Skole og museum bør samarbeide bedre

Abstract

The objective of the inquiry is to reveal to what extent school teachers and museum educators ensure that museums are a learning arena for school pupils. We interviewed a small selection of teachers and museum educators regarding their practical and curricular collaboration prior, during and after a museum visit by a group of pupils. Our findings are in line with other international results, which show that teachers seem to regard museums visits as important for the student understanding. The questions asked include “How does cooperation between school and museum work? What do they actually cooperate about? What are the museum educators’ intention(s) when they plan their programmes? What are the teachers’ objectives when they plan their museum visits?” We found that museum educators are normally familiar with the school curriculum and the school discourse. When they evaluate their programmes, they ask the teacher but rarely the students/pupils, who museum educators tend to forget about. School teachers seem to understand the learning potentials of a museum visit, but rarely used it. Museum visits end up being “just another nice day on a school trip”. It is time for a new museum pedagogical approach, based on collaboration between schools and museums.