Tomur Atagok

Tomur Atagok, Mimar Sinan University, Istambul

To Educate The Youth for a Culture of Peace Through Museums

We have been reading in the papers and watching TV about war in Iraque in recent days with the so-called peace movement in Afghanistan before then. Problems in Albania, Yugoslavia centered around Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestine for years as well as the terrorism that hits communities on and off, each and every one of them is losing its reality and violent effects on people. However the destruction of cultural artifacts and art works in Baghdat Museum world witnessed on TV and previous to that Talabani destroying the monuments in Afghanistan made us sadder yet.

This paper's intention is to show how museums might be used to emphasize peace for the benefit of humankind.

I wll be talking about museums, communication, approaches in museum communication and education before going into the project for A Culture of Peace through the Museums.

Museums as the keepers of culture have become interpretators of culture in a changing world of today. When there is no fixed order in the present political and economic life, museums have taken up educational roles in many countries, protecting past, for the present and the future.

Of the three basic functions of museums, research, preservation and communication, the last one is the most emphasized and sought after in today's cultural policies and management. Collecting was the first function in the natural development of collections and museums. Caring and protection was followed by displaying and exhibiting the accumulated cultural artifacts and heritage. The elite few enjoyed studying the collections to discover the truth about life, history and the universe, while the collector also enjoyed owning and showing the collection. When the valuable collections were turned over to the public to be made into museums, the vision and the mission to serve the people indicated the change in the priority of functions of the museums with the museums taking over their roles as the cultural and educational centers with emphasis on education for life. Search for more knowledge ignited (motivated) further research on objects as well as on audience along with the developments in related fields such as education, communication, design and management contributing all to the genuine connection between the object and person. When the museums search for the truth, and exhibit for knowledge, they become educational institutions. However, along with the knowledge one acquires a consciousness of history and natural environment which contribute to personal and social identity. Consequently, museums as tools to build up historical assessments with knowledge gained through the exhibitions eventually lead the audience to have a set values in many areas.

Communication is basically a social function. Its fundamental objectives may include informing, controlling, directing, communicating knowledge and skills, expressing emotions, making social contact, asking questions to reduce tension, entertaining, stimulating and making one to take upon necessary roles.

The purpose of the affective communication is to be able to forward what we intend to say in a way the expected reaction is received and hence the result is achieved.

We have to remember communication is an interactive process between the message center / sender and receiver, both altering their positions. The center has to be trustworthy and convincing for the message to be accepted by the receiver and react to it.

When the museums' primary purpose to educate the public is recognized, the communication becomes the tool to transfer knowledge to contribute to the intellect of everyone at every step of education by collecting and preserving cultural heritage and art works to open up the horizon and to direct the audience to creativite thinking.

We have to remember not all experiences are educational. The messages or data are a source of knowledge, but is not knowledge until after they are interpreted and organized through a complex process in communication and education. When museums use their objects in the collections with the intention to pass information to the public, communication and knowledge are realised.

Now we should discuss the mission, policy, objectives, audience, educational theories before going into a possible project for peace in the use of museum collections.

Today it is clearly understood that each museum has to have a statement of mission and an education policy as a part of that mission policy. An education policy is a statement defining the character of a service and should set a framework for action, improving services, focusing on the education program along with other benefits such an attracting new visitors, outside support, raising the profile of the museum while saving time and increasing job satisfaction for the museum personnel.

The education mission statement should fit in with the museum mission statement in clarifying how education is understood in the museums, and the role of the education in the museum. The education policy sets out the intentions of the organisation and identifies priorities while the education strategies identify the key objectives for a period of 5-10 years, while education action plan covers a set program for the objectives of 3-5 years.

The museum's education policy content is formulated on the roles and functions within the museum, audience, collection along with other resources such as personnel, budget, network, training as well as marketing and evaluation.

The policy statement needs to clarify the target audiences, according to importance, possibly starting with preschool, school children and adults associated with them, parents and teachers. The other potential target groups, university students, family groups, community groups of various backgrounds, volunteers, specialists, colleagues from museums and universities, organised groups and tourists.

It is important to understand the learning behaviour of each person is different along with his/her worldview and motivation in the target groups with certain common characteristics.

It is, of course, a good idea to research who is using the museums at present before deciding for further development in educational activities

Theory of knowledge, learning theories and educational theories indicated 4 different approaches with focus on visitors with the meanings they attribute on their experiences and understandings. It is important to have exhibitions and programs that allow the visitors to have satisfactory experiences so that objects can contribute to human growth and learning. Theory of knowledge from the understanding that knowledge exists outside the learner (realist) to the opposite all knowledge is constructed by the learner personally or socially (idealist) and the learning theory that incremental learning added bit by bit (passive) to opposite view that learner constructs knowledge (active) bring out four different types of exhibition concept and education.

1. Museums organized on didactic, expository lines will have:
   • Sequential exhibition with a definite beginning, order, and within accepted facts and "truth",
   • Didactic components like labels, panels
   • A hierarchical order from simple to complex, based on a traditional school curriculum and educational programs with specified objectives.
2. Museums organized on stimulus-response education will have:
   • Didactic components like labels, panels
   • Sequential exhibition with a definite beginning, order and end,
   • Additionally reinforcing components that will stimulate and reward the learner
3. Museums organized on discovery learning and education will have:
   • Exhibitions that allow exploration, probably travelling back and forth among exhibited items,
   • A wide range of active learning modes, enabling visitors to connect with objects, ideas,
   • Possibilities of experiences and materials,
   • Ways for students to experiment and draw conclusions.
4. Museums organized on constructivism will have:
   • Many entry points with no specific path and no beginning nor end,
   • A wide range of active learning modes with opportunities for visitors to construct knowledge for themselves,
   • A range of points of view,
   • Connection with objects and ideas through a range of activities and experiences that utilize life experiences
   • Possibilities of experiences and materials
   • Possibilities for the visitors to draw their own conclusions.

The museum experience, communication and education are the most creative in museums designed on constructive learning theory, but most museums are designed on didactic-expository thought with an intention to move onto more interactive educational methods. Consequently, stimulus-response and discovery learning and constructivist approaches are yet in the developmental stage in many of the museums.

The educational service include a museum-based services through displays which can be backed up with direct teaching service through various activities, information services and an outreach service.

The significance of interpretation of objects and their use by and with the public is decided by the museum mission and carried out through the strategies. The museums preserve the past and set the ground for us to understand and appreciate history, science, culture, arts and all human productivity as well as environmental issues. Since messages the museums intend to give are written in their mission statements and policies, most museums with a mission statement for education "to promote the museum as a center for public learning" or "to encourage interest and curiosity and to promote understanding of the past", may easily emphasize the peace mission of the museums by an educational statement: to promote the museum as a center for public awareness of peace through the past. The objectives for the project may include the managerial decisions to ensure the consideration of the educational function towards the public, the budget, the staff, the organization for the physical and intellectual access to the collection by all, the interpretation of the collection in different ways needed for various age, ability, gender and cultural ranges of the society. Other objectives may include providing enjoyable learning opportunities for divergent public, awareness of new developments in education and response accordingly as well as awareness of changing social conditions and sociological, political views of various groups.

• Message
• Audience
• Objects to be used in the exhibition
• Exhibition design + route / direction (with interpretation)
• Interactive, stimulating educational activities within the exhibition for various target groups
• Staff
• Budget

I should like to emphasize the children of 9-15 age group is to be the main target group with their worldview limited to the toys and games including video-war and violence games as well as the TV movies and news shown for the project. The study program at their schools include history, however children are stimulated by the games and shows rather than the social sciences and history books and courses.

Objects to be used in the exhibition with emphasis on peace should have a theme that will communicate the idea of peace. For museums which have a chronological display, it may not be so easy to change the concept. However additional information panels on the member of people died in wars, the communities destroyed can be used to communicate the tragic results. The interactive educational materials asking questions about the results of the battles can be added to help the youth to understand the tragedy in wars.

When a thematic display on peace and war is organised from the museum objects to communicate that war destroys, peace creates, a framework and a scenario for the message have to be decided. Home-life, customs, way of living, the items created for better living, the artistic creations of communities between certain dates, while wars at the same period are represented with weapons used, the people died, the visual representations of buildings destroyed, along with harm done to nature. The interactive programs and question-sheets emphasize and evaluate the knowledge gained at the exhibition. If the exhibition is realised on the constructive education theory, the implications are to be discovered by the audience although the message war destroys, peace creates has to be conveyed over and over again to the youth who unfortunately enjoys games of war.

Let us not forget the Baghdat Museum was destroyed by people who did not appreciate their cultural heritage.

Dean, David, Museum Exhibition: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge, 1994.

Hein, George E., Learning in the Museum. London: Routledge, 1998.

Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean (edit.), Writing a Museum Education Policy. Leichester: University of Leichester, Department of Museum Studies, 1991.