ABSTRACT
In the fall 2006 issue of the Journal of Museum Education Dennis Schatz provided a list of reference materials on what he felt were new competencies required by all museum educators outside of their normal content area expertise: how to foster better collaboration, and how to achieve a more thorough understanding of how visitors learn in today's museums. This chapter argues that educational leaders must not only understand how visitors learn in museum settings, but that they must also have a thorough understanding of what good teaching looks like in a museum. It provides frameworks and strategies for fostering communities of educators who look closely at how museum educators teach, how they craft lessons, and how they create exhibit experiences and take-home materials. The chapter suggests museum education leaders adapt some strategies used in school settings for use in non-school settings to help build leadership and new sets of best practice.
