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Fearon, Christina V.

College of Education and Social Services

2005

M. Ed.

This thesis is about my work in museum education and is written as a scholarly personal narrative, which is a form of writing that allows and values the inclusion of personal voice in scholarly research. These reflections are based on my experiences with art, my studies and ongoing professional development, and draw on the content and methods of my work as a museum educator at a university museum. In seeking a framework to organize my thoughts, the various meanings of mapping appealed to me. Maps are used to record, to guide, and to plan, and thus provide a flexible vehicle to move through time. Maps are made in many forms and describe more than the physical geography of the world. For example, Aboriginal dreamings tell stories of how features of the landscape came into being, and scientists are mapping the brain to see what shapes memory and perception. The metaphor of mapping allows me to articulate some of the ideas that guide my work and to relate a bit of my personal history. Since maps are often visual in nature and tell stories in a way that words alone cannot, I use images drawn from my work and studies to illustrate certain points. My challenge is to communicate the realities of a three-dimensional world of personal experience onto the flat surface of the printed page. I vary my vantage point from close-up to bird's eye views, recounting details of program development as well as broader overviews that express the philosophical beliefs that guide my work. This is a conversation about my work to students who ask me about museum education, as well as to friends with whom I speak of my feelings about work. And, perhaps, it is a map for me as I look to the future. What follows is a group of focused, quirky, and hopefully telling, maps relating to my personal journey.