Museums and galleries, having received increased funding to engage in their programmes young people who have traditionally been excluded by museums, are under pressure to demonstrate the impact of the programmes they offer. This paper drawing on a three-year Participatory Action Research (PAR) programme explores the hidden tensions that underpin the notion of young people's inclusion in museums. First it considers the reasons for adopting the PAR approach and presents its key principles.Then it reflects on the research processes and discusses the findings to provide an insight into the quality of the experiences offered to young people. It argues that there is an implicit deficiency perception of youth and suggests the use of PAR as a response both to the need for a deeper notion of inclusion and for research that values young people's voices.
There is a growing need for articulation of the theoretical framework underpinning performance as a learning medium in heritage sites and for an in-depth insight into the children's experiences therein. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the themes that emerged from researching participatory theatre in a historic house as experienced by two primary school groups. The methodology drawing upon the principles of participatory research with children and a constructivist theoretical framework employed interviews, observations and drawings as data generation methods to explore the children's individual and collective experiences. The research findings underline the interplay between the events' theatrical and interpretive format and advocate the significance of children's co-authorship of such events.
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