The role of Museum Education

Museum education contributes to the achievement of the primary goal of education which is the comprehensive development of the individual through the cultivation of multiple forms of knowledge, attitudes and skills required in 21st century society.

It contributes to the opening of the school to society and to the active action of the student in the museum and cultural spaces . It cultivates to the maximum the goals of the school as well as the culture of the children and the teachers for respect of our cultural heritage. It offers creative utilization of the archeological sites, museums - monuments of our place.

                   Museum education goals

1.Understanding the concepts of culture and history

2. Contact, highlighting and preserving of cultural heritage

3. Understand the interaction between past, present and future

4. Acquiring critical ability

5. Acquire attitudes, values and behaviors

6. Cultivation of cultural and historical consciousness

The museum give priority in kids’ critical thought in matters of culture, every kind of art, athletics, modern visual art and evaluate the roll of museum as a cultural institution.

Its main objective is to engage visitors in learning experiences in order to  enhance their curiosity and interest on their objects and collections.

Museums are important educational environments and offer a considerable learning potential. Collections exhibited in museums provide pupils with a tangible connection with time, places, events, or people and allow them to experience the evolution of human history and cultural heritage. 

Museum education  helps pupils understand the historical value of objects, respect diverse cultures and understand multiculturalism. 

Exploring museums gives students the ability to engage actively in the process of acquiring knowledge and to express thoughts and emotions and  can lead to multifaceted learning, development of critical thinking skills and acquisition of lifelong learning skills because learning is not limited to the classroom.

"Museums " offer a dynamic opportunity to expose children

 to  experiences and explore new things in a rich educational

 environment. 

Museums are the witnesses of the past and by receiving their messages, we are able to respect and protect our cultural heritage. Young children's contact with cultural heritage compensates for the unequal starting points that characterize many of the children when they cross the threshold of kindergarten for the first time.

A visit to the museum will significantly contribute to the understanding of children's interest in issues related to cultural heritage, lifestyle of their ancestors and every kind of art ! By visiting to a museum children will come in contact with the past, they will provide information about the life in the past years of the region, where they live.

The museum is an important tool in preschool education, because it invites children to new learning experiences through a new learning environment, activating their curiosity and interest in their objects and collections that offer multiple "readings" through experiential learning.

"MUSEUMS  are  indicators of the social and economic level of a particular season and can therefore be the subject of study and research for the children and can offer our young students the opportunity to know the economic and social conditions of the season and to identify the changes that have taken place the passing of time.

               The importance of museums

Museums offer a space for reflection, experimentation, inspiration, creativity and fun, allowing the child to go learning experiences and stimulating games. Providing children with a visit to the museum reveals that children and adults are equally active in learning, putting them in partnership while creating a common project.

The Museum can promote information from different times and places, helping the child gain understanding of the past. 

Art also offers another unique experience, a different stimulus, the possibility to understand and explore innovative perceptions, feelings and thoughts.

A museum brings the child in touch with his story, which creates a sense of root, security and self-knowledge, gives him a sense of another way of life and gives him the opportunity to compare and evaluate. It gives him the opportunity to relate human needs to the available materials, the natural and the social environment and through teamwork their social and emotional development will be favored.

Through a museum education program children  will further develop their perceptual ability as well as basic concepts of space-time, enriching their vocabulary.  

Children will develop also skills to compare the present with the past and to discern changes in the evolution of  the way of life of another era.

Learning inside a museum helps students understand the historical value of objects, respect different cultures and understand multiculturalism. 

Children of all ages regularly exposed to museums receive a solid foundation for intellectual knowledge, growth and development, making museums the perfect place for children to explore, research and observe new things. It is very important to introduce children to museums   because the future of the world and museums broaden our knowledge of the world around us.

                Planning a visit to a folklore museum

Teachers will prepare a plan to visit the museum and they also will prepare ideas, how they can use the benefits of museum education at the Nursery School at the end of the activities. 

In the first level we have to know aware of the pre-existing knowledge of the children about the museum (whether they have visited museums, what they think is a museum etc. through relevant discussions and pictures or the internet.)

 Discussions, site visits and group work will enrich sharing ideas and exchange of practice between participants

                  Designing child-centered activities that:

- to arouse the interest and cooperation between children, through dramatizations, role-playing, theatrical games, artistic creations

- contribute to the activation of the senses, emotions, imagination, critical thinking and creativity

- to encourage children to seek their own interpretation and to lead their own personal reading of the exhibits

Provide the opportunity for children and teachers to express impressions, views and comments on improving the curriculum in various ways such as:

questionnaire, interview, internship design and implementation of Educational Programs.

How to help children to know and value

their cultural and natural heritage?

                   Before the museum visit:

           • What is a museum?

           • What is a museum for?

           • What are you going to do to this museum?

           • What do you know about this subject?

           • What would you like to learn about this?

           • Why?

           • How will you make this visit to the museum?

Before of our visit to the museum we can invite also children 's grandparents to our school ,to give us information about their life in the past . 

We can discuss the materials, which were made in the old houses and today, their architecture, interior spaces, decorations, colors, how the roofs were made (with stones ), etc., what they used to heat up , how they cooked their food, what  cloths they wearied, etc. 

After visit we will prepare children's assessment file that 

will contains group work, the paintings they made during their visit to the museum and during their activities in the classroom, a photo that resulted from their involvement in 

the realization of this subject.