DESCRIBING THE EDUCATIONAL ROLE OF NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS: AN ANALYSIS TOOL FOR PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE TEACHERS

Authors

  • Eirini Gkouskou UCL Institute of Education, United Kingdom
  • Dimitrios Koliopoulos University of Patras, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i1.3526

Keywords:

Science and Technology museum, Natural History museum, educational role of museum, pre-service and in-service teacher education

Abstract

This study presents a tool for description and potential analysis of the educational role of the Science and Technology museum. This tool has been constructed from the point of view of formal education and it is proposed as a framework for the approach of the science/technology museum from the teachers and education administrators. More specifically, the tool is, at first, described in terms of structure, content and functionality and, afterwards, examples are provided for cases of international, national and local natural history museums (Natural History Museum in Paris, Goulandris Natural History Museum in Athens and University of Patras Zoology Museum accordingly). Finally, there is a discussion regarding the suitability of this tool to inform, instruct and train future and in-service teachers in aspects of museum education.

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Author Biographies

  • Eirini Gkouskou, UCL Institute of Education, United Kingdom
    Eirini Gkouskou: Lecturer in Early Years and Primary Education at the Department of Learning & Leadership, Institute of Education, University College London (UCL IOE) since March 2020. Eirini previously, was a Senior Lecturer within the Early Childhood team of UEL. Eirini previously worked as an academic, practitioner and manager in formal and non-formal (museum) organisations for more than 12 years. She holds a Bachelor degree (Honours) in Early Childhood Education, a MSc in Natural Science Didactics, a MBA in Education Business Administrator and a PhD from the University of Patras, Greece. Eirini completed her PhD in 2014 and since then she was a Research Associate at the Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment at the Institute of Education, University College London. Eirini's research interests broadly focus on Didactic of Science Education, museum education, play, STEM and inquiry - based learning. Eirini is also an active member of GEM and a Deputy Editor of the Journal of Education in Museums and a member of the CASTME organisation. CASTME links science, technology, engineering and mathematics educators across the Commonwealth and it has a UK-based board of trustees, with regional branches in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
  • Dimitrios Koliopoulos, University of Patras, Greece
    Dimitris Koliopoulos: Professor at the Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education of the University of Patras. He holds a diploma in physics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) and has done postgraduate studies in Science Museum Education and Science Education at the Jussieu University of Paris (France) and at University of Patras (Greece). His research interests concern epistemological and educational aspects of the transformation of scientific knowledge to school science in formal and non-formal (e.g., museums) educational settings. He has also been involved for years in the pre-service and in-service training of teachers in the primary and secondary education.

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Published

2021-01-12

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Articles

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