Moving Toward a Future of Professional Learning in Museum Education (Poster 5)

• In Event: Past, Present, and Futures: Intentional Dreaming With Early-Career Researchers About Museum Education and Research

Abstract

Objectives
Museum educators are essential resources for diverse learners in informal learning contexts, and the challenges of museum education are unique (Bevan & Xanthoudaki, 2008). Unfortunately, the field lacks tools to support museum educators’ ongoing professional learning. To build a more sustainable future, this project explores ways to adapt Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) (Kruse & Louis, 1993, Kruse et al., 1994) to museum education.

What began as a monthly meeting for museum educators in the Midwest of the United States during COVID-19 is now a flourishing community of 8-10 educators from 7-8 institutions who meet bi-monthly. In this context, we investigate what characteristics of PLCs are pertinent to a group of dispersed museum educators; of those characteristics, we ask how we can intentionally cultivate them and to what extent this community has an impact on museum educators’ professional learning.

Theoretical Perspectives
This ongoing work draws on PLCs, which have been shown to support school improvement, reduce teacher burnout, and improve student experiences (Little, 2012). These outcomes are encouraging, but only partially relevant to museum education. Therefore, we focus on two features of PLCs: deprivatizing practice and collective responsibility for educator well being (Bryk et al., 1999).

Methods
This work uses design-based research (e.g. Design-based Research Collective, 2004) to iterate on the features of PLCs within the network. The researcher interviews educators annually and collects artifacts such as Zoom recordings and email correspondence. These data motivate design changes; periodic analysis of those changes enables theorization around the construction of a PLC. Analysis and design is deeply informed by the author’s eight years of experience in practitioner roles similar to participants’ museum jobs.

Results
Initially, it was challenging to make participants’ work comprehensible across peer institutions. Therefore, the community required active scaffolding for deprivatization–the intentional sharing of practice to promote discussion, critique, and learning. The work illuminated design principles to deprivatize practice, such as centering individual participants and projects, sharing multiple media to demonstrate practice, and creating space for dialogue. By making disperse educators’ work visible in these ways, participants found inspiration, encouragement, and new resources to enhance their work.

Collective responsibility for educator well-being was adapted from Bryk’s (1999) construct, “collective responsibility for school operations and improvement.” Rather than being attuned to a singular, shared operational goal at one school, though, participants demonstrated solidarity with more general challenges of their practice that intersected with personal well-being. Through the network meetings, educators expressed their stress levels, heard validation of their efforts, and received input on problems of practice, which enabled them to persevere in their oftentimes taxing roles. Primary benefits that participants report are reduced feelings of isolation, recognition of their success, and broader professional fulfillment.

Significance
The museum field needs strategies to sustain the well-being and professional learning of museum educators at every stage of their career. This work finds that the model of PLCs offers inroads for museum educators to explore, improve, and reflect on their experiences in ways that are positive, affirming, and productive for the field.

Author

• Tarah Connolly, University of Wisconsin - Madison