Family Groups in Living History Museums Johanna Bromberg Craig EDLF 844 May 5, 2008

Caveats Interpreters means museum staff members who dress in costume and work as historical interpreters (unless otherwise noted) Part of a larger on-going inquiry for my pilot study

Background Family groups constitute the majority of museum visitors Family groups can be seen as a community of practice Living history museum visits are incredibly open-ended Social construction of knowledge

Guiding Questions What is the nature of learning embedded in the interactions between family groups and historical interpreters in a living history museum? What are the family groups’ beliefs about learning? What does it mean to them? What are the historical interpreters’ beliefs about learning? What does it mean to them?

Methodology Interpretive paradigm Erickson’s model of analytic induction as research strategy

Site and Sample Medium-sized outdoor living history museum in Central VA 3 family groups - moms and dads and 2 or 3 kids, ranging from 8-16 years of age 4 interpreters

Approaching Random Strangers… Families were surprisingly agreeable and accommodating Lesson learned - ask the whole group, not just one person

Data Gathering Observation of the entire visit Pre/post “family meaning maps” and interviews Observations of interpreters with different visitors Interviews with interpreters

Validity Validity according to Erickson (1986) - immediate and local meaning of actions, as defined by the actors’ point of view Made sure to have enough evidence in time and kind Vignettes, Quotes, Graphics… Only assertions with a preponderance of evidence (and accounting for confirming and disconfirming evidence) Researcher as Instrument

3 Assertions Interactions Process of Visit Interpreter Engagement Strategies

Assertion #1 parent/child - personal and cultural parent/interpreter - social and status interpreter/child - material “stuff”

Assertion #2 Family groups interact differently throughout the process of the museum visit. This can be seen in the encounters early on in the visit as compared to encounters later in the trip. This is influenced by the efforts of each successive interpreter to make comparisons between farms and connect the farms thematically.

An example “Jason tentatively approaches the closed door that is the entrance to the main house, and knocks quietly on the door. Alex looks up at him, rolls her eyes a bit and says in an exasperated tone, that he should “just open it!” Jason begins to open the door, and once it is partially open Alex steps in front of him and flings herself against the door, enthusiastically anticipating what she will see inside.” (Fieldnotes, )

Assertion #3 Interpreters’ interactions with family groups are influenced by their belief about their own learning and their beliefs about visitor learning, which shape their strategies for visitor engagement.

Caleb’s Own Learning “Because as I learned as an actor, when you can actually put work and education and information into your body and into your brain by physically doing the work, or physically doing an activity, you remember it a lot easier, and it also um almost becomes second nature because it’s something that you do on a regular basis” (Interview, )

Caleb: Visitor Learning “We are definitely a hands-on type learning experience… when first starting to work here I realized this is not the velvet ropes style of museum where you stand back and kind of look at an artifact and don’t really get a chance to touch it, feel it or experience it… uh, this is the place where you get to actually feel, and touch, and experience and work with just even the most simple of things, like just putting a bucket in a well, or uh using some of the flax tools, being a little bit more complex tools than that.” (Interview, )

Caleb and the Visitors Forge only place in the museum that is not hands on Caleb made it so - hammers and bellows

Implications How to get parents and children involved more collaboratively, thinking about more complex issues? Rethinking orientation video… new process?