From Field to Museum: Intergenerational Education in Public Archaeology

Archaeologists have developed different curricula and methods within museums, classrooms, and field settings that engage the public in learning about the past. One realm of public archaeology that has received little research is studying how intergenerational education impacts engaging learners of varying ages with the past. Community collaboration and place-based education (PBE) have served as relevant topics of research for intergenerational educators. I incorporated intergenerational education methods at an archaeology summer camp at Highlands Micro School and at a temporary interactive exhibit at the History Colorado Center. I utilized surveys to determine changes in perception of archaeology that occurred between research sites and before and after the summer camp; I also observed participants and analyzed what they wrote about their experiences at camp to understand how they interacted with each other intergenerationally while engaging with the past. Community engagement appeared as one of the more important themes within my research and impacted both my qualitative and quantitative data, hinting at its importance to intergenerational education within public archaeology. My findings can be used to help develop intergenerational education methods in archaeology and suggest where and when archaeologists can use these methods to create public engagement with the past