Thirteenth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

The old adage goes, never talk about politics, religion, or money in polite company. Whoever said that didn’t know about readers theatre — a novel museum education and research approach to explore contentious, potentially controversial topics. This participatory workshop shares findings from a qualitative study using readers theatre to glean insights from “hot topics” in museums. Spoiler Alert: Every participant described their readers theater experience as a positive, reflective, and non-threatening group learning experience; busting the myth museums should be neutral and can foster respectful learning about divisive ideas. Session attendees will read or listen to a script about an incident centered on charges of racism and a threatened boycott of a children’s museum — and experience readers theatre as an impactful method conveying the richness of research as a lived experience that demonstrates the contradictions, ambiguities, and tensions for both the researcher and participants. Attendees will learn about crafting readers theatre scripts based on real world happenings. And how to facilitate a readers theatre experience to create a foundation for a constructive, respectful group discussion among eclectic museum personnel and/or visitors with varied cultural backgrounds and educations. Readers theatre was found to be a socially inclusive, constructivist learning experience where diverse people came together and reflected afterward, “This kind of communication was valuable — and RARE. I have never had such an open, honest discussion about racism with a group this size. … It was stimulating, it was fun, it was challenging. I hope we do it again.”