International Thinking on Children in Museums

Sharon E. Shaffer is recognized as a national and international leader in early learning in museums. As an independent consultant, she collaborates with traditional museums, children’s museums, and schools in their efforts to imagine and reimagine meaningful ways to engage children in learning about their world and themselves. She draws on her many years of experience in the field, including her tenure as the Founding Director for the Smithsonian Institution’s model lab school in Washington, DC, where she established a signature program of learning for the Institution. In recognition of her pioneering work, Shaffer received The Secretary’s Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from the Smithsonian – the only educator with this distinction – for creating a national model in museum-based learning for young children. Shaffer teaches for The University of Virginia and publishes regularly. She was the guest editor for the Journal of Museum Education (Spring 2012), "Early Learning: A National Conversation." The success of her first book, Engaging Young Children in Museums (2015), now translated into Chinese and Greek, led to a second, Object Lessons and Early Learning (2018). Her second text explores the power of objects in learning, children’s curiosity about the world, and their natural affinity to collect.

Section I The Conceptualization of Childhood and Sociocultural Theory;Chapter 1 Conceptualizing Childhood;Chapter 2 The Museum as a Cultural Institution ;Sociocultural Theory: Influences on Museum Experiences for Children;Section II Research Perspectives from the Field;Chapter 3 Connecting Young Children’s Learning Processes with Art Museum Practices;Chapter 4 Young Children and Cultural Citizenship in Australia;Section III Case Studies on Children and Museums;Chapter 5 From Tool to Process: On Learning in Swedish Museums;Chapter 6 Play Africa: Disrupting with Children in Johannesburg, South Africa;Chapter 7 Early Learners in Lebanese Archaeology and Art Museums: A Sociocultural Case-Study;Chapter 8 Developing Programs for Young Children at the National Museum of China;Chapter 9 Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center: A Gathering Place Where East Meets West;Chapter 10 Inspiring Young Children in Museums: The Smithsonian Institution, Leading the Way;Chapter 11 A Case for Early Learning in Peruvian Museums;Chapter 12 Discovering World Cultures through Chester Beatty’s Collections for Primary Schools;Section IV Museum Practices in a Global Society ;Chapter 13 Making Sense of International Perspectives on Children in Museums