Chapter 22. MUSEUM PEDAGOGY FOR ADULTS

Since ancient times, the museum (from the Greek. Museion - a temple dedicated to the muse) was a place of active spiritual life of adults, especially philosophers, poets, scientists. As a source of educational information, it was first identified in the middle

XVII century. When Ya.A. Komensky used the term "museum" in relation to the office of the scientist, the contents of which are entirely focused on knowledge. The initial understanding of the museum as a place belonging to highly educated people and aristocracy was abandoned from the second half of the 19th century, and the museum space began to open up to the masses. In the 30s of XX century. the term "museum pedagogy" (K. Friesen) appeared, clearly denoting the didactic and educational role of museums.

Since its inception, museums in Russia have been focused on educational activities for the general public (Kunstkamera and the Museum of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, the Educational Museum of Moscow University, the Armory, the Tretyakov Gallery, etc.). At the same time, the activity of museum workers has always been correlated with educational (enlightenment) activity. From the end of the 20s of the 20th century, a focused “struggle” for visitors began as a part of the state’s educational activities in museums of Russia. By the end of the 1930s, over 11% of the Russian population was a museum audience.

In the 90s of the 20th century, museum pedagogy in Russia experienced a stage of active development not only as a practical field, but also as an area of ​​scientific knowledge. The educational potential of the museum arises at the intersection of the concepts of "man", "culture", "civilization", "information", "dialogue". The tasks that confront museum pedagogy today are manifold. First of all, this desire to educate its visitor, ready to enter the museum space, motivated to constantly visit the museum, able to enter into dialogue with the cultural heritage stored in its halls. In contrast to the 20s-30s, when the museum dictated its rules for presenting information to uneducated visitors, the modern sightseer is completely autonomous in the museum environment.

The development of the museum culture of an adult visitor is in many aspects an andragogical problem. Museum workers are constantly looking for ways to form a target audience, a form of communication with visitors, focusing on their level of readiness to understand the language that history, culture, and time speak to them in the museum. Any of the guides of the museum by definition andragog. One of the most important principles of its work is the targeting of the proposed information, i.e. differentiated approach to visitors. The museum audience differs by socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, nationality, educational level, professional affiliation, place of residence). As a rule, it is the educational level and the previous cultural experience that determine the attitude of people to the museum, to its exhibits and cultural and educational programs.

The museum teacher (or rather, andragogue) is primarily interested in:

- attitude of visitors to the museum in general;

- the focus of their interests (random visitors to the exhibition, students of the lecture hall, weekend courses, thematic educational programs, "friends" of the museum, etc.);

- the degree of readiness for the perception of museum culture (orientation in the subject area, knowledge of the museum language, the presence of preliminary information about the exhibition).

In order to have a fairly complete and objective view of all these issues, the andragogu must possess the skills of express diagnostics. Then it is possible to proceed from the actual interests and needs of the people in front of him. Depending on the data obtained, he corrects his professional tasks and chooses a language of communication - professional, emotional-associative, popularizing or another.

The main part of the modern museum audience are women (up to 70%). Half of them have higher education, many come to the museum for the sake of the child.

According to the State Russian Museum, there are five main groups of reasons for visiting the museum: general cognitive; specific educational (orientation to certain works, expositions, exhibitions); emotional (getting positive impressions, uplifting); educational (in relation to children and friends); quasi-artistic (random visits, free time filling) 1.

In accordance with the principles of andragogy, a museum employee, of course, is called upon to respect the visitor’s right to the individuality of perception, to his own internal reaction, which may not coincide with the response “planned” by the authors of the exhibition. Today, it is already unacceptable for a guide to suppress listeners with information or to program their perception with their own images and grades. His main task is an invitation to dialogue, reflection on the artistic, technical, natural science, historical materials that are presented in the halls of the museum.

The task of the museum employee (guide) is to build for the adult visitor a system of landmarks in the museum space. To a certain extent, this is akin to the formation of an individual educational route in the training system. This should include preliminary information about the museum as a whole, individual expositions and halls; thematic booklets and publications, audio and video materials, with which the visitor can individually work before, during and after the visit; oral recommendations. For communication with visitors to be mediated by informational materials, it should be methodically competently prepared and structured taking into account the peculiarities of the perception of one or another address group.

The organization of the dialogue between the visitor and the museum space has a certain technological basis, which the museum staff is called upon to form, regardless of its profile. An adult should first of all have a desire to communicate internally with the cultural information that the museum and the authors of the exhibits offer him. The emergence of such an incentive depends in one way or another on the museum staff, on their inner spirit, on their orientation to creative interaction with an adult, a completely independent visitor. It is important to note that a qualified museum andragog always respectfully treat ignorance or lack of experience of the visitor, will try to encourage the appearance of his information request. An adult visitor, ready for a dialogue with the museum and its exhibits, must understand their “language” in order to hear and feel the voices of culture, history, other eras and people. Only when internal response and individual interpretation of what is seen are possible. This is quite difficult to achieve without the help of a specialist, who in this case is the guide. If he is in the position of a genuine andragogue, he will act as an intermediary in a fascinating dialogue unfolding before his eyes.

Another specific task of the museum andragogue is to create a mood that meets the theme of the tour. Each audience requires its own psychological andragogical methods, depending on the composition of the group or the individual characteristics of the individual visitor. In a sense, the guide becomes the director of the museum situation, contributing to the integrity of the visitors' perception of the information offered, creating a certain attitude.

In the educational and outreach activities of museum workers, the principles of integrating educational and museum contexts are implemented; dialogue; personalization of the content of the museum work with the visitor; creativity, integrity, information measures. All these principles are closely related to the essence of andragogical activity.

Tasks for self-control

1. Observe the visitors of one of the museums. Try to make a few verbal portraits on the theme "Adult in the museum." Analyze the professional position of one of the guides from the point of view of andragogy.

2. Using the example of one of the museums, show its educational opportunities for different age and social groups of the adult population.

3. Make an annotation to one of the exhibitions or expositions so that it attracts the attention of any category of adults you choose.

Recommended literature

Art Museum in the educational process. - SPb., 1998.

Schmit F.I. Art as a subject of study. - Kharkov, 1923.

Yukhnevich M. Yu. Museum Pedagogy: Course Program // Museum Business and Protection of Monuments of Culture. - M., 1996.

Museum education Histori Theory and Practis. The national art education Association. Reston. - Virdginia, 1989.