Date of Award

Spring 2025

Language

English

Embargo Period

4-30-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Educational Theory and Practice

Program

Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Carol Rodgers

Committee Members

Brett Levy, Gretchen Sorin

Keywords

Living history museums, I Thou It, Primary grade social studies instruction, school-museum collaborations, Visual Thinking Strategies

Subject Categories

Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

Today’s students need to be critical consumers of information. To that end, a thoughtful social studies curriculum provides students an opportunity to gain content knowledge and to practice thinking skills. However, elementary teachers, especially primary grade (K-2) teachers, often do not possess the skills and content knowledge to teach rich historical content and thinking skills. Teachers can partner with museum professionals and access museum content in this endeavor. Living history museums, immersive museums that interpret multiple buildings, trades, and heritage breed animals, hold the potential to be a strong partner for primary grade students, who are only 5-, 6- and, 7- years old.

Focusing on primary grade teachers, museum educators, and students, this qualitative, design-based, case study research sought to answer the following research questions: When a living history museum is used in primary grade social studies instruction how do the classroom teachers interact with the museum educators and students? How do the museum educators interact with the primary grade teachers and students? And, how is the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) protocol used during field trips to a living history museum and to what effect?

Using Hawkins (1967/1975/2003) I, Thou, It (Teacher-Student-Content) framework, I studied the interactions, questions, and responses of the museum educators, primary grade teachers, and students while visiting a living history museum in rural upstate New York that interprets a working 19th century sawmill. Findings indicate that the relationships and interactions among the primary grade teacher, museum educator, and students are complex—with the adults independently and collaboratively serving as the I, or teacher. Teachers also became learners, learners of both the museum artifacts and of primary grade students. In addition, one museum educator deployed the Visual Thinking Strategies thinking protocol. The VTS protocol allowed the interactions among the students and the content to be the primary focus of the experience, promoted student exploration, and honored the knowledge that students brought to the museum.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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