Museums, Children and Social Action examines the role that museums play in reaching, teaching and inspiring children as global citizens of the world and, looking to the future, argues that the sustainability of museums will come from strengthening relationships with young visitors.Presenting a diverse range of programs, exhibitions and outreach from museums across five continents, Shaffer highlights how museums are already serving children and making a difference in their ...

Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable, this is volume 37, Number 1 of the Journal of Museum Education (JME) Early Learning: A National Conversation, published in the spring of 2012. This edition includes articles on the integrating scaffolding experiences for the youngest visitors; a national conversation on early learning; from classroom to gallery; museums and community, the benefits of working together; uncovering visitor identity and bringing art through multi -sensory tours.

What does a museum do with a kindergartner who walks through the door? The growth of interest in young children learning in museums has joined the national conversation on early childhood education. Written by Sharon Shaffer, the founding Executive Director of the innovative Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, this is the first book for museum professionals as well as students offering guidance on planning programming for young children.This groundbreaking book:-Explains the various ways ...

The first book to take a "visitor's eye view" of the museum visit when it was first published in 1992, The Museum Experience revolutionized the way museum professionals understand their constituents. Falk and Dierking have updated this essential reference, incorporating advances in research, theory, and practice in the museum field over the last twenty years. Written in clear, non-technical style, The Museum Experience Revisited paints a thorough picture of why people go to museums, what t...

Museums may not seem at first glance to be engaged in social work. Yet, Lois H. Silverman brings together here relevant visitor studies, trends in international practice, and compelling examples that demonstrate how museums everywhere are using their unique resources to benefit human relationships and, ultimately, to repair the world. In this groundbreaking book, Silverman forges a framework of key social work perspectives to show how museums are evolving a needs-based approach to provide ...

As the first book to take a "visitor's eye view" of the museum visit, The Museum Experience revolutionized the way museum professionals understand their constituents. Falk and Dierking integrate their original research from a wide variety of disciplines as well as visitor studies from institutions ranging from science centers and zoos to art and natural history museums. Written in clear, non-technical style, The Museum Experience paints a thorough picture of why people go to museums, what ...

Written over a thirty-five year career, the essays in Civilizing the Museum introduce students to the powerful, sometimes contested, and often unrealized notion that museums should welcome all because they house the collective memory of all.Drawing on her experience working in and with museums in the US and throughout the world, Author Elaine Heumann Gurian explores the possibilities for making museums more central and relevant to society.The twenty-two essays are ...

The intersection of architecture and education is a new and burgeoning area of interest. This book blends architectural design information with theory-based content explaining the foundations of early childhood environments. Colorful photographs of intentionally designed spaces will inspire early childhood professionals and architects alike as they dream, plan, build, and revamp settings. Inspired by the groundbreaking architectural book A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Constructi...

Containing original and previously unpublished theoretical and empirical studies, Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism will give professionals, professors, and researchers in the field up-to-date insight and information on trends, happenings, and findings in the international hospitality business arena. A great resource for educators, this book is complete with learning objectives, concept definitions, and even review questions at the end of each chapter. From this book, readers will un...

Understanding the visitor experience provides essential insights into how museums can affect people’s lives. Personal drives, group identity, decision-making and meaning-making strategies, memory, and leisure preferences, all enter into the visitor experience, which extends far beyond the walls of the institution both in time and space. Drawing upon a career in studying museum visitors, renowned researcher John Falk attempts to create a predictive model of visitor experience, one that can ...

Fostering Empathy through Museums features fifteen case studies with clear take-away ideas, and lessons learned by vividly illustrating a spectrum of approaches in the way museums are currently employing empathy, a critical skill that is relevant to personal, institutional, economical, and societal progress.The need is rapidly growing for empathy to serve as a lens through which we find our purpose and connection in a complex world. This demand brings with it an appetite t...

Using a practice-based focus and a researcher lens, the contributors consider the ways in which environments for children enhance or diminish educational experiences, how social constructs about what is good for children influence environmental design, and what practitioners can do in their own work when creating learning environments for young children. There are copious examples from practice, lessons learned, and illustrations and photographs of key aspects of the environments they disc...