Restorying the present by revisiting the past: Unexpected moments of discovery and illumination through museum learning

Abstract

Two adult educators, guided by autoethnography as methodology, share the restorying of their own lifelong learning narratives and unexpected insights gained from having experienced the powerful potential of museum learning and culture. Having previously regarded museum visits as an experience that primarily tapped the intellectual, cognitive domain, the authors, drawing from experiencing the Pier 21 Museum in Halifax and the War Brides installation exhibit at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, were thrust into multiple ways and dimensions of how we learn, how we view the world, and how we locate ourselves in the world. Shared stories illuminate the potential for museum education to animate, breathe life into and offer a deepened understanding of our own personal, lifelong learning narratives.

Teaching in a global society: Considerations for university-based educational leadership

“…Additional methods or practices for adult learning found in the literature include film-based assignments (Olson et al, 2016); museum learning (Kawalilak & Groen, 2016); biographical prompts (Lohr & Haley, 2018); service learning (Early & Lasker, 2018); and problem based learning (Roopashree, 2014). Roopashree (2014) defined problem based learning as an instructional approach that "advocates experience-based education and which helps the students to learn by solving problems and reflecting on their experiences, thereby helping students to become active learners by placing them in real-world problems which makes students responsible for their learning" (p. 9).…”

Reflections on the Adult Education Professoriate in Canada

“…"In autoethnography, the story is not the focus, the story is the medium. Simply put, through the power of story and sharing of experiences, stories are a pathway, a lens through which to better understand the culture of something" [6] (p. 3). We anticipate that by sharing our narratives of being adult education professors, against the backdrop of a changing university context, we will be able to engage readers, particularly those in academy as they consider their own implications of being situated in a changing context.…”