After-school enrichment programmes provide opportunities for teachers to get even more creative with curriculum. Typically, a teacher will propose to teach a class once or twice a week consistently for a short duration of time. Its duration can last from a week to a full semester. I have personally found these afterschool courses to be dynamic as they provide a vehicle for creative autonomy.
Recently, during the winter trimester, this curious educator at Palm Beach Day Academy (PBDA) and equally adventurous museum curators from the Norton Museum of Art (Norton) collaborated on exploring ways in which museum experiences could be infused with engagement in folklore. What resulted was Museum Mice, a class suited for curious critters eager to scurry about and explore an art museum. This pilot course endeavoured to integrate visual literacy and art appreciation with local folklore.
Folklore Inspiration ~ Who Works at the Museum?
Inspired by the down-to-earth wisdom of folklorist and Local Learning© Director Paddy Bowman, I created a pilot curriculum integrating themes in museum studies, art analysis, occupational folklore, and visual literacy. Prior to this course, much of the concentration was placed on the history of the museum (e.g., founder and namesake), its main jobs and role in the community and the uniqueness of their collections. Studying different types of jobs within a museum and possibly interviewing various specialists presented a fascinating opportunity. Local folklore’s appeal had to do with taking a closer look at culture. Bowman suggested taking a closer look at the various occupations within the museum as it would provide a means for the children to learn about the people who work behind the scenes and also basic interviewing techniques. Since elementary-aged students already study occupations as part of the Social Studies curriculum, this subject was developmentally appropriate. It could also be tailored for older students (middle and high school) who may be interested in learning about careers within the museum field.
Museum Partnerships
Museum galleries serve as natural “classrooms” filled with various paintings and objects to provoke curiosity, discovery, wonder and reflection. They are places and spaces which have always inspired and provoked me to simply enjoy the experience of taking it all in. As such, it has been a personal joy to coordinate partnerships between five grade levels (Pre- Kindergarten to Third Grade) and six local institutions. These institutions include an historical mansion from the gilded age, Japanese cultural museum, botanical garden, sculpture garden and a disaster relief agency.
Selection of Museum Site
A number of factors were considered prior to approaching the Curator/Director of Education at a museum. These factors were related to feasibility and logistics as well as whether the museum’s current exhibits would match our understanding goals and objectives for the course programme. The Norton Museum of Art was chosen for the following reasons: 1) established relationships with curators and docents, 2) opportunity to utilise its eclectic art collection in developmentally appropriate ways with early elementary students, and 3) proximity to the campus. Once the potential site was chosen, I contacted the Associate Curator of Education and presented a proposed scope and sequence (see Figure 1A & Figure 1B). Since a partnership with the Norton Museum of Art was already established, it was not difficult to justify expanding the partnership to an afterschool course. I have found that educational specialists working in non-traditional settings appreciate a plan of action, scope and sequence. It gives them an opportunity to connect their exhibits with the curricular objectives and also work from a very specific frame of reference.
Curators, Docents and Mice…. Oh my!
Our initial cohort was comprised of ten students, ranging from first through third grades. Over the course of ten afterschool sessions, the children were in engaged in activities centered on the themes of art appreciation and museum folklore. The students and I would visit the Norton every other week, which carved out time for a follow-up classroom discussion with me after each visit. This enabled me to reinforce new information/concepts learned as well as preview the next topic such as artist and works with the children. During each visit, the Mice brought their field(mice) journals upon which to write and draw their observations/ruminations. It was a fantastic way to collect their thoughts in real time and also reinforced the idea of the museum classroom. The children also met with the Associate and Assistant Curators of Education, Curator of American
Art and with two Senior Docents who worked very closely with our Kindergarten students through the museum partnership. The children not only learned about the responsibilities of each person, but also connected with them on a personal level. In fact, our last visit culminated with both docents taking the children to view their own “favourite” pieces at the Norton.
Lasting Impressions
Students learned a variety of art basics, but left with some memorable takeaways: how the paint on a gallery’s walls contributes to the story behind a collection, what is meant by juxtaposition, the sculptures of artist Phyllida Barlow, how curators map out art pieces to convey a theme and how community can be conveyed on a two-dimensional painting. However, the biggest impression was a sense of place and connection with a particular museum. My students will never forget being Museum Mice because of their shared experience at the museum with committed and passionate educators. While we initially hoped the children would connect in meaningful ways to the art, we found that they connected more profoundly to the museum itself as a space in which personal discoveries were boundless.