The second chapter of Interpretive
Planning for Museums: Integrating Visitor Perspectives in Decision Making
(Wells, Butler, & Koke, 2013) reads as an academic approach to the
intersection of The Participatory Museum
(2010) and The Art of Relevance (2016),
two Simon texts I recently read. I like the way Wells, Butler, and Koke
integrate ideas of facts, educational needs, understanding visitors, and the
ways in which visitors make meaning from presented information. Learning by
rote is not, usually, conducive to meaningful understanding of concrete information
or abstract concepts. Instead, relevance encourages facts to take root along
with learned ideas, sprouting new connections, and branching into relationships
with a wider variety of subject matter. Museums offer long-term educational
value and are neglected as educational community assets (Wells, Butler, &
Koke, 2013, p. 26). Well-executed interpretive planning provides a path for
visitors to make connections to their own experiences and offers museums continued
growth and strengthened community bonds.
Unfortunately, due to personal issues, I was unable to
attend the guest lecture SHIFTING
CULTURE: Public Pedagogy in Visitor-Centric Exhibition Design by Susan Diachisin, the Tsongas
Industrial History Center’s Museum Education Supervisor. Given Diachisin’s 25+
years of experience, I am certain I missed a lot of insightful and helpful
information.
