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Innovative Teaching and Learning
(Continued)
We are viewing civic engagement from both an institutional and individual perspective. The best practices we have identified prompt collecting institutions to be more civically engaged themselves— to be reflected through their exhibits and programming, which by extension encourages civic engagement in their audiences.
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The examples also suggest how innovative teaching and learning is part of this, as a means to cultivate civic engagement as an important value or set of behaviors in individual visitors or students. In this way civic engagement is both an important goal for institutions, as well as an educational objective or outcome for the audiences and learners they serve. The intention is for both institutions and individuals to be civically engaged. Institutions that value civic engagement will in turn foster civic engagement in their visitors/students, through innovative teaching and learning.
From our exploration of best practices, we have found that innovative teaching and learning may include:
• Immersive environments and multisensory, interactive experiences (e.g., smell, touch, life-size models)
• Community engagement / outreach
• Object-based learning (See John Hennigar Shuh, “Teaching yourself to teach with objects,” The Educational Role of the Museum [Routledge, 1999])
• Innovative technology/use
• Accessible practices (e.g., audio to accompany displays, online resources)
Cycle of Intentional Practice
Innovation does not happen by accident; innovative teaching and learning is done with intention. When using historical collections, how do we create interpretive or educational content that will make an impact? Innovation involves continued evaluation.
Randi Korn, founding director at RK&A, a consulting company for the cultural sector, is an intentional practice leader and author of Intentional Practice for Museums: A Guide for Maximizing Impact (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).
To maximize impact, her cycle of intentional practice includes continuously asking:
• Plan—What impact do we want to achieve?
• Evaluate—In what ways have we achieved our intended impact?
• Reflect—What have we learned? How can we do better?
• Align—How do we align our actions to achieve impact?
