Creativity and Learning in Later Life: An ethnographic study of museum education (Routledge Research in Education)

Description

This book presents the first full-length ethnographic study of museum education practices, by exploring a four-year long engagement with adult classes at a major urban art gallery in the United Kingdom. Using detailed descriptions of gallery tours, creative writing classes, and in-depth interviews with class members and gallery educators, it provides a richly layered picture of how and why experiencing and making ‘art’ matters. By tracing the process of creativity through the minds of the participants, the book also offers a powerful critique of the ways in which museums view themselves as spaces of ‘inspiration’, and of how ‘older adults’ are constructed through educational programming.