Family Groups in Living History Museums

Johanna Bromberg CraigEDLF 844

May 5, 2008

Caveats

Interpreters means museum staff members who dress in costume and work as historical interpreters (unless otherwise noted)Part of a larger on-going inquiry for my pilot study

Background

Family groups constitute the majority of museum visitorsFamily groups can be seen as a community of practice Living history museum visits are incredibly open-endedSocial construction of knowledge

Guiding Questions

What is the nature of learning embedded in the interactions between family groups and historical interpreters in a living history museum?What are the family groups’ beliefs about learning? What does it mean to them?What are the historical interpreters’ beliefs about learning? What does it mean to them?

Methodology

Interpretive paradigm

Erickson’s model of analytic induction as research strategy

Site and Sample

Medium-sized outdoor living history museum in Central VA3 family groups - moms and dads and 2 or 3 kids, ranging from 8-16 years of age4 interpreters

Approaching Random Strangers…

Families were surprisingly agreeable and accommodatingLesson learned - ask the whole group, not just one person

Data Gathering

Observation of the entire visitPre/post “family meaning maps” and interviewsObservations of interpreters with different visitorsInterviews with interpreters

Validity

Validity according to Erickson (1986) - immediate and local meaning of actions, as defined by the actors’ point of viewMade sure to have enough evidence in time and kindVignettes, Quotes, Graphics…Only assertions with a preponderance of evidence (and accounting for confirming and disconfirming evidence)Researcher as Instrument

3 Assertions

InteractionsProcess of VisitInterpreter Engagement Strategies

Assertion #1

parent/child - personal and culturalparent/interpreter - social and statusinterpreter/child - material “stuff”

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Assertion #2

Family groups interact differently throughout the process of the museum visit. This can be seen in the encounters early on in the visit as compared to encounters later in the trip. This is influenced by the efforts of each successive interpreter to make comparisons between farms and connect the farms thematically.

An example

“Jason tentatively approaches the closed door that is the entrance to the main house, and knocks quietly on the door. Alex looks up at him, rolls her eyes a bit and says in an exasperated tone, that he should “just open it!” Jason begins to open the door, and once it is partially open Alex steps in front of him and flings herself against the door, enthusiastically anticipating what she will see inside.” (Fieldnotes, 3.23.08)

Assertion #3

Interpreters’ interactions with family groups are influenced by their belief about their own learning and their beliefs about visitor learning, which shape their strategies for visitor engagement.

Caleb’s Own Learning

“Because as I learned as an actor, when you can actually put work and education and information into your body and into your brain by physically doing the work, or physically doing an activity, you remember it a lot easier, and it also um almost becomes second nature because it’s something that you do on a regular basis” (Interview, 3.27.08)

Caleb: Visitor Learning

“We are definitely a hands-on type learning experience… when first starting to work here I realized this is not the velvet ropes style of museum where you stand back and kind of look at an artifact and don’t really get a chance to touch it, feel it or experience it… uh, this is the place where you get to actually feel, and touch, and experience and work with just even the most simple of things, like just putting a bucket in a well, or uh using some of the flax tools, being a little bit more complex tools than that.” (Interview, 3.27.08)

Caleb and the Visitors

Forge only place in the museum that is not hands onCaleb made it so - hammers and bellows

Implications

How to get parents and children involved more collaboratively, thinking about more complex issues?Rethinking orientation video… new process?