Page 135 - Lidija Tavčar, Homo spectator: uvod v muzejsko pedagogiko, Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 3
P. 135
mary
The book Homo spectator, Introduction to Museum Pedagogy1 is divi-
ded into several self-contained thematic units. Since the first part of
the text in particular can also be understood, in view of the topics covered,
as a continuation of the study published under the title The Historical Con-
stitution of the Modern Museum as a Constituent Element of Contemporary
Western Civilisation, the introductory section contains a brief summary of
the content of this 2003 publication.
The first chapter concentrates on the terminological problems surro-
unding the expression »museum pedagogy«, which has been used in Slo-
venia for more than two decades. The expression is problematic for at le-
ast two reasons. First, because it relates to educational activities with both
children and adults in museums and galleries but does not take into acco-
unt the fundamental change that occurred with the establishment of adult
education as a separate branch of educational sciences. The second reason
why the expression is problematic is that it leads to the mistaken conclu-
sion that museum pedagogy is a special educational science, when in fact
it is not.
In the second chapter, which is divided into several sub-chapters gro-
uped under the title Preliminaries for Museum Pedagogy, we explore how
the methodology of viewing works of art, as a precursor to museum peda-
gogy, developed within the school curriculum from the second half of the
1 In this context the term museum pedagogy has two meanings. First it means the education-
al practice in museums, and second, the theory of this practice. The term museum pedagogy –
which is the direct translation of the Slovene term muzejska pedagogika – has the same meaning
as the term museum education in English.
The book Homo spectator, Introduction to Museum Pedagogy1 is divi-
ded into several self-contained thematic units. Since the first part of
the text in particular can also be understood, in view of the topics covered,
as a continuation of the study published under the title The Historical Con-
stitution of the Modern Museum as a Constituent Element of Contemporary
Western Civilisation, the introductory section contains a brief summary of
the content of this 2003 publication.
The first chapter concentrates on the terminological problems surro-
unding the expression »museum pedagogy«, which has been used in Slo-
venia for more than two decades. The expression is problematic for at le-
ast two reasons. First, because it relates to educational activities with both
children and adults in museums and galleries but does not take into acco-
unt the fundamental change that occurred with the establishment of adult
education as a separate branch of educational sciences. The second reason
why the expression is problematic is that it leads to the mistaken conclu-
sion that museum pedagogy is a special educational science, when in fact
it is not.
In the second chapter, which is divided into several sub-chapters gro-
uped under the title Preliminaries for Museum Pedagogy, we explore how
the methodology of viewing works of art, as a precursor to museum peda-
gogy, developed within the school curriculum from the second half of the
1 In this context the term museum pedagogy has two meanings. First it means the education-
al practice in museums, and second, the theory of this practice. The term museum pedagogy –
which is the direct translation of the Slovene term muzejska pedagogika – has the same meaning
as the term museum education in English.
