(32.) M is for Museum

(32.) M is for Museum

Imagine for a moment that every day in school was like a field trip to a great museum. Dream this, too, while you’re at it, that the school was a place set apart to provide a stimulating, thoughtful, multi-sensory learning atmosphere that was created solely to inspire interested students; that the students really did accept the invitation to use their natural curiosity to explore and experience the subject first-hand  when possible; that the teacher was the docent (docent is from the Latin word for to teach), who provided a richly-stocked, dynamic environment to engage the students’ interests and stimulate their participation.

A pipe dream? Museum schools have been used for hundreds of years for an artist’s education, but why stop with artists? There could be an exciting slice of museum in every school (museum in Latin means a place of learned occupation). Harvard professor Howard Gardner says that museums in fact “build on the best features of the intuitive learner… naturally curious, resourceful, integrating, adventuresome, energetic, imaginative, creative, and multi-sensory.”  What teacher wouldn’t give his/her wifi for that? You know the old saying that we can take the students to the water, but we can’t make them drink. True, but we can make them thirsty! And a museum-like element in the classroom can do that: meaningful projects culminating in satisfying final products that show what was learned; individual and group activities to learn a content area or skill; a variety of methods to make learning accessible to everyone, such as story, logic, games, first-hand experiences, discussions, demonstrations, a room that changes appearance for every unit of study. Much of this depends on the cooperation of the students, the creativity of the teacher and the support of the administrative staff. But the museum model takes full advantage of what C. S. Lewis called “the special gifts of childhood: a tireless curiosity; a taste for marvel and adventure; a readiness to wonder, pity and admire; an intense imagination.” Teachers and students, go into the construction business… Build a museum.