Educating the public in the modern museum

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Teaching in the Art Museum: Education as Experience

By Rika Burnham and Elliott Kai-Kee

Visiting a museum can be a humbling experience. Trying to overcome the sterile and intimidating context can make viewers feel shy or unwelcome. Yet, it is common knowledge that museums house some of culture’s greatest treasures and can be exciting places for learning. But the objects cannot talk, so a meaningful experience with art requires active participation, which raises the significance of museum educators and their teaching.

Education in the art museum has grown leaps and bounds in the past hundred years. From lectures and art classes to workshops and dialogues, educators have pushed teaching philosophies in dynamic directions that have made the imposing context of the art museum an exciting space for learning.

Museums sometimes feel like another world. The imposing architecture, the vast amounts of knowledge represented, and the museum culture feel far removed from our everyday lives. Yet this is exactly why museum educators are so important and vital. They can make artwork personally relevant and facilitate active learning. By acknowledging and using the experiences that visitors bring to the museum, the dialogue that develops allows learning to happen in a way that is not dependent upon the knowledge of the teacher. In this manner, the looking experience can be unpredictable yet controlled. It's a philosophy that both authors of this book, esteemed museum educators Rika Burnham and Elliott Kai-Kee, feel is indispensable for the museum visitor.

Teaching in the art museum dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when docents (guides) were first contracted by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to provide information to visitors. An intermediary between the artwork (or was it the curators?) and the visitor, it was apparent that this new position was helpful and a physical manifestation of the educational work that museums should perform. Immediately questions arose about the teaching given by docents and the relationship between appreciation and providing information. The information lecture dominated much of museum education in the first few decades of the 20th century. Then the wave of progressive education ideologies, influenced by the philosopher John Dewey, became a strong influence as several institutions adopted student-/visitor-centred educational philosophies. The act of doing something was emphasized, whether it was taking notes, engaging in discussion, or drawing. As educational philosophies developed, so did the museum's responsibility to its public. By the 1930s it was a common assumption that public museums should provide educational services.

The progressive philosophies developed in the early 20th century continue to have an influence on the profession of museum education in the 21st century. Dewey's seminal text Art as Experience is acknowledged as a key ingredient. Dewey felt that the fundamental element of art was not the physical object but the development of an experience with the work of art. The authors write about the magical and whole aspects of having ‘an experience’ that are quite different from the experiences in everyday life. ‘An experience’ is finished in a satisfactory way like a problem solved, connected by emotion; the experience happens continuously with a balance of engagement for a concentrated time period. This is the type of engagement the authors seek with visitors as they hope to alter perceptions.

The strongest aspect of the book is not its sharing of a teaching philosophy but lies in the sensitivity the authors display in acknowledging their own journeys as viewers and the impact it has had on their teaching. Burnham does this incredibly well in describing her experiences with a painting of St Francis. Her interpretative struggles are recounted as she attempts to understand the work from an insider perspective that values the many interpretations she has heard. It is an interesting path that is both emotional and intellectual. It is important for a teacher to understand its significance in order to teach others.

Talking about works of art is at the heart of this book and the authors are keen to reflect on how this happens successfully. Chapter 5 breaks this type of learning into three categories: conversation, discussion, and dialogue. Conversation and discussion are the two extremes with dialogue fitting in-between. Conversation is a loosely structured mode of talking about art that requires a cooperative exchange between the participants. In comparison, a discussion is a much more directed experience that requires participants to arrive at a particular truth. It is a purposeful act that addresses specific questions. Dialogue fits between the extremes because it adapts the improvisational aspects of discussion along with a stronger directional pedagogy to the discourse. A model the authors’ advocate, which allows room for the visitor to explore the art, but uses the expertise of the educator.

In Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience Burnham and Kai-Kee have written a collection of essays geared for the knowledgeable art educator or humanities student. The authorstogether offer a wealth of issues of which every museum professional should be aware. The essays are clear and readable, and readers can pop in and out of the chapters depending upon their area of interest. While museum professionals stand to learn the most from this text, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the intricacies of how best to learn from art objects.

Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experienceby Rika Burnhamand Elliott Kai-Keeis published by Getty Publications 2011. 160 pp., 9 colour illus. ISBN 978-1606060582

G. James Daichendt, Ed.D.

Associate Professor and Exhibitions Director, Azusa Pacific University

G. James Daichendtis author of Artist-Teacher: A Philosophy for Creating and Teaching