ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews a number of theories that can be related to the construct of meaning making in museums. These range from the more psychological to those that have a sociological disciplinary foundation. Constructivism is an important theory for thinking about learning and the making of meaning in museums. The Jewish Museum London is a centre for learning with over 16,000 student school visits every year from nursery age to eighteen years old. Whilst the informal learning programme incorporates family, young people and community programmes, the learning team mostly works with school visits, primarily adolescent pupils from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, who attend museum-led educational sessions. The chapter examines the museum's provisions to families to see whether particular types of material are better suited to facilitate children's learning. The majority of studies focusing on family learning tend to investigate experiences in science-related museums. One reason for this is the way that funding for research is distributed.