Comforting the Disturbed and Disturbing the Comfortable
Abstract
This qualitative study draws on the literature on critical thinking and use of discomfort or struggle as a pedagogical tool to probe the impact and efficacy of discomfort as a tool for learning in museum spaces, specifically in the context of anti-racist education. Museum educators were observed teaching from content that treats race and subsequently interviewed to clarify some of their choices. Data revealed a tension between the educators’ appreciation for critical thinking and struggling with challenging content in theory and implementation of those tools in practice.