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Ok, so having started this whole thing - I initially raised the question 
as UMass is considering developing a museum education certificate.  It 
is still in the very early brainstorming stage (as far as we know there 
may not even be a need, so I am calling for us to offer some courses as 
electives within the Grad School of Education to test the waters - it's 
the closest you can get to front end/prototyping within the system!)

My query was launched as a way to think about what courses we should 
offer, what are the kinds of things a museum educator should know.  In 
my experience, it has generally taken me at least 6 months to re-educate 
a former classroom teacher to the culture of museum education.  On the 
flip side, I have had a number of really gifted incredible thinkers who 
had no experience in the content or in museum ed work for me and pick it 
up during training.  As Jeff notes, many of us "snuck" into the field, 
often because no courses were widely available (Side note, my undergrad 
degree was a BFA).
That's the context.

Beryl

-- 

Beryl Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Director, Tsongas Industrial History Center
Boott Cotton Mills
115 John Street
Lowell, MA 01854
(978) 970-5081 (t)
(978) 970-5085 (f)
http://www.uml.edu/tsongas

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