Museum as a Resource

Contextual Knowledge in Art Museum Education (Hubbard)

-Group dialogue, group inquiry to empower audiences to collectively
discover layers of meaning in works of art (18)
-Delivery of information can severely limit possibilities for a perception or
personal relationship, participation OR contextual information can foster
more detailed perception and open up viewers appreciation
*It is what the viewer does with the information that matters deepen
understanding, use contextual info. for meaning making
The role of the teacher: Fluid guidelines meant to inspire reflection
about how teachers can allow information to illuminate art viewers about
other ways of being, while also enabling them to gain insights into
themselves (18)
-Be as informed as possible about the work
-Consider how important a particular piece of knowledge is to understanding
the work
-Consider the theme you may be threading through a series of works
-Be mindful of the impulse to psychoanalyze the artist or share gossipy
information
-Consider the relevance of the information to different audiences (ie. adult
vs. child)
If you share a preexisting interpretation of a work, explain that this is not its
ultimate meaning but someones vision. Ask the group to respond. Does the
interpretation support or change their experience of the work? Does it limit
their investigation or open new perspectives? (20)
Considerations:
-Looking for information
-Using knowledge: the importance of timing
-Facts and interpretations
Fact: This sculpture is made from wood
Interpretation: To some of us, this work embodies to others it
celebrates
* The meaning of the work always goes beyond the intent of the
artist (21)
-Title of a work can be factual or interpretative, too
-Cultural meanings
-What viewers bring

Viewers bring abundant knowledge with them draw helpful

information
from your audience, but embrace a spirit of collective meaning
making
Integrate what is helpful, manage what is not so helpful; and invite
the group to
question what can be challenged (22)
-Make no assumptions, try out different approaches-- doing so will
way to a
richer exploration (22)
Peoples encounters with art:
-Dialogue between viewer and a work
-Dialogue between two spectators who share responses
& Dialogue of the back and forth that can exist between meanings that are
individual, and meanings that are embedded in larger sociocultural traditions
By allowing these meanings to inform and enrich each other, teachers
can help students build deeper and more significant relationships with art
(22)
Three Modes of Dialogue about Works of Art (Hubbard)
-Group dialogue helps students making meaning from works of art
1. Predetermined dialogue (aligned with objectivism)
2. Interpretative dialogue (aligned with constructivism)
-Thematic
-Open
Predetermined dialogue:
-Helps students arrive at concrete understandings, identified by teacher in
advance
-Teacher transfers information/knowledge to learner/ learner arrives at
desired knowledge
-Particular point of knowledge
Interpretive dialogue:
Interpretive dialogue is not meant to communicate pre-identified ideas, but
rather enable students to construct their own meaning in response to an
artwork (42)
-Purpose is not to transfer knowledge, but to create the possibilities for the
construction of knowledge

*Interpretative dialogue addresses the notion that the meaning of an

artwork is not fixed but ever-evolving (42)
-Regardless of its type, interpretive dialogue assumes that shaping meaning
in relation to artwork helps viewers consider important human issues
(Hubbard), make sense of themselves and their world (Burton), become
wide-awake to life (Dewey), and imagine things as though they could be
otherwise (Greene) (42)
Thematic dialogue:
-Teacher establishes limits for investigation by selecting one aspect of an
artwork for students to explore, or one particular lens through which the
artwork is to be interpreted (42)
Open dialogue:
-Rests on the notion that artworks are more than the embodiment of a
single theme- they are multidimensional, with layers of interrelated meaning
that inform, complement, or even contradict each other (43)
-Discussion evolves
-Teacher highlights avenues of inquiry, asks students to pursue them,
elaborate, deepen, consider alternative readings
-Shifting role of teacher from facilitator to fellow inquirer
-Students articulate the different narratives that the work suggests
-Students comment on characters, setting, mood of the scene, describe
formal elements, explore motion, explore human issues
-The inquiry is not linear. Thoughts, feeling, and observations are layered
naturally. . . New discoveries cause the inquirers to revisit, adjust, or solidify
earlier insights (43)
-Teacher facilitates, influences inquiry, brings sense of cohesion to the
experience
*Open dialogue demands the most time with each artwork and is possibly
the most challenging to facilitate and assesshowever, it is rewarding for
students and the teachermaking exciting new discoveries and constructing
new meanings together
Final thoughts:
-The different modes of dialogue can be integrated in a single conversation
-Spirit of inquiry (44) is important
Rewards of dialogue:
-Ownership of concrete understanding
-The opportunity to reflect in new ways about a life issue
-A space to construct fresh, multidimensional meaning.
-In the best of cases, the encounter can even be transformative (44)

-Teachers can incorporate the modes that best fit their goals- thoughtful
decisions about dialogue => stronger platform for teaching =>art
experiences that are richer and more meaningful for students