From Silos to Systems: Cultivating Collective Agency Among Museum Practitioners

• In Event: Examining Informal Practice: Pedagogical Innovations Toward Equity in Informal Education

Abstract

Supporting equity and inclusion in educational institutions requires that educators are able to exercise agency in challenging and expanding beyond current practices. Within museums and science centers, however, teams with various forms of expertise and job responsibilities must work together while navigating existing structures, which poses challenges for exploring new pedagogical approaches and shifting practices at an institutional level. This project brought together a group of museum designers, educators, facilitators, and researchers to explore how staff across teams exercised agency within their professional roles. Through collaborative discussions guided by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, the group identified tensions that limited staff’s ability to explore new practices, and opportunities to shift working cultures toward collective learning and improvement.

Authors

• Susan M. Letourneau, New York Hall of Science

• Dana Schloss, New York Hall of Science

• Sylvia Perez, The New York Hall of Science

• Franklin S. Aucapina, New York Hall of Science

• Laycca Umer, New York Hall of Science

• Satbir Multani, New York Hall of Science

• Amelia Merker, New York Hall of Science

• Emilio Bautista, New York Hall of Science

• Iboun Morrison, New York Hall of Science

• Katherine Ziff, New York Hall of Science

• Phebe Chew, New York Hall of Science

• Leah Persram, New York Hall of Science

• Michael Baburyan, New York Hall of Science

• Ralph Emrick, New York Hall of Science

• Christiana Stawasz, New York Hall of Science