Table of Contents

* Section 1: Coming of Age* The Museum's Role in a Multicultural Society* Revolution of the Field: Historical Context* Afro-American Museums: A Future Full of Promise* The Growth of a Program: From Childhood through Adolescence* On Interpretation and Historic Sites* To Realize Our Museums' Full Potential * Educators Respond to Museum for a New Century* Some Limitations* Implications for Museum Educators* Key Issues* Internal Growth* The Uncertain Profession: Perceptions and Directions* A Questionable Attitudinal Survey* Strength in Ambiguity* Our Work Is Good for People * Key Issues* Eisner and Dobbs' Generalizations* Eisner and Dobbs's Recommendations* Professional Standards for Museum Educators, American Association of Museums Standing Professional Committee on Education* MER at Twenty: Some Observations on Museum Education * Museums and the Future of Education* "Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums"* American Association of Museums Task Force on Museum Education* "Excellence and Equity:" Excerpts from the Report The Diverse Potential of Education in Museums* Education: A Responsibility or the Responsibility? * Museum Education and Ideals* The Importance of "And"* Museum Literacy and "Visitor Literacy" * Museums in Cultural and Temporal Context * Museums' Social Contract* Section 2: Reflecting on Things and Theory* Looking* Were Those Indians Hit by Cars?* Object Knowledge: Every Museum Visitor an Interpreter * Defining Museum Literacy* Object Contemplation: Theory into Practice* Responses to Schlereth, Stapp, and Williams* From What to Why* Unhanding the Visitor* Interpreting History through Objects* The Missing Link: The Role of Orientation in Enriching the Museum Experience* Vision and Culture: The Role of Museums in Visual Literacy * E. D. Hirsch's Art Terms in Cultural Literacy* Museums and KnowledgeS The Responsibility to Open Minds* Naive Notions and the Design of Science Museum Exhibits* Passionate and Purposeful: Adult Learning Communities* Museum Visitors and the Development of Understanding* Sending Them Home Alive* Museum Multicultural Education for Young Learners * Section 3: Considering the Museum Experience* New Directions for Research* Evaluating Visitors' Conversations with Exhibits* Back to the Future: A Call for Coordinated Research Programs in Museums* Visitor Participation in Formative Exhibit Evaluation* Do Museums Have "Curriculum?"* The Family Museum Experience: Implications from Research * The Family Museum Experience: A Review of the Literature* Beyond "Aha!": Motivating Museum Visitors* Understanding Demographic Data on Zoo Visitors * Section 4: Putting Plans into Practice* Ideas on Informal Learning and Teaching* Inviting the Public to Learn in Art Museums* A Personal Viewpoint* Decentralizing Interpretation: Developing Museum Education Materials with and for Schools* Education Programs for Older Adults* Case Studies: Museum Programs for Older Adults* Learning about Reptiles and Amphibians: A Family Experience* Student Interpreters: Narrowing the Gap between Visitor and Exhibit * The University Gallery as a Field Setting for Teacher Education * Master Teaching in an Art Museum* Addressing Community Needs: The Pontiac Art Center* Role-Playing in Children's Museum* Theater Techniques in an Aquarium or a Natural History Museum * Current Approaches to Interpretation in Zoos * Designed to Be Interpreted * An Integrative Process for Exhibit Design * High-Tech Interactive Exhibits * Low-Tech Interactive Exhibits* The Use of Humor in Zoological Interpretation* Entertainment and Education: Antonyms or Allies?* Theater in a Zoo?* Section 5: Thinking about Ourselves and Our Field* On Professional Knowing* Your Private Temple: Fighting Change * Getting It Down on Paper * Education for Excellent Interpretation * Concept, Method, and Professional Exchange * Training for Museum Education Professionals * Preparation for Empowerment * The Whole Audience Catalogue* Questioning Premises * Touchstones* Teaching and Learning and Being* A Visitor's View

About the Author

Susan K. Nichols is an author and editor in the museum field. In addition to editing two readers from the 'Journal of Museum Education', she has been involved in such books and reports as 'Organizing Your Museum: The Essentials', 'Visitor Surveys: A User's Manual', 'Fund Raising: A Basic Reader', and 'Historians/Artifacts/Learners: Working Papers'.