From Lecturing to Apprenticeship: Introducing play in museum learning practice

Analysis of museum learning practice and related work has revealed that communication of historical processes resembles school teaching and it may hinder children's participation in museum learning activities. Starting from this issue, a new playful installation was designed actively involving a group of primary school children. Results from this process suggest that museum learning practice could be enriched, by moving toward a more non-formal learning approach, in which children and adults are engaged together in shared problem solving. Moreover, introduction of play is envisioned as an effective framework to support shared problem solving, also allowing for a symmetric dialogue to emerge between children and adults