Upcoming school group visit to the museum? Consider these tips on a quick school-museum communication to make the most out of it!
Are you a teacher taking your school group on a museum visit soon? Or are you actually on the ‘other side’ – a museum educator or volunteer expecting to welcome the school group at the museum? In this blogpost, we share some tips on what you can share with each other beforehand to make the most out of the children’s museum visit.
- Briefly discuss each other’s goals for the visit.
In our research, we learned that goals can significantly vary not only between school and museum, but also between teachers at the same school. For example, we saw that some teachers wanted children to become familiar with the act of going to a museum, while others had specific learning goals (like reinforcing concepts such as sound or light). This is not necessarily problematic. Even if you’ve agreed on participating in one of the fixed museum programs for schools (with fixed goals and curriculum), it is good for museum staff to know if teachers have specific expectations. Sometimes, very small tweaks, like specific comments by the guides, can support the children in making relevant connections to school and their learning.
- Discuss and be realistic about the pre-visit preparation.
Over the years, our museum colleagues have stressed to us how important it is for school groups to do some preparation in the classroom before going to the museum – this often leads to the best results. Our conversations with schools, however, show that they are under a lot of pressure and cannot always make room for this. As the museum, is there any ready-made, small activity that you can offer the teacher? As the teacher, what do you think would be realistic? Sometimes, even answering a small prompt during the bus ride to the museum can make a difference!
- Who is coming? Talk about the children’s backgrounds: their previous experiences, interests, and language and subject proficiencies.
For a long time, we have known that what people (in this case, the children) bring to the museum with them, shapes their museum experience. In the school-museum’s first contacts, make sure to share relevant information on the visiting children, like their ages, language and subject competences, or expectations. If the visit involves small group work, for example, it may be good to plan how the groups will be made beforehand. In our experience, we’ve learned that museum guides appreciate knowing who they will encounter, not only to make any necessary adjustments but also to feel more confident in delivering the museum program.
- Discuss your roles and tasks during the visit.
We suggest discussing what roles and tasks the museum would appreciate the teachers taking during the visit. How can the teachers best support the guides? What do the teachers themselves think is necessary? Sometimes, there are specific tasks that are needed, such as managing children’s behavior in the museum. Discussing this beforehand can help avoid tensions and make the visit run smoothly.
As a final note, remember that small steps go a long way. An email exchange or a quick phone conversation can already give the two parts most of the information they need for an enjoyable museum visit for all.
-Lucía Chisari | PhD researcher, Subproject ‘Science museums’.
Currently, this blog is only available in English and Dutch. To read it in another language we recommend using the DeepL translation tool.
