Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of the museum education program entitled ‘School Museum Days’ which has been developed under the project heading ‘Use of Museums for Educational Purposes’ under the joint administration of Yıldız Technical University Museum Studies Graduate Program and Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The mission of the project is to develop educational programs for museums and increase the level of public awareness of museums in general and popular/public consciousness of museology in particular, in order to enable museums in Turkey to contribute to cultural education and general awareness in the community, strengthening the relationship between museums and society; and thus promoting the development and implementation of sustainable educational programs at state museums for a diversity of audiences and social groups. The aim of the “School-Museum Days” intervention model was to develop an educational program with long-term applicability through the collaboration of a broad variety of stakeholders, both individual and institutional,working to support the under-resourced institution of Istanbul Archaeological Museum, and to implement the model via a team of trained volunteers working in collaboration with museum staff. It was intended that this model would itself contribute to the development of museum education culture in and around the museum and sustain the education program once in place. This evaluation study addresses the issue of whether the museum will be able to achieve the identified targets, and manage to carry out its responsibilities in partnership with various stakeholders in the community.