Promoting Collaboration between Schools and Museums: Development, Practice and Effects of a Loaned Skeleton Kit

Abstract

The importance of collaboration between schools and museums has been pointed out recently. For this study, we developed a loan kit to promote collaboration between schools and museums in Mie Prefecture, Japan. We devised methods to make it easier for school teachers to utilize the loan kit, and examined how this loan kit was actually used in classrooms. We also analyzed what kinds of changes took place in the degree of interest in museums on the part of both teachers and students as a result of using the loan kit in classroom. The achievements and knowledge obtained from this study include; 1) completion of a loan kit containing a chicken skeleton specimen, together with worksheets and a teacher’s guide, including practical lesson examples, 2) preparation of two alternative methods and contents; one method was teacher-centered and the other was students-centered; the contents were designed to be adaptable depending on the numbers of students and classes, 3) development of a loaning system, including teacher training, 4) an increase in interest in museums observed in both students and teachers after using the loan kit in classroom.