of in-training museum educators in university learning context.

Perceptions of Educational Agents Regarding the Use of School Visits to Museums for the Teaching of History

(1) The use of heritage in fieldwork, enabling the analysis of historical sources in museums via school trips, contributes towards the development of historical thinking and the formation of active, participative and critical citizens within the field of formal education (2) The general objective of the present study is to estimate the value which teachers and museum educators confer upon museums and school visits in the stages of early years, primary and secondary education. The research method employed is quantitative, based on the study of a descriptive comparative cross-sectional survey. The participants are 442 teachers, who visited two archaeological museums with their class groups in order to carry out an activity relating to the subject of history, and 18 museum educators. The data collection tool was the MUSELA © questionnaire. (3) The main results indicate that both teachers and educators agree that it is the responsibility of the educator to connect the visit with the interests of the group. 70% of the museum educators are totally in agreement with the academic perspective provided by museums, and more than 75% of the teachers and museum educators are totally in agreement with the fact that the objective of museum visits is to increase knowledge and cultural experience. (4) Educational agents’ understanding of the use of visits to archaeological museums as field trips for history work is a challenge that must be confronted over the coming decade. It is necessary to promote a model of collaboration that develops interaction by generating common educational projects.

The Use of Activities and Resources in Archaeological Museums for the Teaching of History in Formal Education

The research objectives of this paper are to compare the activities which have been prepared in the design of field trips from the perspective of teachers and museum educators, as well as to describe the use of resources and materials from the point of view of educational agents. The research method is quantitative, based on the study of a descriptive comparative cross-sectional survey. The participants are 442 teachers of early years, primary and secondary education, visiting two archaeological museums with their class groups in order to carry out an activity relating to the subject of history. The data collection tool was the MUSELA© questionnaire. The main results show that 60% of the teachers state that they prepare some kind of activities and 70% use some resources within the design of a field trip to an archaeological museum. On the other hand, 94.4% of the museum educators carry out activities using resources in the museum visit. The main conclusion is that the activities which are most used by teachers and educators in the museum (experimentation and artistic workshops, audio-visual observation and viewing tasks and debates or sharing) and by teachers in the classroom space (audio-visual viewing) do not guarantee research activities, analysis or reflection activities.