The potential of extended cultural residencies for young children

DeWitt, Jennifer; King, Heather; Wright, Denise; Measures, Kate

doi:10.1080/09647775.2018.1442241

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The early years residency programme was inspired by “My Primary School is at the Museum” which explored the potential of extended residencies in museums and galleries across the UK (DeWitt et al , 2018). We have hosted two residencies to date, the first with a day nursery, the second with a playgroup.…”

Section: The Early Years Residency Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

It's our museum too: co-producing research in a university museum through a nursery residency programme

Noble

Wallis

2021

QRJ

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PurposeThe authors draw on Howard and Thomas-Hughes' (2020) framework for quality assessment of co-produced research, to interrogate our assumptions and processes and to reflect on our project. They consider if they achieved our planned outcomes around developing practice, enabling a range of voices and perspectives within their research, and enacting change within the university museum.Design/methodology/approachThe authors’ early years residency programme explores the potential of collaborations with community groups to transform knowledge and practice through action research. As museum educators, the authors find synergy between the participatory pedagogies underpinning their practice and the co-construction of knowledge within action research. Both are committed to enabling diverse interpretations within a collective and supportive framework. Within their project, practitioners from the museum and playgroup worked collaboratively to collect video footage, photos, children's artwork and reflective journals and memos.FindingsThe process of action, observation and reflection revealed much about the authors’ different perspectives and they found variations in both pedagogy and practice. Although the authors had a shared commitment to providing high quality, memorable, exciting opportunities for the children, the exploratory nature of the project meant that they did not agree what these experiences might look like in advance, and so they had different understandings of what they saw.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the authors’ methodological framework was designed to make their research collaborative, structural challenges and the contexts of the art museum and university reinforced long established hierarchies. While some felt supported by the research process and the prestige of working with a university museum to gain legitimacy for their practice, others were disempowered by these same structures. The authors consider their obligations as practitioner-researchers to become aware of the role they play in maintaining, as well as challenging, hierarchies and assumptions.Originality/valueYoung children in museums is a growing area of study and this practitioner-led action research project develop a new strand of enquiry within this field. Through this research the authors can collaborate with community partners to record, analyse and make visible the many different ways in which young children experience the museum. As research led institutions, university museums are ideally placed to develop research in partnership with local public bodies and community groups. However, future work in this area would benefit from a more explicit consideration of the constraints implicit within the institutions within which they all operate.

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Section: The Early Years Residency Programmementioning

confidence: 99%

It's our museum too: co-producing research in a university museum through a nursery residency programme

Noble

Wallis

2021

QRJ

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“…Siraj-Blatchford (2009) focused on the idea of sustained shared thinking in museums, where language is used to solve problems, understand a concept, develop stories and so forth. Other studies highlight the affordances of informal settings for developing deeper understandings of children's cognitive development (Sobel & Jipson 2015;DeWitt et al 2018). Research shows that in children's museums much adult behaviour is more handsoff than hands-on because there is a tendency in such settings for adults to allow the children to play while the adults provide supervision and discipline (Downey et al 2010).…”

Section: Gallery Education For Young Childrenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging Young Children and Families in Gallery Education at Tate Liverpool

Wright¹

2020

Int J Art Design Ed

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Beyond Words: Engaging Young Children and Families in Gallery Education at Tate Liverpool, is a three-year ethnographic case study that explores what happens when preschool children, parents and nursery practitioners from a Sure Start Children's Centre, visit Tate to participate in an extended series of gallery visits and workshops with artists. This article explores the potential value and tensions of those creative and cultural experiences, particularly for young children and families, by critically examining different perspectives, discourses and possible constructs of effective creative engagement. This research contributes to the debate on ways of engaging children and families from marginalised communities in cultural visits and creative practices by opening up existing discussions on poverty, matters of inclusion, negative stereotypes and dominant educational discourses. Insights from parents are included and their feelings are related to the 'symbolic violence' often felt by parents and children throughout their education from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This research explores how Tate Liverpool developed relationships with a diverse family audience, through developing relationships with children and adults over repeated visits, as an important way for offering continuity and a sense of belonging, particularly for families who may not traditionally visit art galleries. In doing so, it makes a case for galleries to be considered as democratic, inclusive and rhizomatic learning environments, where artist educators act as 'dreamkeepers'. Dreamkeepers can offer the space for extra emotional, social and intellectual support needed for healing from educational injury and for restarting a learning journey.

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The slow museum: the affordances of a university art museum as a nurturing and caring space for young children and their families

Wallis,

Noble

2023

Museum Management and Curatorship

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The potential of extended cultural residencies for young children

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

It's our museum too: co-producing research in a university museum through a nursery residency programme

It's our museum too: co-producing research in a university museum through a nursery residency programme

Engaging Young Children and Families in Gallery Education at Tate Liverpool

The slow museum: the affordances of a university art museum as a nurturing and caring space for young children and their families

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