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Ethics Q&A: Interpretation (for children)
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August 2000
Ours is a small but ambitious museum. We would like to appeal more to our youngest visitors. We have been discussing the introduction of some of the ideas that we saw in some of the innovative children's museums we visited on a recent holiday in the United States.
Whilst we do have a few interactives, our expertise, is, however, mainly with permanent collections of fragile material and traditional non-tactile display. Should we be embarking on something that we may not be fully competent to follow through? What are the standards expected of professionals in this relatively new area of the museum world?
It is always a pleasure to encounter such enthusiasm for innovation and audience development. Play, social interaction and personal growth rightly take centre stage in children's museums and there are many areas in which mainstream museums can learn from them.
Functions such as preservation of and scholarly research around artefacts and specimens may not be as central to the purpose of children's museums as they are to the purpose of most other kinds of museum.
For this reason they are most often referred to in Britain not as museums but as Centres for Curiosity and Imagination. They have, however, grown out of the museum movement and the contemporary museum community is developing ever greater collective expertise in making direct, tactile experience of objects immensely rewarding and empowering for children.
Do not undervalue the skills you have already in producing exciting, non-tactile display and interpretation of traditional museum items.
Some of the skills are transferable to work with, for example, constructed activity pieces and there is everything to be gained by approaching others who have successfully extended provision in the ways you have in mind.
However, you are right to be wary about the implications of these kinds of developments, for their running is resource-intensive, particularly for human resources. Whether you're intending to use paid or voluntary staff, high standards of training and even vetting will be required.
All staff must, for example, clear a police check before they are allowed contact with young visitors. It is important that your increased provision for children is informed by the advice of professional educators, who have experience in areas such as family learning. Make sure that any initiatives you undertake are sustainable in the long term.
How, for example, will you address the key issue for heavily used interactives of repair and maintenance? Make sure that new initiatives are compatible with or supported by your institutional mission and policies. Be specific. If you are identifying children as a primary audience, which age groups will you target? Provision for pre-schoolers will be radically different than that for older children. Will you specialize in art, history, science or will you address a variety of subjects?
Root your initiatives in collaborations with the community you serve. Involve carers in decision making and, crucially, children themselves. Inclusion of their input in, for example, trialling exhibits, is both a means and an end. Respond to the needs of specific groups such as children with disabilities, non-readers and non-English speakers.
In duplicating or adapting an exhibit, first seek permission and then acknowledge the original developers when known. Be aware of copyright issues.
In the UK information on Centres for Curiosity and Imagination is available through Kids Clubs Networks, Bellerive House, 3 Muirfield Crescent, London E14 9SZ. Tel: 020 7522 6919. Fax: 020 7512 2010. Email: cci@kidsclubs.co.uk. Website: www.centresforcuriosity.org.uk
The United States Association of Youth Museums issues useful guidelines on Professional Practices in Children's Museums available through the American Association of Museums, 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20005.
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