ABSTRACT
I told several of my colleagues and friends about this article I was writing about the “Power of the Museum Educator.” All these people —museum directors, educators, curators, gallery operators, artists, arts administrators and mothers-at-home-were conversant on the topic of museum education and consistent in their responses: “What power?” When I explained my thesis, they inevitably saw my point-or pre tended to-and added their own observations and examples. In the end, we came to some conclusions: 1) Museum educators really do possess power but the exercise of that power is often frustrated beyond recog nition by unsympathetic management systems; 2) Occasionally it is not in the museum’s best interest for the museum educator to exercise power; or 3) Despite the good works and energy of museum educators that contribute to the greater glory of the museum, museum leaders remain unenthusiastic about museum education concerns. All of this is true, but why is it so and what does it say about the future of museum education as a profession?
