박물관 학습경험 중 의도하지 않은 경험에 대한 시론(試論)

Abstract

This essay focuses on the perceptional shift from ‘museum education’ to ‘learning in museums’ and points out that learners can learn from ‘unintended’ experiences regardless of the goals of teaching-learning designs. First, the perceptional shift from ‘education’ to ‘learning’ means that the focus has been moved from the teacher and forced knowledge to the learner and experiences. This shift was triggered by the elimination of the department of education in the University of Chicago in 1997, which was followed by a long debate on the concepts ‘education’ and ‘learning’ from the late 1990s through early 2000s, until it was finally declared that the focus should be shifted from ‘education’ to ‘learning.’ This means a new learner-centered educational paradigm has replaced the preexisting teacher-centered one. Notably, the old paradigm considers the learner as a passive recipient. But learning is a process of constantly reconstructing one’s own experiences as they encounter new ones on the foundation of previous ones. So, the shift to learning implies and underlines the active aspects of learners. On the individual level, learning is the process of maturing or development, while on the societal level it is the process of assimilation as a member of a society. In this process, the learner is not a simple recipient of what is given, but an active and aggressive agent. Next, in terms of museum education, it is necessary to notice that learning consists of ‘unintended experiences’ as well as ‘intended experiences.’ That is, each active learner shows different results of learning, and the results are not limited to the experiences intended by teaching-learning designs. Rather, museum education should pay more attention on those unintended by teaching-learning designs. The idea that a learner restructures the stimulation or experiences from outside based on their own existing experiences is related to the constructivist view of learning. To recognize a learner as an active agent imparts huge significance to teaching-learning designs. The contents of museum learning should include activities and practical missions which are meaningful in constructive way, in that the learner constructs knowledge and meaning about the assigned mission on the basis of his or her own experiences. Scaffolding should also be considered so that the learner can make progress through the zone of proximal development. And teaching-learning activities should be organized to encourage interactions from the learner. Various tangible or intangible materials in the museum have contexts beyond time and space, reflecting the values of the society. Yet the values are cultural construction, changing through time and varying in each culture. Different societies and groups construct values appropriate to their own needs and their own culture. In this respect, the tangible and intangible materials utilized in museum learning programs cannot be considered as ‘superior’ or ‘inferior.’ Rather, they should be viewed as tools for ‘empathetic communication about cultures.’ This perspective is different from the standardizing or normalizing view which was prevalent in the cultural logic of the 20th century. On a social level, it emphasizes diversity of small groups and their solidarity, and on an individual level, creativity. In this vein, museum learning programs must encourage interest in others and solidarity. And through this, they must promote respect for community and spirit of cooperation. It is clear that museum education has so far grown exponentially in terms of both quality and quantity as it actively cope with the internal and external environment. COVID-19 crisis has given another opportunity to further the development of museum education in both face-to-face and ‘untact’ ways. At this point, museum education should positively consider the fact that the learner ‘actively’ learns through ‘unintended experiences’ other than the ones planned by teaching-learning designs. Obviously, a learner is an active agent in that he or she perceives outer world and reconstructs its meaning based on his or her own experiences. What the learner learns is not just the goals offered by traditional instructional designs but also various unintended experiences, and this is one of the important factors to be considered. This is just an essay, not an outcome of an elaborate research plan or experiment. But what is pointed out in this essay - the perceptional shift from education to learning and the fact that a learner can learn through unintended experiences - can offer various possibilities to museum education, or teaching and learning activities.