Inclusion Training for Explainers in Museums and Science Centres (ITEMS)
Funding
Erasmus+
Call 2019 Round 1 KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices
Project coordination
Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik
Dr. Lorenz Kampschulte
Partner
Deutsches Museum München (München); Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci (Mailand); Etablissement Public du Palais de la Decouverte et de la Cite des Science et de l’Industrie (Paris); Ars Electronica Center (Linz); Technische Universität München (München).
Project partner TUM
Staff
Dr. Siëlle Phelan
Project Description
The inclusion of people with social disadvantages, e.g. senior citizens, immigrants, ethnic and cultural minorities, or people with lower levels of education, is a hotly debated topic, in society as well as politics. Education is a key issue of inclusion, since it is one of the most relevant factors of successful integration. Museums and Science Centres are pioneers in lifelong learning, and as such - next to schools - highly relevant places for inclusive education. Explainers/Facilitators in Museums and Science Centres play a key role in connecting the topics of exhibitions with visitors, i.e. they are on the edge of communicating to inclusive visitors.
The objective of the ITEMS project is to develop, test and promote a training programme for explainers in museums and science centres that enables them to identify the needs of some of these groups and to properly address them in their daily educational work. The challenge for explainers is that the range of needs is vast, as are the possibilities to react to these and thus support the visitor. The project aims to develop strategies to open the content and activities for these groups with special needs, including the use of digital media to facilitate better communication and interaction. A modular design of the programmes will enable the partners to integrate the training into the established structures in use at the different locations.
The TUM team will be the leading partner concerning the evaluation of the ITEMS project. It will significantly contribute to the project through expertise concerning theoretical and empirical questions with regard to the development and evaluation of the trainings of the explainers and the development and evaluation of the ITEMS materials.