EdCom Resources

AAM members have exclusive access to helpful documents related to education and interpretation.

EdCom members receive a bimonthly e-newsletter with news and resources.  Past issues are archived online.

Essential Reading for Museum Educators

Foundational Documents

• Task Force on Professional Standards, Standing Professional Committee on Education (EdCom) Excellence in Practice: Museum Education Principles and Standards. American Association of Museums, 2005.

• Hirzy, Ellen. Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums, American Association of Museums, 1992.

Interpretation & Practice

• Burnham, Rika and Elliott Kai-Kee. Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience. Getty Publications, 2011.  

• Freeman, Tilden. Interpreting Our Heritage. University of North Carolina Press; 3rd edition (June 1977).

• Grinder, Alison and E. Sue McCoy. The Good Guide: A Source for Interpreters, Docents and Tour Guides Ironwood Publishing, 1985.

• Hirsch, Joanne S. and Lois H. Silverman, Transforming Practice: Selections from the Journal of Museum Education 1992-1999. Museum Education Roundtable, 2000.

• Roberts, Lisa C. From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.

• Serrell, Beverly, Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach. AltaMira Press. 1996.

• Wells, Marcella, Barbara Butler and Judith Koke, Interpretive Planning for Museums: Integrating Visitor Perspectives in Decision Making.  Left Coast Press, 2013.

Audiences

• Collins, Zipporah W. Museums, Adults, and the Humanities: A Guide for Educational Programming. American Association of Museums, 1981.

• Csikzentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (P.S.) Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008.

• Falk, John. Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. Left Coast Press, 2009.

• Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice. Basic Books. 2006.

• Sachatello-Sawyer, et al., eds. Adult Museum Programs: Designing Meaningful Experiences. AltaMira Press, 2002.

• Salmen, John. ed. Everyone’s Welcome: The Americans with Disabilities Act and Museums (Book/Video). American Association of Museums, 1998.

• Sheppard, Beverly. Building Museum & School Partnerships. American Association of Museums/Pennsylvania Federation of Museums & Historical Organizations, 2000.

Museology

• Anderson, Gail, ed. Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift. AltaMira Press, 2004.

• Falk, John and Lynn Dierking. Learning from Museums: Visitor Experiences and the Making of Meaning. American Association for State and Local History, 2000.

• Falk, John and Lynn Dierking. The Museum Experience. Howells House, 1992.

• Falk, John and Lynn Dierking. The Museum Experience Revisited. Left Coast Press, 2013.

• Hein, George E. Learning in the Museum (Museum Meanings). Routledge, 1998.

• Hein, George E. Progressive Museum Practice: John Dewey and Democracy.  Left Coast Press, 2012.  

• Pittman, Bonnie, ed. Presence of Mind: Museums and the Spirit of Learning. American Association of Museums, 1999.

• Weil, Stephen E. Rethinking the Museum and Other Meditations. Smithsonian Institution, 1990.

Have a recommendation for this list?  Contact us at edcom@aam-us.org.

Other Resources

Online Learning

In-depth information on collections, marketing, education and other issues impacting the field.

Face to Face programs: http://www.aam-us.org/events/face-to-face-programs

Professional development: coming to a city near you.

Fellowships

Emerging professionals can apply to receive access to professional development and networking opportunities offered at the annual meeting.

Marketplace of Ideas

EdCom hosts a Marketplace of Ideas session annually at the AAM Annual Meeting. Watch for a request for proposals in the EdCom Newsletter between January and March and look for the Marketplace of Ideas in the meeting schedule.