Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Museums play a key role in providing inclusive and diverse experiences to students enrolled at all levels of education. Not only do museums provide primary resources for studying the past, but exhibits can challenge students to reflect upon the legacy of past social injustices. Through a present lens, contemporary installations encourage artistic and social criticism through the eyes of the artist as well as the observer. This study provides a retrospective of museum education from a professor who has required museum curriculum development for pre-service teachers in relation to the Smithsonian Institution, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Muscarelle Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, Lee Hall Mansion, and Endview Plantation. Activities requiring students to examine images and roles based on class, ethnicity, race, gender, and political affiliation are shared. A recent study of technology integration is also shared to demonstrate how one former student and a student teacher encouraged their fifth grade students to create exhibits accessible via QR codes based on an interdisciplinary science and social studies unit.