School teachers and museum education: A key factor in expanding the inclusive character of museums

Museums are not only collections of objects for the enjoyment, culture and education of grown-up persons, but also places where children may become gradually acquainted with culture; this may be extremely valuable, among other things, in instilling in them a love of, but also respect of cultural heritage. School teachers, therefore, especially of primary education, have to be aware of the educative potential of museums and of all culturally significant objects available in the immediate or wider vicinity of schools. The study of the relationship between school teachers and museums reveals a lot of important issues in this context: - to what extent are teachers aware of the educative opportunities offered by museums? -what is their attitude towards the relationship between schools and museums? - are the teachers trained to be able to interact with museums in a way that will be fruitful for the education of children? - do they need additional training, in order to be able to use such possibilities? - do the teachers think that they would like to have a decisive role in preparing the "interface" between school and museum, in terms of educational material, the preparation of visits, etc? The present paper investigates the relation between school teachers and museums based mainly on research conducted among teachers in Greece, where museum education courses have only recently been introduced in the University curricula, and tries to identify their needs for training in methods of museum visiting and in using museum educational material in the classroom. The research reveals what form of training they wish to have on these matters and the degree to which they expect and wish to have an active involvement in the design of educational programs produced by museums for school children. © Common Ground, Vassiliki Vemi, Harikleia Kanari, All Rights Reserved