Where to send children to study during the summer is a hot topic among parents. Graduate studies have a positive significance in enriching children’s vacation life and improving their comprehensive literacy, and parents’ willingness to support their children in participating in graduate activities is also increasing.
Museums and art galleries, as “urban cultural living rooms,” are symbols of urban civilization and indispensable “second classrooms” for social aesthetic education. Under the dual drive of the “double reduction” policy and market demand, museums and art museums have become a “dark horse” in the research and learning segment market.
Meeting personalized needs of children
Museums and art galleries have a high research and learning enthusiasm
In 2016, 11 departments including the Ministry of Education jointly issued the “Opinions on Promoting Research Travel for Primary and Secondary School Students”, incorporating research travel into school education and teaching plans. Afterwards, research tours gradually became popular. Unlike traditional summer camps, museums and art galleries are products of the cross-border integration of “culture, education, and tourism”, which are popular among parents and students.
A brush, a pair of tweezers, and a spray bottle, the broken “ancient books” have been carefully repaired by children and once again shine with brilliance. In early July, Ningbo Tianyige Museum launched a traditional culture summer study camp, which was highly praised by children and parents.
This summer, we launched a total of 8 research and learning activities to enhance the comprehensive cultural literacy of young people through activities such as traveling, listening, reading, researching, learning, doing, thinking, and speaking. Once the research and learning activities were launched, registration was hot and all were fully booked. “Zheng Weiwei, the full-time deputy secretary of Tianyige Museum, introduced that this is the first time Tianyige has launched a series of high-quality research and learning courses, preparing 18 highly distinctive courses for children, including ancient book restoration The “exclusive secret techniques” of Tianyi Pavilion, such as calligraphy and painting mounting, and the spread of gold and stone. A sumptuous cultural feast not only allows young people to immerse themselves in the Tianyi Pavilion book collection culture, but also interprets the excellent traditional Chinese culture in the process of learning and making.
From July 2nd to August 21st, Baoguo Temple opened a total of 27 youth summer study camps, which were looted as soon as they were launched. The Ningbo Baoguo Temple Ancient Architecture Museum launched the “Little National Treasure Guardian – Season 2” study camp this year, which was favored by parents and students. The person in charge of Baoguo Temple introduced that they have planned three major themes and launched 15 research courses, connecting the historical relics of the Baoguo Temple Ancient Architecture Museum for over 2000 years, allowing young people to explore the mysteries of millennium old ancient architecture and ecological nature.
As a category of broad museum concepts, technology museums in major cities are important locations for summer children to check in. The Ningbo Science Exploration Center has upgraded and launched six in building summer camp products and seven out of building summer camp products this year, with a year-on-year increase of 100% in quantity. I want to register for a summer camp for my child, but I didn’t get a spot. It’s a pity! “Ms. Dong, a citizen, told reporters.
Zhou Chiming, General Manager of Ningbo Science Exploration Center, introduced that the summer camp of the Center has been highly favored by students over the years. Against the background of the “double reduction” policy, this year’s registration is even more popular than before. The upgraded summer camp products have caused a warm response in the market. After the registration channel is opened, the quota will be available in seconds. At present, the summer camp products of the Science and Technology Exploration Center have sold 1549 people, an increase of 119% compared to the previous year; The campsite has been opened multiple times, with 131 classes currently running, an increase of 89.9% compared to the previous year.
The summer camp launched by the art museum is also popular. The Ningbo Nade Art Museum launched its first themed summer camp this year, and the quota was immediately sold out. We adhere to the educational philosophy of ‘letting children grow in art museums’, leverage the aesthetic education resources and high-end mentor team advantages of art museums, from course content, teaching design to thinking expansion, highlight the imagination and expression after observation, perception, and cognition, break through a single painting or manual training mode, and strive to create a sustainable self growth aesthetic camp for children According to Bao Peijun, the director of the Nader Art Museum.
The Ningbo Huamao Art Education Museum has innovatively launched research and learning activities such as the “Nightstay Museum” and painting creation workshops, which are popular among children.
Demonstrating the Power of Museums
Explore menu based and crowdsourced courses
Travel agencies and research institutions have launched research tours one after another during the summer, with a variety of products and varying quality. I tend to choose museums for children’s research, which are more professional and authoritative. Ms. Chen, who lives in Haishu, Ningbo, told reporters that subject training is no longer available, and children need to have suitable platforms to broaden their horizons during holidays. Museum research is undoubtedly a good choice. “I saw a research activity on the official account of Baoguo Temple, and immediately signed up for the child.”
Starting from 2019, the Baoguo Temple Ancient Architecture Museum has launched summer study camps to the public through precise market positioning, integration of high-quality courses, revitalization of internal and external resources, and the launch of the “Museum Night” initiative, creating a new model of cultural and tourism integration in the study base.
“Baoguo Temple is the national research and practice education base for primary and secondary students, and high-quality characteristic courses are our flagship product. Over the years, we have been committed to exploring traditional culture, ancient building culture, wood structure culture, and ecological culture, and the curriculum content has been constantly updated.” The relevant person in charge said, On the basis of offering museum brand courses such as “Journey to the Ancient Architecture of Baoguo Temple”, “Hundred Birds Striving, Smart Ancient Architecture”, and “Wooden Wisdom, Little Carpenter Going to Jiangnan”, starting from 2021, Baoguo Temple has also added more operational, exploratory, and interesting courses such as handicrafts, experiments, and exploration.
Teenagers who participated in the research experience carpentry work in the woodworking class, understand the tenon and mortise, arch of wooden architecture structure of ancient buildings, and become small carpenters to make a small Chinese bench; Understand various plants in the ecological course and create an original plant micro landscape; Exploring the scientific principles of millennium old mysteries in the exploration of ancient architecture… The menu style curriculum caters to the different research needs of young people; The curriculum design of “tailoring to measure” and the teaching form of combining education with entertainment enable young people to have gains and insights.
The reporter learned that over 98% of parents have provided positive feedback in the Baoguo Temple research and learning exchange group. The curriculum is creative, the teacher is professional and attentive, and the children have gained knowledge and happiness, “Mr. Chen said in the group.
As a national science popularization education base, Ningbo Science Exploration Center fully utilizes the advantages of venues, integrates exhibition and teaching resources, and adheres to self research and dual line development in the development of science popularization products, becoming an irreplaceable “second classroom” for young people. Since the implementation of the “double reduction” policy, Ningbo Science Exploration Center has combined social hotspots and science popularization needs, deeply explored the connotation of science popularization education, innovated science popularization creation methods, improved the quality of science popularization products, and effectively played the role of science popularization efficiency of the Science and Technology Museum.
Zhou Chiming believes that expanding research and learning activities in museums is an effective extension of venue exhibition and teaching activities. This type of research and learning activity is different from pure tourism check-in activities, and its highlight and difficulty lie in the research and development of content. Curriculum research and development requires a team of numerous professional talents. Based on the knowledge points of a large number of exhibition items in the museum, it needs to be reorganized and summarized to form a more centralized experience route, which can enable children to experience and learn in a highly situational environment. It is an exploratory and proactive learning approach. The setting of characteristic courses requires continuous sedimentation and innovation. In addition to adhering to industry standards and educational aspirations, museums need to fully understand market demand through long-term exploration and practice, combine with the hot topics of the times, and present them in a way that people enjoy nowadays. “Zhou Chiming said.
We have integrated art, drama, architecture and other related content into our curriculum design, using different themes every day to stimulate and cultivate children’s ability to discover beauty. Bao Peijun believes that a museum is a school, and so is an art museum. Combining museums, art galleries, and research tours is beneficial for fully leveraging the social role of museums and art galleries, making culture and art closer to life. We are exploring a multi-dimensional, multi scene, multi material, and multi collaborative teaching model, guided by renowned teachers, to provide systematic aesthetic teaching content for children
“The threshold of art existence requires the accumulation of a large amount of art history and art knowledge. Museums and art museums, as places for art presentation, should shoulder the task of art popularization.” Song Xinxin, deputy director of Ningbo Huamao Art Education Museum, said that this summer, Huamao Art Education Museum sorted out eight series of aesthetic education courses, including China-Chic, Printmaking, Me and Masters. The continuous flow of artworks and positive feedback from the audience also allows museums to unleash more cultural power.
There must be both “Bo” and “Wu”
Cross border linkage to develop more high-quality products
Liu Xiaofeng, a leading talent in Ningbo and a PhD in art, believes that achieving educational goals through various means is an important function of museums themselves. In the context of “double reduction”, the function of museums is even more prominent. At the same time, this suddenly amplified social demand also poses challenges for museum research. He stated that currently, the Yongcheng Museum is actively exploring more scientific and diverse research models.
One is the existence of “Bo” and “Wu”. Museum research is different from school education, and it is necessary to fully tap into the potential of education. Firstly, it is necessary to be ‘rich’, which means that the form should be flexible and diverse, the content should be rich and colorful, and the collection can be fully utilized to present from multiple perspectives. Secondly, there must be “objects”. The most important significance of a museum lies in its collection. Through exhibitions, digitization, and other forms, teenagers can observe and ask questions about the collection. This not only helps them understand the profound historical and cultural background behind the collection, improve their aesthetics, but also combines what they see with what they think, and expand their learning thinking.
The second is to have “interest” and “knowledge”. The focus of the museum research institute is not abstract knowledge preaching, but should be an inspiring, interesting, exploratory, immersive, and interactive model. How to cleverly convey knowledge, especially the knowledge carried by museum collections, to young people is an important issue that the museum and education sectors should jointly explore.
Liu Xiaofeng believes that in recent years, the social function of museums has been increasingly valued. The theme of International Museum Day in 2022 is “the power of museums”. Museums around the world are actively thinking about how to better integrate museums into society and all walks of life, so as to give full play to their social power. In China, the power of museums is also valued. It should be said that research-based learning is the organic integration of museum resources and educational resources, and it is also an important step in responding to social needs and participating in urban cultural and educational construction.
Never forget tradition, persist in innovation, and pursue contemporary expression of traditional culture. “Song Xinxin stated that the Huamao Art Education Museum has always been committed to turning art works into daily scenes, telling art stories in modern languages, and integrating art into daily life through diversified activities such as research and art sharing.
Museum research is highly sought after mainly due to the resource advantages and cultural value of museums themselves. Zhou Chiming believes that in recent years, many museums have frequently crossed borders, indicating that cultural IP has a strong “cultural magnetic force”. Studying is a good direction for development. Through diversified management, not only can economic benefits be created, but also the cultural influence of museums can be continuously expanded. The Science and Technology Exploration Center has been exploring how to make museums more closely linked to teenagers. We strengthen and optimize content by organizing research, science popularization, exhibitions, and other activities. By operating museums well, we can not only break away from the original track, but also collaborate across borders to develop more innovative projects and products, forming a virtuous cycle