The Challenges of Teaching with Museums

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD

University of New Brunswick

(Fredericton)

Did you know that there are more than 1,500 museums in Canada?  Museums encompass many disciplines of study, including history, science, nature, and the arts.  Their collections range from tangible objects to intangible ideas, and their methods of presentation range from static displays to participatory environments.

From a pedagogical point of view, museums present rich learning environments, where constructed narratives are communicated through the use of sight, sound, touch, smell, and emotion.  Within such narrative constructs, as Trofanenko and Segall (2014) have pointed out, pedagogy is often positioned “to assume particular assumptions, perspectives, and views about the world and its people” (p. 1).  In this sense, while museums can provide powerful sites for learning, they can also be exclusionary and restrictive.

As teaching tools, museums also present their own distinct challenges.  This is because what constitutes learning in a museum involves multiple sensory experiences, personal interaction, and extended learning outcomes that change over time.  For this reason, learning in a museum is seldom immediately apparent or easily assessed (Wertsch, 2002, p. 114; see also Falk & Dierking, 2000; Kelly, 2011; Wallace-Casey, 2013).  Falk and Dierking’s (2013) Contextual Model of Learning, identifies four broad contexts for analyzing learning in a museum setting: personal, sociocultural, physical, and temporal.  Such a model also acknowledges (regardless of age or subject discipline) that “Learning begins with the individual. Learning involves others. Learning takes place somewhere” (Falk & Dierking, 2002, p. 36), and learning continues over time (Falk & Dierking, 2013).  This model, while reminiscent of constructivist pedagogy, recognises the complex nature of learning in a museum, and calls for more robust measures for assessment that extend beyond mere appropriation of a desired narrative claim.

Student Narratives and Public Memory in Museums

Image credit: Matt Buck, Wikimedia

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD

University of New Brunswick

(Fredericton)

I would like to draw your attention to a history education symposium coming up on December 1 in London (England) at the Institute of Education. This seminar series brings together three international scholars to explore what young people know about the past and their sources of knowledge.

Dr. Jocelyn Letourneau, of Laval University (Quebec), will discuss a pragmatic approach to teaching history, intended to move students “outside the thinkable they’ve been accustomed to in living in a particular society and being subject to its broad representations.”

Dr. Arie Wilschut, of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, will focus his discussion on the Dutch national historical consciousness, in particular, “we” versus “they” perspectives when talking and writing about the past.

Dr. Stéphane Levesque, of the University of Ottawa, will discuss the function of narration in orientating a community (and the individuals who share a membership in that community) within the context of time and nation.

Margaret MacMillan Launches the 2015 CBC Massey Lectures

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD

University of New Brunswick

(Fredericton)

What makes good leaders? This was the question that framed Margaret MacMillan’s opening lecture in the 2015 CBC Massey Tour, which commenced last week in Fredericton. It was the first in a series, including stops in St. John’s, as well as upcoming lectures in Victoria (September 30), Calgary (October 2), and Toronto (October 7). During each presentation, MacMillan draws from her recent publication History’s People: Personalities and the Past (2015), to explore the qualities (both positive and negative) of individuals who have shaped the world in which we live.

In this first lecture, Dr. MacMillan focussed upon leadership and the art of persuasion. Drawing from the examples of Otto von Bismarck, as well as William Lyon MacKenzie King, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, MacMillan laid out an interesting argument for “good leadership.” Good leadership, MacMillan explained, demonstrates four key characteristics:

1. Timing and opportunity;
2. Instinct and determination;
3. Capacity to bring others along; and
4. Driving ambition.

MacMillan began by elaborating upon the political career of Otto von Bismarck. She described in colourful detail how the Prussian leader ruthlessly bullied his way into power – through good luck and good timing. Thus, by adopting a complex strategy of international trickery, von Bismarck managed to bring about a union of German states. He possessed few admirable qualities. He was determined, ruthless, and did not worry about principles – yet was opportunely elected to Prussian parliament at a time when things were beginning to change.

De-constructing Cabinets of Curiosity: Arts-based Inquiry Project in Historical Thinking

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey

PhD candidate

University of New Brunswick

(Fredericton)

This arts-based inquiry project was intended to complement and extend upon my PhD research, regarding how a heritage community can assist middle school students in deepening their historical consciousness. This activity specifically related to the photovoice component of my research. It was intended to serve two purposes: a) to extend and disseminate my research to a broader public audience, by facilitating the development of a gallery-style photo exhibition that illustrates students’ abilities (through their eyes and in their words) of engaging in historical inquiry within a local history museum; and b) to reveal the nature of their ability to think historically in a museum
setting.

Read my full report here...

Using artifacts to teach social studies: What’s the story?

Credit: Melynda Jarratt, New Brunswick
Sports Hall of Fame, 2015

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey

PhD candidate

University of New Brunswick

(Fredericton)

In the interest of expanding upon my previous blog contributions, I’d like to introduce you to a project I’m currently working on, which involves object-based learning. Collaborating with a provincial history museum (The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame), we are currently developing a unit of study that focuses specifically upon artifacts, sport, and war. Through a series of six lesson plans, teachers will be able to access a variety of primary and second sources, to compare and extend upon the artifact source, and thus reconstruct a “story” around each individual owner. This involves adopting a particular disciplinary approach to the past, which is commonly referred to as “material history” or “material culture.”

Material history, as often practiced in object-centered history museums, represents a unique approach to historical inquiry. As Hood (2009) has pointed out, “most historians are not equipped to do object-centered research” (p.177). For this reason, the challenge of “reading” an object that does not contain words, can be daunting for most anyone, if they have not learned the craft of material history inquiry.

With my own dissertation research involving seventh grade students, I found that participants particular enjoyed the sense of unbridled wonder that came from approaching their museum as a collection source. Object-based inquiry, although challenging for all, was also doable by all. Students quickly picked up on the technique, and in the process broke away from the official museum story, to create their own sense of meaning – a meaning that was grounded in evidence.

Hope Restored: New Brunswick's Flag Turns 50

By Cynthia Wallace-Casey
PhD candidate,
University of New Brunswick
(Fredericton)

February 24 marks the 50^th anniversary of New Brunswick’s flag.  This historic semicentennial follows less than two weeks behind the adoption of Canada’s national flag.  Unlike in Ottawa’s House of Commons, however, where the flag debate spiraled down in some instances to accusations of political partisanship and linguistic slurs, the development of New Brunswick’s flag took on far less controversial tones.

This is because New Brunswick had already been assigned armorial bearings by Queen Victoria in 1868; a design that was to "…be borne for the said respective Provinces on seals, shields, banners, flags or otherwise, according to the laws of arms."[1]

A Reading that Has Helped Change my View of History Education: Nokes' Learning to Read and Reason

Book Review by Cynthia Wallace-Casey,
PhD Candidate
University of New Brunswick
(Fredericton)

Picture this:

"Ms. Cordova, the principal at McArthur Middle School, walks down the hall of the social studies department during third period. She notices the lights are off in Mr. Hanks’ classroom and, glancing in, observes that he is showing students a video. Most students are filling out a worksheet. Ms. Cordova is distracted by loud voices coming from the next classroom down the hall. As she approaches, she hears students reciting in unison the names of the presidents of the United States in chronological order… Finally Ms. Cordova sees Mr. Rich’s classroom, the class she has come to observe. As she enters, students’ behaviour appears somewhat chaotic… As Ms. Cordova approaches, Mr. Rich nervously welcomes her, inviting her to join the students’ discussions. Students pay little attention to her. They are looking at a black and white photograph of children working in a textile mill..." (Noke, 2013, p.3)

These words are drawn from the opening passage of Jeffrey Nokes’ publication Building Students’ Historical Literacies: Learning to Read and Reason with Historical texts and Evidence (2013). Having completed 13 weeks of fieldwork with a class of seventh-graders (exploring the role of evidence and sources in history education), I see great relevancy in Nokes’ words.

Through "quasi-autobiographical" vignettes that set the stage for each chapter, we enter into the world of the classroom teacher. In this way we are able to empathise with the challenges—as well as rewards—teachers face in integrating Historical Thinking concepts into history education. Indeed, as both Ronald Martinello and David Bussel have confided, the transition from a "Mr. Hanks" to a "Mr Rich" is not an easy task. Reflecting back on my own (relatively brief) classroom experience, such a transition in learning culture can be challenging at best; Nokes, however, demonstrates how it can be done.