EdCom Resources
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.