abstract: The general field of interest of this study was art education in the context of art museums in the United States. The vehicle of a mixed method, descriptive research design was used to investigate whether museum educator and curator participants had tendencies to use personal or communal approaches (Barrett, 2000) to teaching art interpretation to adult visitors. While the personal approach to art interpretation focused on individuals' responses to artworks, the communal approach emphasized the community of art scholars' shared understandings of artworks. Understanding the communities of practice of the participants was integral to the discovery of meaning in the study's findings. Wenger (1998) introduced the theory of community of practice to explain how individuals, who are united in a particular context, shared similar perspectives, learned socially from each other, and gained a sense of identity through their routines and interactions. The study examined how museum educators' and curators' separate communities of practice influenced their members' teaching approaches through the development of distinct teacher personae. Teacher personae reflected the educational values and priorities of museum educators' and curators' communities of practice. And, teacher personae had tendencies to adopt personal or communal approaches to art interpretation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2014

The purpose of this study is to provide the fields of art education and museum education with gallery teaching practice that uses students’ prior knowledge of art making as the means to guide interpretation of art in the museum. This study develops touring methods that maintain the identity of the student artists in the context of adult artists’ works in the museum. This investigation is an action-based research study of how a museum educator can develop touring practice to use art objects to enable students to think reflectively on their art making. The results of this study identify the characteristics of an art museum tour that is centered on students and art making. This study demonstrates a framework for teaching in the museum that incorporates constructivist learning theory, social and active learning, a concepts-based approach to art learning, and develops student cognition. / text

[pt] O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar os setores educativos de seis museus de ciência da cidade do Rio de Janeiro com o propósito de conhecer a estrutura e o funcionamento desses espaços, bem como os referenciais teóricos que fundamentam as ações educativas desenvolvidas por seus profissionais. Foram selecionados para esta pesquisa a Casa da Ciência, o Museu da Geodiversidade, o Museu da Vida, o Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, o Museu do Meio Ambiente e o Museu Nacional. Apesar de os estudos sobre mediação, público, divulgação científica e a relação museu escola terem crescido consideravelmente nas últimas décadas, a revisão de literatura indicou reduzido material voltado especificamente aos setores educativos (SE) dos museus de ciência. Autores de distintos campos do conhecimento – Museologia, Educação, Sociologia, Ensino de Ciências – contribuíram para o arcabouço teórico da pesquisa, dentre eles: Cazelli, Hooper-Greenhill, Rubiales, Valente, Wagensberg, Freire, Carvalho e Dubet. Em termos metodológicos, optou-se por uma abordagem qualitativa das respostas dadas pelos museus de ciência ao questionário aplicado em 2015 pelo Grupo de Pesquisa em Educação, Museu, Cultura e Infância (GEPEMCI/PUC-Rio), com atenção especial aos resultados obtidos sobre os seis museus selecionados para este estudo. Em seguida, foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com educadores museais que integram as equipes dos SEs das instituições participantes. Com essas ferramentas, foram obtidos os dados analisados: o perfil dos profissionais do SE, a inserção do setor educativo na instituição, a formação desses profissionais, os referenciais teóricos subjacentes às suas práticas e as concepções de educação que orientam a atuação. Na etapa seguinte do estudo, realizou-se uma análise de conteúdo conforme proposta por Laurence Bardin e análise temática de Fontoura. Conjugando esses métodos, foi possível conhecer as especificidades dos setores educativos dos museus observados, refletir sobre os referenciais teóricos utilizados pelos profissionais entrevistados e relacionar essas referências com as ações educativas propostas. Percebeu-se também que esses atores exercem com frequência múltiplas funções dentro do SE, e que a profissionalização desses sujeitos é um campo em disputa, pois o educador museal não se constituí formalmente como profissão. Constatou-se que o processo de busca pela formação teve como ponto de partida a experiência no setor educativo e a troca de saberes com os atores envolvidos. Nesse sentido, a interdisciplinaridade e as trajetórias em diferentes áreas contribuem para uma formação continuada, realizada por e com os pares. Entre os entrevistados nesta pesquisa, observou-se diversas concepções de educação, do papel do setor educativo, da missão institucional, da importância de um plano educativo e da relação estabelecida com os referenciais teóricos que pautam as ações educativas. A respeito do referencial teórico, o educador Paulo Freire foi o mais citado, seguido por Piaget, Vygotsky e alguns autores nacionais e internacionais do campo museal. A pesquisa também indicou que é preciso constituir e manter uma proposta que una a academia, o museu e a escola na construção coletiva de ações educativas voltadas à formação, visando alcançar as demandas interinstitucionais, somando as expertises no entendimento e na apropriação da ciência do espaço museal. / [en] This study aims to analyze the educational sectors of six science museums in the city of Rio de Janeiro with the purpose of understanding the structure and functioning of such spaces, as well as the theoretical references underlying the educational actions developed by their professionals. The House of Science, the Museum of Geodiversity, the Museum of Life, the Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences, the Museum of the Environment and the National Museum were selected for this research. Although studies on mediation, public, scientific popularization and the museum-school relationship have grown considerably in the last decades, the literature review offers reduced material specifically aimed at the educational sectors of science museums. Authors from different fields of knowledge – such as Museology, Education, Sociology, Science Teaching– contributed to the theoretical framework of this research, among them: Cazelli, Hooper-Greenhill, Rubiales, Valente, Wagensberg, Freire, Carvalho and Dubet. In methodological terms, I opted for a qualitative analysis of the answers given by science museums to the questionnaire once applied in 2015 by the Research Group on Education, Museum, Culture and Childhood (GEPEMCI/PUC-Rio), with special attention to the results obtained from the six museums selected for this study. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with museum educators who integrate the ES teams of the analyzed institutions. With these tools, data were collected concerning the profile of museum educators, the insertion of the educational sector in the institution, the training of these professionals, the theoretical references underlying their practices and the conceptions of education that guide the performance. Then a content analysis as proposed by Laurence Bardin was carried out. Combining these methods, it was possible to approach the specificities of the educational sectors of the museums under study, reflect on the theoretical frameworks used by the interviewed professionals and relate these references to the proposed educational actions. It was also noticed that these subjects often exercise multiple functions within the ES, and that professionalization of these subjects is a field in dispute, since the museum educator is not constituted as a formal profession. Their search for training process had as its starting point the experience in the educational sector and the exchange of knowledge with the actors involved. In this sense, interdisciplinarity and trajectories in different areas contribute to continuous training, carried out by and with peers. Among the interviewees, there were several conceptions of education, the role of the educational sector, the institutional mission, the importance of an educational plan and the relationship established with the theoretical frameworks that guide educational actions. Regarding the theoretical framework, the educator Paulo Freire was the most cited, followed by Piaget, Vygotsky and some national and international authors in the field of museums. The research also indicated the necessity of establishing and maintaining a proposal that unites the academy, the museum and the school in the collective construction of educational actions aimed at training, with the goal of meeting the inter-institutional demands, adding the expertise in understanding and appropriating the science museum space. / [es] El objetivo del presente trabajo es estudiar los sectores educativos de seis museos de ciencias de la ciudad de Rio de Janeiro, para conocer su estructura y funcionamiento, así como los referenciales teóricos que fundamentan las acciones educativas desarrolladas por sus respectivos equipos de profesionales. Fueron seleccionadas la Casa da Ciência, el Museu da Geodiversidade, el Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, el Museu da Vida, el Museu do Meio Ambiente y el Museu Nacional. A pesar del aumento de los estudios sobre mediación, público, divulgación científica, popularización de la ciencia y sobre la relación entre la institución museal y la escuela, en la literatura se encuentra poco sobre los sectores educativos de los museos de ciencias. Autores de áreas como Museología, Educación, Sociología y Enseñanza de las Ciencias han contribuído con este campo, tales como Cazelli, Hopper-Greenhill, Rubiales, Valente, Wagensberg, Freire, Carvalho y Dubet. Fue implementado el análisis cualitativo de las respuestas dadas en los museos a un cuestionario aplicado em 2015 por el Grupo de Pesquisa em Educação, Museu, Cultura e Infância (GEPEMCI/PUC-Rio). Seguidamente fueron realizadas entrevistas semiestructuradas a algunos profesionales de los sectores educativos de las instituciones mencionadas. Para el análisis fueron obtenidos datos sobre el perfil de los educadores entrevistados, la relevancia del sector educativo en la respectiva institución, la formación de tales profesionales, los referenciales teóricos subyacentes a sus prácticas y a las concepciones que orientan su desempeño. Posteriormente fue realizado un análisis de contenido, de acuerdo con la propuesta de Laurence Bardin. Conjugando estos enfoques fue posible conocer las particularidades de los sectores educativos, los referentes teóricos usados por los profesionales entrevistados y relacionar tales referencias con las acciones educativas propuestas desde los sectores. Se advirtió que estos funcionarios ejercen múltiples funciones dentro del museo frecuentemente y su profesionalización es un tema muy discutido, pues el trabajo de educador museal no es considerado una profesión en sí. Se constató que el la búsqueda de formación tuvo como puntos de partida la experiencia dentro del sector educativo y el intercambio de saberes con los demás actores del espacio museal. En ese sentido, la interdisciplinariedad y la diversidad de trayectorias de los integrantes del sector contribuyen para una formación continuada, realizada con y gracias a los pares. Los participantes en la investigación manifestaron diferentes concepciones sobre la educación y el papel del sector educativo, sobre la misión institucional del museo y la importancia de una propuesta educativa, y sobre la relación entre los referenciales teóricos y las acciones educativas. Los autores más citados fueron Freire, seguido por Piaget y Vigostki, entre otros autores del área. El estudio también mostró la necesidad de elaborar y mantener una propuesta que integre las instituciones científicas con el museo y la escuela en una formulación conjunta de acciones para la formación de los profesionales del sector, atendiendo demandas interinstitucionales, a partir de la combinación de experiencias y puntos de vista sobre el papel del museo y un sentido de apropiación de la ciencia y del espacio museal.

This thesis deals with the linking of school education with museum educational activities. It focuses primarily on the possibility of primary schools. It assesses how the museum can be used in the implementation of educational activities. He draws attention to specific forms of educational activities at the museum. In Detail, it is focused on defining the various teaching methods that can be prioritized in museum education. The thesis describes the role of museum education program, which is applicable in the project classes at school. The entire work points out apparent effort to integrate extracurricular learning opportunities taking place in the museum with school hours. Museum learning is seen as complementary and expanding the classroom. Yet he constantly emphasizes the uniqueness of the museum. Museum with a different environment from the school can offer a remarkable experience associated with teaching.