Flirting with museum educational tools: combining the visitor and museum educator perspective

Constructivist learning approaches are nowadays prevalent in museum learning research. Museum learning becomes an active process in which visitors construct their personal meanings. Contemporary arts are considered an excellent way for visitors to practise the complex process of meaning making. However, undesignated routes or unequivocal interpretations, which are common in contemporary arts, often lead to confusion. Whereas museums stress the importance to strengthen adults' involvement and clarify the information value of an artwork in their mission statement, the heterogeneity of a museum public often hampers these objectives. As a result, the museum staff as a whole should focus on a balance between the needs of the art(ist) and those of the visitor in considering quality in museum education.
The present paper will investigate the use and the determinants of existing educational tools within contemporary arts from the visitor's perspective through in-depth interviews. In addition, this paper will also reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of educational practices of museum educators related to the visitor's perspective.