A Museum Educator's Identity Toolkit: How knowing Ourselves Transforms Our Work

Abstract

This project seeks to explore narratives (NARRATIVE: A story of any kind. Different cultures have a differing “sense of story” telling them what is and isn’t appropriately narrative) of identity as they relate to how public educators engage with audience in museum spaces. It is centered on the power of memory, story and learning and how each of these become critical tools for educators interested in exploring how their identities can transform the work they do. This paper provides an introduction to the final body of work produced by this research, a toolkit titled: A Museum Educator’s Identity Toolkit: how knowing ourselves transforms our work, which provides educators with a way to begin to explore their personal identities and the way those various identities connect to society, to privilege and oppression, and how these identities impact their museum space and its future.