Learning to Teach in a Museum: Benefits of a Museum–University Partnership

ABSTRACT

This article centers on the results of a two-year study of a museum–university partnership conducted with 81 secondary preservice student teachers enrolled in a large public university in the Midwestern United States. The focus is on preservice student teachers’ experiences working in a large urban museum which also houses a public middle school (grades 6–8), in partnership with the second largest urban district in the state. In this setting, preservice student teachers worked weekly with small groups of sixth-grade students in the museum as part of a required undergraduate content area literacy teacher education course. This study highlights ways this museum–university field experience served as an important clinical component for preservice student teacher learning. Working in a museum provided preservice student teachers with opportunities to experience and engage in teaching opportunities using integrated curriculum and inquiry-based teaching. Findings also showcase how this partnership provided preservice student teachers with learning opportunities, including studying and connecting concepts of storytelling related to the museum, recognizing the museum as a teacher, and learning from other museum personnel and educators.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• museum education
• preservice student teachers
• museums
• preservice

About the authors

Erica R. Hamilton is an associate professor of education at Grand Valley State University. Her research interests include preservice and in-service teacher learning and development, place-based education, and educational technology.

Kelly C. Margot is an assistant professor of educational differentiation at Grand Valley State University. She is a gifted advocate for proper identification, appropriate curricula, ongoing research, and educating practitioners and parents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Lasky, “Learning from Objects.”

2 Goldman, “Opportunities for Extending Museum Contributions.”

3 American Alliance of Museums, “Museum Facts and Data.”

4 Ibid.

5 Hamilton, E. R., under review; Hamilton & Margot, 2019.

6 Rawlinson et al., “Thinking Critically about Social Issues.”

7 Stetson and Stroud, “Pre-Service Teacher Training at the Museum School.”

8 Clark et al., “Reflections on Museums as Effective Field Sites.”

9 Alexander, Goblin Secrets.

10 Grossman et al., “Teaching Practice: A Cross-Professional Perspective.”

11 Zeichner, "Rethinking the Connections Between Campus Courses.”

12 Stetson and Stroud, “Pre-Service Teacher Training at the GRPMS.”

13 Owen and Visscher, “Museum University Collaborations to Enhance Evaluation Capacity.”