Family Learning in Museums:
a TEAMS Workshop

A Workshop Sponsored by the
National Science Foundation
and the
TEAMS Exhibition Collaborative

February 3, 1997

INTRODUCTION

The TEAMS Collaborative (Traveling Exhibitions At Museums of Science) formed in 1995 to develop high-quality traveling exhibitions for small science museums, to increase the institutional capacity of the museums to create exhibitions and programs, and to make use of the latest research on family learning. The Collaborative received a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to carry out its mission, and as the initial step in improving family learning in museums, the Collaborative held a workshop on February 3, 1997 at Cornell University and the Sciencenter in Ithaca, NY.

The workshop brought together three experts on family learning, as well as 50 museum professionals, to summarize the current state of knowledge. The group included representatives of all five TEAMS member museums, four evaluators from Inverness Research Associates, and 20 other museum professionals from the eastern US.

This write-up summarizes the results of the workshop.

DR. URIE BRONFENBRENNER (Professor Emeritus, Human Development and Family Studies at Cornell University and co-founder of the Head Start program)

Trends. There are many ominous trends on the state of Americans; among these are the following:

The percentage of Americans in prison is four times higher than in any other developed country and is rising.

The U.S. stands in first place in the percentage of children growing up in single-parent families, including 25% of all children under the age of 6.

The percentage of U.S. children living in poverty is twice as high as that for any other developed nation.

These trends give special importance and urgency to the concerns of this workshop.

Propositions on human development Based on theoretical and research findings, Professor Bronfenbrenner has formulated the following five propositions:

Proposition 1

"To develop - intellectually, emotional, socially, and morally - a child requires participation in progressively more complex reciprocal interaction with persons, objects, and symbols in the immediate environment. To be effective, the interaction must occur on a fairly regular basis over an extended period of time."

Examples include parent-child and child-child activities, group or solitary play, building physical structures, drawing pictures or designs, reading, learning new skills or knowledge, athletic activities, problem solving, and performing complex tasks.

 

Proposition 2

" To develop - intellectually, emotional, socially, and morally - a child requires participation in progressively more complex reciprocal interaction on a regular basis over an extended period of time with persons with whom the child develops a strong, mutually irrational emotional attachment, and who is committed to the child's well-being, and development, preferably for life."

In other words, "Somebody's got to be crazy about that kid!" If there's a fire, this is the first kid you save.

 

Proposition 3

" The establishment of patterns of progressive interpersonal interaction under conditions of strong mutual emotional attachment enhances the young child's responsiveness to other features of the immediate physical, social, and - in due course - symbolic environment that invite exploration, manipulation, elaboration, and imagination. Such activities, in turn, add new dimensions to the child's psychological growth."

This proposition has clear implications for museums. Many of today's manufactured toys leave little to the imagination and do not invite exploration, manipulation, elaboration, or imaginative activity. They commonly leave little opportunity for spontaneous variation. Open-ended exhibits encourage exploration and play and therefore enhance growth. This growth is further enhanced by strong and enduring relationships with adults.

 

Proposition 4

" The establishment of progressively more complex patterns of interpersonal interaction with adults under conditions of strong mutual emotional attachment is essential for children to develop the capacity for emotional control, and the ability to defer immediate gratification in the interest of pursuing and achieving longer range goals. The process through which this transition is achieved is called internalization."

 

Proposition 5

" To develop - intellectually, emotional, socially, and morally - a child requires participation in progressively more complex reciprocal interaction on a regular basis over an extended period of time with persons with whom the child does NOT develop a strong, mutually irrational emotional attachment, and who is NOT committed to the child's well-being, and development, preferably for life."

Why NOT? First and foremost, children have to grow up. For that to happen requires engaging in activities with adults whose responsibility it is to give them objective feedback on the basis of their actual performance and behavior. In our society, this function is generally performed by teachers, coaches, and mentors. Can parents function in this role? Perhaps, but in generally, no, because 1) parents "irrational involvement" may fail to convey an objective assessment, and 2) children may perceive an objective assessment as a withdrawal of love, thus undermining the feedback and its intended effect.

Proposition 5 thus calls for a separation of the two roles as an added requirement for furthering development, not only in the formative years, but also throughout the life course. Only as a last resort should professionals, such as museum program specialists, step into the parental role.

Reference: Bronfenbrenner, U., MeClelland, P., Wethington, E., Moen, P., and Ceci, S.J. (1996). The State of Americans: This Generation and the Next. New York: The Free Press.

DR. DEBORAH EDWARD (Executive Director, Austin Children's Museum, Austin, TX)

Dr. Edward spoke about ways to engage family audiences in museum exhibits and programs. Often, family dynamics play an important role in how a family learns together. Expectations (e.g., Johnny as the "baby of the family" or father as the "expert") can greatly detract from learning, so it is helpful to develop exhibits and programs that reduce opportunities for stereotypes to perform their normal roles.

To encourage family learning, review your own experience, either as a child or an adult, and think about:

What exhibits or programs touched you in a family group? What made it a landmark experience?

Think of a recent family visit. Why did you go? What did you like? How did your family interact, and what did they like?

Think of a family visit you took as a child. Why did you go? What did you like? How did your family interact, and what did they like?

What is one museum experience you have had as a visitor that made an impression on you: emotionally? cognitively? socially?

What exhibit or program have you created that you are especially proud of? What makes it successful? How do you define success?

Several other observations:

In many cases, families go to museums to experience new things, for fun, to pass time together, or to make a pilgrimage -- in general NOT for cognitive gain.

Parents are self-conscious in some situations and not in others. In general, they tend to use tools and watch videos; they tend not to role play or use computers.

Parent-child interactions often take the form of: teaching, learning, managing, or playing.

The greatest learning takes place when there is an equal playing field; no one knows more than the other, and the task is done together. This is one reason puzzle exhibitions are so popular in children's and science museums.

Characteristics of family interactions when group learning is taking place include:

People find out more about each other

Different people can shine

There are no rules or self-fulfilling prophecies to limit success and enjoyment

There is no pass or fail

The experience is open-ended

The focus is on awareness and exploration, not achievement or power

There is opportunity for play

It helps to be aware of family dynamics so you can see the possibilities and try to dislodge patterns that limit group learning.

MINDA BORUN (Director of Research and Evaluation, Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia, PA)

During the past two years, four museums in the Philadelphia region have joined to study the interactions within family groups while visiting exhibits. The group is working on the "Family Science Learning Research Project" under a collaborative called PISEC (Philadelphia/Camden Informal Science Education Collaborative) included are the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the New Jersey State Aquarium, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.

To date, the research has indicated that:

Families do indeed learn from exhibits.
The level of learning is related to specific observable behavior.

Five types of observed behavior that correlate with family learning include:

Asking a question
Answering a question
Commenting on the exhibit
Explaining how to use an exhibit
Reading exhibit text silently or aloud

Significantly, people learn in museums in essentially the same way they learn in other informal settings: by imitation, apprenticeship, and discussion - not by didactic presentation. Group learning results from different members picking up different parts of an exhibit and making exchanges both during and after the visit.

Seven characteristics of successful family exhibits have been observed. To be most successful, an exhibit should be:

Multi-sided

Families can physically cluster around the exhibit without barriers

Multi-user Several sets of hands can interact with the exhibit simultaneously

Accessible

by both children and adults

Multi-outcome

The exhibit encourages families to slow down and interact long enough to foster group discussion

Readable

Exhibit label text is arranged in easily absorbed blocks

Relevant

Families can make a connection between the exhibit and their existing knowledge and experience

SUMMARY

The workshop focused on the elements of exhibits and programs that encourage family learning. Professor Bronfenbrenner provided five propositions on child development that have significant implications about the need for museums that encourage family participation. In particular, there need to be opportunities for open-ended exploration, as well as a setting where parents and children can come to have experiences that bring them closer together for the type of irrational attachment that leads to successful development of children. Deborah Edward encouraged exhibit designers to rethink their own family experiences in museums, both as children and as adults and to use those experiences to fine-tune what works and doesn't work. Family roles can inhibit or foster family learning, and the best exhibits and programs create an environment where all family members are on an equal playing field. Minda Borun related family learning to five observable behaviors, such as asking or answering a questions, that can be used in evaluating exhibits. In general, exhibits that successfully foster family learning are multi-sided, multi-user, accessible, multi-outcome, multi-modal, readable, and relevant.