Publisher :National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata
Description :The Raja at length, being desirous of seeing with his own eyes how his Education Department busied itself with the little bird, made his appearance one day at the great hall of learning. From the gate rose the Sounds of conch-shells and gongs, horns, bugles and trumpets, cymbals. The pundits began chanting mantras with their topmost voices, while the goldsmiths, scribes, supervisors... loudly raised a round of cheers.... The Raja said: "it does seem so fearfully like a sound principle of Education!" The Raja was about to remount his elephant, when the fault-finder; from behind some bush, cried out "Maharaja, have you seen the bird?" "Indeed I have not "exclaimed the Raja, "I completely forgot about the bird."
The Parrot's Training by Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore's parable about the education of the parrot can be seen as a reminder to museum professionals everywhere. How many times do we forget the visitor? How often do we build elaborate museums and expensive displays without ever talking to visitors in order to understand what will serve them best? This article examines a project created by the authors and conducted with their students during the nine-day "Science Learning in Non Formal Settings' course for the MS in Science Communication in Kolkata in November 2009. The purpose of the project was to provide the students with a brief but intense experience in how to incorporate visitor voices and understandings into the conceptualization and design (or re-design) of exhibitions. In addition to describing the project itself, the authors will also discuss its theoretical underpinnings. The experience itself took place in the last four days of the course. The previous five days of class involved reading and discussion of research in science education, learning theory, developmental and cognitive psychology, design of informal Spaces, visitor research, visitor evaluation processes, and other Studies of museum practice. The article concludes with the authors' assessment of the Students' experience and of the Successes and challenges of the project.
Description :Includes appendix.
Source :National Council of Science Museums
Type :Article
Received From :National Council of Science Museums
DC Field
Value
dc.contributor.author
Jennings, Gretchen
dc.date.accessioned
2017-06-15T05:44:02Z
dc.date.available
2017-06-15T05:44:02Z
dc.description
Includes appendix.
dc.date.issued
2010-07
dc.description.abstract
The Raja at length, being desirous of seeing with his own eyes how his Education Department busied itself with the little bird, made his appearance one day at the great hall of learning. From the gate rose the Sounds of conch-shells and gongs, horns, bugles and trumpets, cymbals. The pundits began chanting mantras with their topmost voices, while the goldsmiths, scribes, supervisors... loudly raised a round of cheers.... The Raja said: "it does seem so fearfully like a sound principle of Education!" The Raja was about to remount his elephant, when the fault-finder; from behind some bush, cried out "Maharaja, have you seen the bird?" "Indeed I have not "exclaimed the Raja, "I completely forgot about the bird."
The Parrot's Training by Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore's parable about the education of the parrot can be seen as a reminder to museum professionals everywhere. How many times do we forget the visitor? How often do we build elaborate museums and expensive displays without ever talking to visitors in order to understand what will serve them best? This article examines a project created by the authors and conducted with their students during the nine-day "Science Learning in Non Formal Settings' course for the MS in Science Communication in Kolkata in November 2009. The purpose of the project was to provide the students with a brief but intense experience in how to incorporate visitor voices and understandings into the conceptualization and design (or re-design) of exhibitions. In addition to describing the project itself, the authors will also discuss its theoretical underpinnings. The experience itself took place in the last four days of the course. The previous five days of class involved reading and discussion of research in science education, learning theory, developmental and cognitive psychology, design of informal Spaces, visitor research, visitor evaluation processes, and other Studies of museum practice. The article concludes with the authors' assessment of the Students' experience and of the Successes and challenges of the project.
Government of India
