Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

The term culture is often viewed from an anthropological stance. It is often perceived as static when in truth, culture is not permanent; it is continuously evolving. When the term culture is thought of in museums, it is often attached to the classification of ethnicity and race, while in lived experiences, it is fluid. Challenging the notion and definition of culture and its continuous meaning is necessary and ongoing work. In linking museum education and assets-based pedagogies, it grounds museum education to see all forms of cultures in their fluidity. It affirms the learners’ experiences and knowledge as assets to the museum narrative and interpretation. Learning with museum educators through how they embody assets-based pedagogies will redefine museum education as a space that fosters and sustains the plurality of cultures while disrupting the injustices maintained through a deficit lens structured within the Western normalization of museums. Through a case study of the Hmong Museum, I explore how its mission of preserving the Hmong culture and history is embodied through educators, artists, and storytellers and the evolving definition of culture. The significance of this study expands and deepens the understanding of teaching and learning in museums from the curriculum, programming, and facilitation. It also bridges formal and informal learning through assets-based pedagogies to foster and sustain the multitude of cultural identities, languages, and knowledge from the community and students as assets of the museum learning experience.