Knight at the Museum: Learning History with Museums

Abstract

This article presents an approach that teachers can use to strengthen students’ ability to make sense of the past at museums. Specifically, we propose a photography exercise to help students to learn from museums and to view museums critically, weighing both the objective realities and subjective interpretations offered by museums. To get the most from a lifetime of museum-going and history learning, students should learn to view museums as reflecting the kinds of perspectives, decision-making, and challenges that accompany any effort to make sense of the past.

Keywords:

• historical thinking
• museum education
• museums
• secondary history

Notes

1. For the purposes of this article, we use the term museum to include traditional history museums (e.g., the Smithsonian's Museum of American History), historic sites (e.g., the Gettysburg Battlefield), and living-history museums (e.g., Colonial Williamsburg).

2. For more information on the four locations discussed here, see:

• Enola Gay Exhibit, www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal103/enolagay

• Colonial Williamsburg, www.history.org

• Battleship Cove, www.battleshipcove.org

• Sturbridge Village, www.osv.org.