Abstract
Despite their best intentions, museums around the world find it challenging to be welcoming to multilingual migrant (MM) children and their families. In the Netherlands, not much is known about these families’ experiences when it comes to science museums. Because our research group plans to develop language strategies to promote MM families’ participation in science museums, in this study, we asked: What are the experiences and perspectives of MM families on a science museum visit in the Netherlands, in terms of language? The data comes from interviews with eight MM families after their visit to one of two science museums. We approached the data using the boundary crossing framework, which focuses on the socio-cultural differences that may be experienced and/or crossed by people in action and interaction. Seen through these framework, the challenges reported by MM families can be interpreted as boundaries brought about by the social and cultural context of the museum setting. Families may attempt, and even succeed in, crossing those boundaries (boundary crossing potential). The results show the boundaries and boundary crossing reported by MM families after the science museum visit. Language, for example, proved challenging when the families sought to go deeper into the content of the science museum, but families used different forms of interpreting (child or parent as interpreters) to better access content. Understanding the boundaries and boundary crossing potential that MM families experience in science museums in relation to language can help museums further strengthen their work towards more equitable access.
Presenters
Lucía ChisariPhD Candidate, Department of Education and Pedagogy, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands Mirona Moraru
Postdoctoral researcher, DEEDS, Utrecht Universiteit, Netherlands
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Science Museums, Multilingualism, Boundary Crossing, Migration, Family Visits
