Learning to Teach Newcomer Students Using Dioramas of North America

Abstract

This chapter illustrates a “learning to teach with dioramas story”. A story based on the assumption that, in the same way that visitors are inspired by dioramas, we should explore how teachers respond to dioramas on both personal and professional levels. The story reveals the variety of teacher knowledge and interests that eventually evolve into lessons. The teachers are attending Masters-level Teacher Education programs and the courses are collaborations between these programs and the education department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The teachers are studying pedagogy in a museum setting. The main thrust of this course is the strands of learning science in informal settings (NRC 2009), backwards planning design, and the qualitative methods of observation, recording conversations, surfacing key ideas in focus group, and how to use museum-created resources. The setting is the Hall of North American Mammals and the question posed to teachers was, “How would you use this exhibition and its dioramas to teach newcomer students about North America?” The process of planning and implementing their lessons begins with examining their personal interests and motivations, their reactions to aesthetics of dioramas, what they know about their students, the content they need to teach and how they may teach it in museums. Their science content is Earth science. In addition to the teacher knowledge construct, the story surfaces theories of aesthetics and how dioramas first impress us with their images and locations. The teachers’ voices reflect museum education research on conversations in museums.