The school in museum: an observational research

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the research conducted observing ‘A Week at the Museum’, a project implemented in the Municipal Museums of Reggio Emilia. The aim is to describe the pedagogical structure of museum educational activities in context. We analysed 732 observational units subdivision of 61 hours of activities, coded according to organisational variables (type of activity, space, materials). The descriptive, inferential and sequential analysis highlights two main pedagogical formats: interactive presentation moments addressed to the whole class and operational phases characterised by group or individual work. The transitions between activities show an intentional didactic choreography, alternating transmission, exploration and production. The results confirm that a museum learning experience is a flexible and rhythmic didactic architecture, configuring itself as a hybrid educational space capable of integrating formal and in-formal elements.