“Someone wrote on his bones”: Object-based free-choice learning for primary age children visiting a UK museum

Hilton, Laura

Abstract

This thesis views the museum as a context for learning, revisiting the value of authentic museum objects to informal free-choice family learning. The study seeks to identify and define examples of children’s learning that occur when children and their families engage with museum objects; establish how children create meaning by investigating the knowledge, skills and information the children produce from the objects; and considers how the presentation and interpretation of those objects influences the meaning-making by children and their families when they engage in learning.

Focussing on the experiences of eleven English-speaking children aged between 8 and 9 years old exploring archaeological displays the Wessex Gallery at Salisbury Museum with their families, the study uses a mixed-method approach centred around phenomenographic analysis to understand the children’s relationships with objects on display, examining the direct and immediate effect of engagement and documenting the children’s visit to the museum in their own words.

In analysing the results, the study draws on ideas from the fields of learning theory and childhood education, as well as their application within the discipline of museum studies. It contributes to a small but growing field exploring children’s informal learning in the museum, suggesting how objects might be intellectually accessed by the chosen audience.

Findings reveal the connections the children built with the tangible and intangible properties of museum objects and the varied ways in which they made sense of the things they encountered in the museum. This thesis suggests that children’s own interests and experiences help them to build connections with museum objects, prompting them to ask questions relating to their physical, emotional and intellectual properties.  

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2025
• Keywords: objects, museums, free-choice learning, informal learning
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/12835138
• Award Date: Apr 29, 2025