Sofia Trouli

Designing a university course is an ongoing process of in-depth planning, reflection, and revision, during which students and professors learn from each other in a collaborative learning environment. Both in universities and museums we focus on more inclusive learner-centered learning strategies. This paper illustrates the potentialities but also the limitations of designing and implementing course and seminar meetings within the “Museum Education” subject in the Department of Preschool Education at the University of Crete, during the academic years 2022-2023. Moving from a "pedagogy of compliance" to a "pedagogy of voice", it is crucial to record students’ voices upon course and seminar contents, usefulness, and the implemented learning methods but also their ideas of improvements. In this context an empirical ongoing action research project is conducted based on the mixed methodology with main tools the students’ feedback exercises during the semester and a questionnaire, uploaded to the course’s E-class platform, to be completed optionally by the students at the end of the semester and the evaluation formal forms of University’s Quality Assurance Unit. First interpretation of the data reveals that students need to be heard and they love learning through practice in a collaborative environment. The stereotypes about museums emerge and are overturned through the meetings. Students consider the course of Museum Education essential for their studies and underline their need for more experiential learning and training in non-formal learning environments, such as museums.

Museums seek to be places for democratization, inclusion and polyphony. In this paper we present the multimodal conversations of the participating adolescents in the course of a museum pedagogical program in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete. The program’s topic is Europe and the concept of European identity. Firstly, we prepare the ground through creating an environment of safety and confidence, and next, together with our groups we study the selected artworks, following the routines of ‘Artful Thinking’, which propose the development of critical thinking through specific questions. This process reinforces reflective thinking and skills of participating in a dialogue. Our aim is to describe and share how a museum through its collections and programs can constitute a space where democratic dialogue and healthy debate are cultivated. In this space, everybody is invited to participate in inquiring, reflecting on self, answering, sharing, with and through the art.

<jats:p>Η παρούσα εργασία είναι μία συμβολή στην ιστορία της μη τυπικής εκπαίδευσης στην Ελλάδα. Παρουσιάζεται, πρώτον, η γενεαλογία της μουσειοπαιδαγωγικής, μέσα από το πρίσμα των μουσειοπαιδαγωγικών πρακτικών στα ελληνικά αρχαιολογικά μουσεία για παιδιά της σχολικής ηλικίας, από τον 19ο αιώνα. Και δεύτερον διερευνάται η σύγχρονη ελληνική πραγματικότητα, μέσα από τη βιβλιογραφική ιστορική μελέτη του θεσμικού και θεωρητικού πλαισίου, αλλά και μέσα από τα αποτελέσματα της ποιοτικής έρευνας, που πραγματοποιήθηκε με τη μελέτη περίπτωσης της εφαρμογής του εκπαιδευτικού προγράμματος Ταξίδια και Εμπόριο στη μινωική εποχή, στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ρεθύμνου, σε 76 παιδιά της Γ΄ Δημοτικού. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν ακόμη οι πέντε εκπαιδευτικοί των παιδιών, οι τρείς αρχαιολόγοι που σχεδίασαν το Εκπαιδευτικό Πρόγραμμα και τρεις φύλακες του Μουσείου. Με τη λέξη γενεαλογία εννοούμε την ιστορική αναδρομή της μουσειοπαιδαγωγικής, στη χρονική διαδοχή ανθρώπων και γεγονότων που συνέβαλαν στην ανάπτυξη θεωρητικού διαλόγου, ιδιαίτερα στη σχέση αρχαιολογικού μουσείου και παιδιού. Η έρευνα στηρίζεται στο επιστημολογικό πλαίσιο του ανθρωπιστικού κονστρουκτιβιστικού παραδείγματος και ειδικότερα στις κοινωνικο-πολιτισμικές θεωρίες του εποικοδομητισμού και στις ερμηνευτικές-φαινομενολογικές θεωρίες. Για την εκπόνησή της δώσαμε έμφαση στην πρακτική κατανόηση και ερμηνεία των ανθρώπινων δράσεων. Το μέσο για τη συγκέντρωση και την κατανόηση των ερευνητικών δεδομένων είναι ο λόγος (discourse) τόσο του μουσείου και της επίσημης εκπαίδευσης μέσω των ιστορικών πηγών όσο και των δρώντων ατόμων στην έρευνα, δηλαδή η γραπτή και προφορική αφήγηση των εμπειριών, των βαθύτερων σκέψεων και των γνώσεών τους. Τα συμπεράσματα της μελέτης φανερώνουν πως η μουσειοπαιδαγωγική στην Ελλάδα έχει βαθύτερες ρίζες απ' αυτές που πιστεύαμε μέχρι πρόσφατα. Σ' όλο αυτό το διάστημα, από τη συγκρότηση του νεοελληνικού κράτους ώς τη Μεταπολίτευση, υπήρξαν συνέχειες και ασυνέχειες, πρόσωπα και θεσμικές πράξεις, που, πραγματικά, λειτούργησαν ως «σταυροφόροι» υπέρ της παιδαγωγικής αξίας των μουσείων τόσο στον χώρο τους όσο και στον χώρο της εκπαίδευσης. Πολλά από αυτά τα πρόσωπα, μαζί με τις ιδέες τους ξεχάστηκαν, εξαιτίας των πολιτικών συνθηκών ή επιλογών. Από τη δεκαετία του 1980 άρχισε να γίνεται πάλι λόγος για τον παιδαγωγικό ρόλο των μουσείων, σαν να ήταν κάτι νέο και πρωτάκουστο, το οποίο η χώρα έπρεπε να αποδεχτεί και να αξιοποιήσει. Σήμερα, η σχέση παιδιού και αρχαιολογικού μουσείου χαρακτηρίζεται από ωριαίες ετήσιες συναντήσεις, συνήθως, στο πλαίσιο μίας σχολικής εκπαιδευτικής εκδρομής. Οι σχέσεις, όμως, δεν ευδοκιμούν μ' αυτόν τον τρόπο, ακόμη κι αν φαίνεται μέσα απ' αυτήν την εργασία πως καλλιεργούνται θετικά συναισθήματα. Χρειάζεται συστηματική οργάνωση και συνεργασία όλων των εμπλεκόμενων φορέων.</jats:p>

Insights on distance teaching about museums during the Covid-19 pandemic. A preliminary report of the case study of the "Museum Learning" Module at the University of Crete. Research Question The main question was: what are the potentialities but also the limitations of teaching "museum learning" at a distance according to the participating students.

Museums seek to be places for democratization, inclusion and polyphony. In this paper we present the multimodal conversations of the participating adolescents in the course of a museum pedagogical program in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete. The program's topic is Europe and the concept of European identity. Firstly, we prepare the ground through creating an environment of safety and confidence, and next, together with our groups we study the selected artworks, following the routines of 'Artful Thinking', which propose the development of critical thinking through specific questions. This process reinforces reflective thinking and skills of participating in a dialogue. Our aim is to describe and share how a museum through its collections and programs can constitute a space where democratic dialogue and healthy debate are cultivated. In this space, everybody is invited to participate in inquiring, reflecting on self, answering, sharing, with and through the art.

In this paper, we discuss how we can introduce observing a work of art in the classroom and have the
benefits of museum learning experiences even if we cannot visit a museum. The selected artwork
belongs to the Turkish artist Volkan Aslan and its title is “Home Sweet Home” and was presented in the
15th Biennale of Istanbul. The objective of the workshop is to show how we can approach and
experience difficult issues such as the notions of neighbor, home, and displacement. We focus more on
developing self-reflection and dialogue, fostering critical thinking through artful thinking, and eliciting new
questions on the issues being discussed. The cultivated competencies, during the workshop, are the
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making
but also the raise of inclusiveness within the school communities and the understanding of the reality of
being a newcomer, a new neighbor even in the classroom, We present strategies how we can approach
societal issues such as the question of the complexity of the neighbor in our classroom using artworks
of contemporary art. The following methodologies were learning by doing, the Socratic method of
questioning and inquiry learning and the artful thinking. We believe that art can be a useful tool for
discussing such subjects, because art offers us the opportunity to reflect on different points of view
and share our own thoughts and emotions. The expected outcome of the workshop is to increase
understanding of strategies that may help teachers introduce museum learning experiences in their
classrooms and more specific artworks.

In this paper, we explore the different terms and notions used to describe museum pedagogy and learning in Greece. We choose the term “museum pedagogy” to refer to the scientific discipline and the learning theories of the educational role of the museum, while we use the term “museum learning” to refer to everyday practice in museums such as museum learning programmes. Some of our research questions are: which are the origins and the histories of the terms “museum education”, “museum learning”, “museum pedagogy” and how are they used in Greece? Are there differences? In the end, are the words significant and
meaningful and what are the realities behind them? In an attempt to answer this last
question, we present the methods we are trying to follow in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete while designing museum learning programmes. The first part sketches a short history of museum pedagogy and learning in the country, describing the origins of terms and practices. In Greece, the term “museum” is often identified with the archaeological museum, which applies mainly to institutions that preserve
and exhibit works from ancient Hellenic civilisations. Archaeological museums are the largest group of museums in Greece, followed by folk museums. The recent studies have shown that museum pedagogy and learning in Greece has deeper roots than we have
believed so far. The genealogy of museum pedagogy and learning is divided into three
periods, which appear to be successive in time and are characterised by three approaches: the political-ideological (pre-revolutionary period-1900), aesthetics (1900-1978) and finally the educational approach (1978-present). Until the 1990s, national, state and public museums in Greece were more object-centered and considered as institutions that delivered formal education around national Greek narratives. Behind the words, one of the realities is that the museums have become more accessible in recent years, elaborating their role as learning institutions in Greece.
In the second part, we present the main structure of the museum learning programmes, designed and implemented in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete as an example of best practice of reality in the field of museum learning in Greece. It focuses on school groups, even though we use the same strategies for other groups. Our methods are slow looking and artful thinking and we propose four main steps for a successful museum learning programme, full of holistic and multimodal experiences: 1) preparation for the visit with the leader of the group (e.g. teacher, professor) for the visit, 2) the preparation of the group before the visit, 3) the visit to the museum for the implementation of the museum learning programme and finally 4) the processing of the visit after the museum visit in the classroom. The visit in the museum is structured in four phases: a phase with activities to relax, break the ice and get-to-know-each-other, a phase of introduction to the subject, a phase of reflection on the subject and a phase of creative evaluation and emotional discharge. Through these steps we want visitors to feel welcome, included, interested but also engaged and active in their everyday life, inspired by taking part in the programmes.
Some people in Greece still believe that museum pedagogy and learning refer only to children. Consequently, museums need to challenge this attitude and be more mindful and critical. Collaboration and the creation of synergies between the museum staff and audiences are at the heart of museum learning. After all, the core to museum learning, education, museum pedagogy or whatever we call our profession, is the desire to inform, create, inspire cultural action.

Η συνεργασία σχολείου και μουσείου είναι απαραίτητη και μόνο οφέλη μπορεί να προσφέρει στη διαδικασία της διδασκαλίας και της μάθησης και στην καλλιέργεια των δεξιοτήτων εκπαιδευόμενων, αλλά και εκπαιδευτικών. Πώς, όμως, το μουσείο και ιδιαίτερα ένα Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης μπορεί να βοηθήσει στην καλλιέργεια της κριτικής σκέψης και στην ενσυναίσθηση των μαθητών και των εκπαιδευτικών για
κοινωνικά θέματα όπως το προσφυγικό ζήτημα; Κάποιες απαντήσεις σ’ αυτό το ερώτημα σκοπεύουμε να βρούμε στο εργαστήρι με θέμα: Συνομιλώντας μπροστά σε σύνορα και σταυροδρόμια για το προσφυγικό. Σκοπός του εργαστηρίου είναι οι εκπαιδευτικοί να έρθουν σε επαφή με τα οφέλη της ένταξης των τεχνών στη διδασκαλία τους. Με αφορμή ένα θέμα που μας αφορά όλους, το προσφυγικό, θα έρθουμε σε επαφή με τις τεχνικές του έντεχνου συλλογισμού και του θεατρικού
παιχνιδιού. Ειδικότερα θα δούμε έργα τέχνης, κυρίως σύγχρονες φωτογραφίες από την έκθεση Medphoto Σύνορα και Σταυροδρόμια που πραγματοποιήθηκε το
καλοκαίρι του 2016, στο Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης Κρήτης και θα γευτούμε με βιωματικό τρόπο πώς μπορούμε να τις αξιοποιήσουμε στην τάξης μας με στόχο τον εμπλουτισμό του διδακτικού ρεπερτορίου μας αλλά και την ενσυναίσθηση μας για το προσφυγικό ζήτημα. Απώτερος σκοπός του εργαστηρίου είναι να αναδειχθούν οι προοπτικές των σχέσεων εκπαίδευσης και πολιτισμού.

Κάθε χρόνο πραγματοποιούνται πολυάριθμες σχολικές εκδρομές και ακόμη περισσότερες επισκέψεις από τους μαθητές και τις μαθήτριες των Δημοτικών Σχολείων. Υπάρχουν διάφοροι τύποι εκδρομών: Η ημερήσια σχολική εκδρομή γίνεται κατά σχολείο ή κατά τάξεις, διαρκεί συνήθως έξι ώρες ή, είναι ολοήμερη. Η σχολική επίσκεψη κρατάει δύο-τρεις ώρες, αλλά μπορεί να παραταθεί δύο ώρες και πέρα του διδακτικού ωραρίου. Ποιο είναι, όμως, το όφελος των μαθητών από αυτές τις δράσεις; Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα προσπαθήσουμε να θέσουμε ορισμένα ερωτήματα σχετικά με την εκπαιδευτική και την παιδαγωγική αξία αυτών των σχολικών εκδρομών διερευνώντας τις αντιδράσεις μαθητών και εκπαιδευτικών της Γ΄ Δημοτικού τριών δημοτικών σχολείων της πόλης του Ρεθύμνου κατά την επίσκεψή τους στην Κνωσό και τη συμμετοχή τους σε μία παιδαγωγική ξενάγηση.

Many people often “look”, but they do not “see” the images which surround them. In other words they do not perceive what they are looking at. This can be handled by educating people to “see” with “critical eye” and “read” with “critical mind” the world around them. In this paper, we propose on the one hand original ways of educating the eye and all of our senses and our critical vision and on the other hand creative methods of approaching art objects in schools. In the first part of this presentation, we summarize the theoretical principles of the “education of the eye” and visual literacy with an emphasis on the pedagogy of happiness and the pedagogical theories of experiential and discovery learning. In the second part, two examples of fostering visual literacy are given, with the aid of unconventional and highly enigmatic art objects. The one example derives from the domain of archaeology – the well-known Phaestos disc from the Minoan Civilization - and the other one from modern art, i.e., paintings by the surrealist painter René Magritte. Through those examples it is indicated that encountering with unconventional art and connecting it with personal everyday life, experiences and emotions, could have a direct impact on the creativity and the critical thinking of students. In addition it may also help them and all of us, teachers and parents as well, in our attempt to get to know ourselves and the “other” and eventually be happy in the age of visual reality.

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete (MCAC) is a municipal museum in the heart of the old city of Rethymno. In the center of its interest is the human being. The themes of the offered educational programs derive from the communities’ interests. One of the most important issues of the Greek society is the refugee crisis and the integration of the refuges children in the school. During the temporary exhibition of the Museum, under the title of “Borders and Crossroads”, in the summer of 2016, we have planned the educational program Discussing in front of borders and crossroads especially for school and family groups in order to inform and raise awareness on  newly arrived refugees. In this context we have also decided to approach for partnership the primary school of our neighborhood, because 80% of its pupils are immigrants or refuges. In this virtual poster we describe, in short, our practices for inclusiveness through this example of non-formal collaboration between the school and the museum.

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete (MCAC) is a low-budget municipal museum in the heart of the old city of Rethymno. Since its establishment in the ‘90s the Museum has cared about the issues of contemporary society. At the heart of its interest is the human being. For all these reason the subjects of the educational programs that it offers derive from the communities’ interests. One of the most important issues of Greek society is the refugee crisis. Occasioned by the museum’s temporary exhibition entitled “Borders and Crossroads”, during the summer of 2016, we decided to plan the educational program Discussing the refugee crisis facing borders and crossroads. Our objectives were, first of all, following the routines of artful thinking, to start dialogue about the refugee issue in front of selected artworks from the exhibition, to raise awareness of the refugees through art and step by step to cultivate empathy through kinesthetic activities. The programme has continued after the end of exhibition, since it has been selected by school groups or university groups and adults. The qualitative evaluation showed that the educational programme reached its goals and more importantly had an emotional impact on the visitors which resulted in their involvement in helping the refugees.

The paper investigates two little-known international meetings, which took place in Greece in 1905 and in 1954:  the 1st International Archaeology Congress (1905), and the 2nd UNESCO and ICOM workshop on the subject Museums’ Mission in Education (1954). Both meetings are unique because they gave to the participants the opportunity to exchange ideas on the importance, the theory and the practice of museum education and to explore the interrelationships possible among museums, archaeology, archaeologists, educators, governors, students and visitors to this end. In addition both meetings raised many issues that even now remain at the top of the agenda of museum education. In the light of this fact, we must respectfully remember the existence of the earliest voices and appreciate the longer ‘genealogy’ of Greek museum education – to be inspired by their ideas and practices.