Learning to Teach in a Museum: Benefits of a Museum–University Partnership

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article centers on the results of a two-year study of a museum–university partnership conducted with 81 secondary preservice student teachers enrolled in a large public university in the Midwestern United States. The focus is on preservice student teachers’ experiences working in a large urban museum which also houses a public middle school (grades 6–8), in partnership with the second largest urban district in the state. In this setting, preservice student teachers worked weekly with small groups of sixth-grade students in the museum as part of a required undergraduate content area literacy teacher education course. This study highlights ways this museum–university field experience served as an important clinical component for preservice student teacher learning. Working in a museum provided preservice student teachers with opportunities to experience and engage in teaching opportunities using integrated curriculum and inquiry-based teaching. Findings also showcase how this partnership provided preservice student teachers with learning opportunities, including studying and connecting concepts of storytelling related to the museum, recognizing the museum as a teacher, and learning from other museum personnel and educators.