Thinking About Art: The Role of Single-Visit Art Museum Field Trip Programs in Visual Arts Education

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Notes

1 The report from IMLS (2009) strongly suggested that museums would take on a greater role in the education of the nation. In a section labeled “Critical Momentum,” the report states: “President Barack Obama's push for advanced skills in our education and workforce systems has added critical momentum to the 21st century skills movement.… Not surprisingly, most of President Obama's comments surrounding 21st century skills address the role of formal education in preparing students to be prepared for today's workforce. But the Administration has also recognized the importance of out‐of‐school learning environments” (p. 4). Interestingly though, while organizations like the Arts Education Partnership (2017) and National Art Education Association (2017) released action plans and advocacy statements around ESSA, the discussion within the museum field appears limited. The American Alliance of Museums (2020) has one statement about ESSA on its website, and a search for “ESSA” on the IMLS website produces no results.

2 Since the IMLS (2009) report, RK&A and other museum researchers have completed numerous evaluations of programs and exhibitions that seek to support 21st‐century skills. For example, an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History included 21st‐century “skills spots” in its National Science Foundation–funded exhibition Places of Invention (RK&A, 2015). In art museums, evaluations for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Adams et al., 2007) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (RK&A, 2010) explored 21st‐century skill building in programs. Most recently, the National Gallery of Art (n.d.) released a free online course on teaching critical thinking through art.

3 Eilean Hooper‐Greenhill (1999) describes this absorption model as a “stimulus‐response approach to teaching,” which “understood the learner as ‘the empty vessel to be filled’” (p. 25). Also illustrative is her description of this model as “the transmission of objective bodies of authoritative facts to passive receivers” (p. 51).

4 Single‐visit programs are studied less often than multivisit programs, particularly because securing permissions from schools can be prohibitive.

5 The team deliberately used the word “capacities” instead of “competencies” or “skills” to acknowledge that these areas may be activated or further developed, as opposed to being mastered.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amanda Krantz

Amanda Krantz, Director of Research & Practice, RK&A, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Email: [email protected]

Stephanie Downey

Stephanie Downey, Owner & Director, RK&A, Hastings‐on‐Hudson, New York. Email: [email protected]