Visitors and Learning: adult museum visitors' learning identities

Abstract

Current theories of learning focus on the meanings an individual makes based on their experience – alone, within a social context and as part of a community (Matusov and Rogoff 1995; Hein 1998; Woolfolk 1998; Malone 1990; Falk and Dierking 2000; Falk and Dierking 1992). One way to better understand the process of learning for an individual is to find out how people view themselves as learners across the rich array of both formal and informal learning experiences available to them. As informal learning environments, museums are increasingly positioning themselves in the market as places for rich learning experiences. Research has shown that when asked why they visit museums people often say to learn (Falk 1998; Falk et al.; 1998 Prentice 1998; Jansen-Verbeke and van Rekom 1996; Combs 1999; Kelly 2001) but there has been little exploration into what learning means for visitors. What do museum visitors think learning is, what is their learning image? Recent museum literature has focused on identity and the role it plays in the visitor experience (Rounds 2006; Falk 2006; Spock 2006; Leinhardt et al. 2002a; Leinhardt and Knutson 2004). However, little evidence has been gathered to date about the influence of museums on a person’s identity and how visitors view themselves as learners within the context of a museum visit – their learning identity.

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