How Do Museums Become Educational Institutions? A Qualitative Study On The Role Of Museums In Children's Educatio

Museums have four basic functions: collection,exhibition,research and education.With the continuous development of the times,the educational function has developed into the core of the four functions,and most museums even regard education as an essential part of their work.Inheriting the past and present and displaying civilization,museums have incomparable advantages over school education,and their educational activities have attracted much attention.Museums are gradually exploring and taking a unique road of developing educational functions.the paper mainly uses qualitative research methods,through interviews,observation,document collection,etc.,to go deep into the museum research,feel the real experience of museum educators,and strive to find and analyze problems on the basis of empathy and understanding.Firstly,the paper clarifies the evolution of museum education function,and summarizes the unique features of museum education,which are mainly manifested in the following aspects: situation-based museum learning,identity-based museum experience,essential attribute of practice,educational environment based on participation and museum as an educational method,which lays the foundation for analyzing the present situation of museum education function.Secondly,the paper selects the traditional comprehensive museum-Jining Museum and the new science and education theme museum-Qingdao Behring Natural History Museum as typical cases,and records and analyzes various typical events caused by the development of the museum’s educational function,so as to show the development process of its educational function as comprehensively as possible.In the end,from the perspective of comparison between China and foreign countries,the paper selects comprehensive museums-The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and thematic museums-American Museum of Natural History.By analyzing the educational status of the two museums,the paper points out that there are some problems in the development of museum education in China,such as emphasizing the role of "exhibition" but neglecting the role of "education",the lack of awareness of mass museum education,the ineffectiveness of museum education activities,the low level of specialization of museum educators and the shortage of funds.Based on the analysis of the existing survey contents,the paper explores the future development direction of museum education function in China from many angles,specifically: to clarify the role orientation of museum education,to expand the influence of museum education,to give full play to the key role of museum education activities,and to improve the professional level of museum educators.