Douglas Worts's Page

Hi Douglas,

  I could definitely argue that museums have a sense of purpose, I think that over the past 40 years or so, museums have been undergoing a transition of how that purpose is expressed. Of course, I'm still formulating these thoughts. Since the 1800s there has been this duality between academic focus and a democratic, for the people focus. This divide may be becoming more apparent as technology evolves and the societal access and expectation to knowledge increases. I do believe that there is a place for both voices (museum and audience) to equally share validation and museums should embrace themselves as a Community of Practice that involves the audience as a partner in that community, as Kelly and Russo have also argued. This is would be for the overall Museum culture, for individual institutions, they should ask themselves what impact they want to make on society.

Hi Doug,

  Yes, I see your argument. Hmmm. Do museums have a cultural sense of the continuously changing needs of the community or society? I suppose this is a question I bring into my thesis (it's for a Masters in Museum Studies). I think what is at conflict are these historical schools of thought- academic vs. public, democratic spaces. Academia isn't designed to change rapidly, it is a very careful discipline whereas society changes in a matter of years (ie: social media). This conflict is so apparent in the museum field. Museums have been for quite a long time (arguably since the beginning) striving to find their relevance to society. In the 1960s educators began to look towards learning theorists to help understand how the individual learns. This has greatly advanced how knowledge is disseminated, however, I would also argue that it's not just the individual but how social groups learn together. I haven't seen a lot of studies in that direction- families yes, how strangers or adult groups learn or work together, not so much. I think that if museums look at the practice of social learning (by embracing a Community of Practice), I think a lot of issues could be resolved. It could certainly begin to focus the museum towards the daunting question of "who are we?" Embracing a Community of Practice may also answer your argument for sustainability. 

My thesis is arguing for museums to allow the public voice to be part of the permanent record of museum interpretation and the use of digital technology is the tool for this. There is a disparity of how meaning is created vs. how museums disseminate knowledge (that learning is social and that objects have more than one meaning). Museum's also don't seem to hold a practicing value towards the audience voice. This has led me towards Wenger's and  Lynda's and Russo's work of Community of Practice.