Parent-Child Visit to a History Museum: Benefits of Parents' Mediation

• In Event: 28.090 - MTCC Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: 28.090-11 - Peer, Adult, and Parent–Facilitated Learning in Informal and Museum Settings

Abstract

We examined parental mediation of a history museum content to their accompanying children during a museum visit. Ten parent-child dyads (9-12 years old) were fitted with a small head-camera for recording their entire visit – navigation, interactions with exhibits and related conversations. Mediation was characterised by parents’ emphasis on changes and continuities along history and on understanding historical timelines. Only few parents attempted to explain the reasons leading to the varied events or mentioned the motivations and intentions of people living in the past. Parents rarely referred to materials used by historians in their works, to ways these materials have been utilized for learning the past, or to difficulties accompanying such studies. Implications for informal learning are discussed.

Authors

• Billie Eilam, University of Haifa

• Merav Yosfan, University of Haifa