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Hi!

 

My name is Betty

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My name is Betty

 

 

I am

a Museum Educator 

an Art Historian and

an Art Practitioner

 

 

with

 

an MA in Museums and Galleries in Education

an MA in Art History and

a Degree in Cultural Heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have experience designing and delivering indoor activities and outreach programmes for children, schools, families and communities in museum settings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While studying for my MA in Museums and Galleries in Education at the UCL Institute of Education, I had the chance to gain a deep understanding of the daily running of many museums, working as a Customer Service Assistant at the V&A, at the Science Museum, at the Imperial War Museum and at the Wallace Collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY PROFESSION

 

As an Educator....

I have a deep belief in informal education through museums. This kind of learning is not outside formal learning but is an enrichment of formal learning.

 

HAND'S ON!

 

Play, art and touch are at the heart of my learning programmes.

Over the years our understanding of learning has altered dramatically; it is now seen as a complex process involving more than just the acquisition of a body of knowledge in which all genuine education comes about through experience. In fact, museums have worked over the past two centuries to develop education practice, fully recognizing and acknowledging that “there are many ways to learn” and “many styles of learning”. These types of leaning, particularly adopted in museum settings and often described as “informal learning” (Hein, 1998), recognise “experience” as the main generator and constructor of knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me... understanding the public no longer means simply counting museum visitors but defining them intellectually and emotionally.  

I take into account different learning styles and personal needs related to the social, cultural and emotional spheres (to name just a few).

 

 

 

MY NEW ROLE WITHIN THE SOCIETY

 

Museums and galleries, which until the twentieth century were primarily concerned with  the accumulation, conservation and dispensation of  human knowledge, are re-shaping understanding of their role and functions within communities and actively tackling issues of deprivation and disadvantage in order to demonstrate their new social and educational values!

Contemporary museological practice encourages active working partnerships with local communities, which over time has led to an increasingly active role for visitors, from involvement in collection policy to the representation of minority communities in museum spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOMETHING ABOUT MY EDUCATION

 

MY ACADEMIC COURSE

 

  My academic course of study has deepened my interest and experience in four ..main areas of contemporary museum practice:

 

• Issues concerning museum studies, including investigating how museum spaces and practices have changed during the past century in response to new social, cultural and educational needs;

 

• Acknowledgment and investigation of the many ways in which it is possible to construct, interpret and give value to our diverse cultural heritage in modern museum settings;

 

• The potential functions, opportunities and problems posed by transforming contemporary museum and gallery experiences with cutting edge virtual technologies;

 

• The importance of practicing inclusion and outreach as part of a “responsive” museum and gallery environment.

 

 

MY INTERNSHIP

 

My internship fell in a period in which the October Gallery was seeking to expand its catchment area, running and promoting outreach workshops designed for audiences unfamiliar or not confident with its collections, including local communities and under 5s, and groups such as prisoners, vulnerable women, and young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. As a result, over the course of my placement I was able to work with many different audiences, including toddlers and nursery children, primary and secondary school groups, students with behavioural and emotional difficulties, families, and community groups.