Chinese Science Museum Educators’ Perspectives on the Contradictions between Their Practice and Visitors’ Expectations

Abstract

Science museum educators’ perceptions of the relationship between their professional practices and visitors’ expectations affect the formulation of their self-identity and their educational practices as museum education professionals. Situated in the sociocultural context of Chinese science museums this phenomenological study explored the perceived contradictions between museum educators’ and visitors’ expectations from the educators’ standpoint. In this study, 23 museum educators from five Chinese science museums participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Informed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) the outcomes suggest four thematic contradictions within the activity systems composed of museum educators and visitors. This study demonstrates the sociocultural complexities of educator-visitor relationships and offers suggestions for building a collaborative learning community for museum education in Chinese science museums. Moreover, the outcomes have relevance for other museums situated in similar cultures around the world where science museums and museum education are a relatively new and developing enterprise.