Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes: Socio-cultural Aspects

212 Pages·2019·7.781 MB·English

by  Annette Scheersoi, Sue Dale Tunnicliffe

Annette Scheersoi · Sue Dale Tunnicliff e
Editors
Natural History
Dioramas –
Traditional
Exhibits for Current
Educational Themes
Socio-cultural Aspects
Natural History Dioramas – Traditional Exhibits
for Current Educational Themes
Annette Scheersoi • Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
Editors
Natural History
Dioramas – Traditional
Exhibits for Current
Educational Themes
Socio-cultural Aspects
Editors
Annette Scheersoi Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
University of Bonn University College London (UCL)
Bonn, Germany Institute of Education
London, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-00207-7 ISBN 978-3-030-00208-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00208-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018958716
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Foreword
Our last book, Natural History Dioramas: History, Construction and Educational
Role, was the first book considering that natural history dioramas are one of the
most effective museum exhibit genres for the teaching and learning of many aspects
of biology. Dioramas have been, hitherto, a rather neglected area of museum exhib-
its, but they are experiencing a renaissance, and their educational potential in con-
tributing to peoples’ understanding of the natural world is becoming more and more
obvious. Dioramas have proved, time and again, that they can reach a wide audience
and are a vital tool in increasing the public’s access to biology knowledge.
People in the museum and education field approached us about writing a second
book. This book is the outcome and focuses on the role of dioramas in addressing
challenges of the Anthropocene era.
Science education has been a neglected field in many stages of education with
the emphasis being on language and numeracy competency development. However,
the world is changing and science learning is becoming recognised as a vital com-
ponent of a learning journey, especially in this present age of realisation that we
humans have contributed to many of the issues facing the planet. This era is being
recognised as that of the Anthropocene. Sustainable development is vital to the
world, and organisations such as the United Nations have issued goals for this. The
understanding of the skills of the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering
and maths) is essential in working towards the goals, together with social competen-
cies such as teamwork, communication and flexibility.
Moreover, the importance of preschool and early years of formal schooling as
well as the importance of community involvement is increasingly recognised with a
vital role in facilitating learning, not only by formal instruction, but by offering
informal learning opportunities. In visiting natural history museums with dioramas,
all visitors can stand and stare, they can observe the ‘big picture’ of a whole envi-
ronment of a moment in time. They may notice the interconnectedness between the
earth (geology), climate (meteorology) and organisms (biology) and recognise the
different habitats and adaptations of the organisms. Dioramas may also engender an
emotional response to our planet and connect the visitors to the issues facing our
world at the present time.
v
vi Foreword
This book brings together a collection of voices from different fields that are all
associated with natural history dioramas: curators, taxidermists, educators and sci-
entists, all using their expertise to discuss relevant issues from many perspectives
and angles.
University of Bonn Annette Scheersoi
Bonn, Germany
University College London (UCL), Institute of Education Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
London, UK
Contents
1 Introduction: Natural History Dioramas
and Socio-cultural Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Annette Scheersoi and Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
Part I R eaching Different Types of Audiences Through Dioramas
2 Leisure Visitor’s Responses to Natural History Dioramas . . . . . . . . . 9
Eirini Gkouskou and Sue Dale Tunnicliffe
3 Learning to Teach Newcomer Students
Using Dioramas of North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Maritza Macdonald, Roberta Altman, and Jay Holmes
4 Window to Nature: MuseobilBOX-Dioramas
in the Museum Koenig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Eva Neitscher and Hae-Yon Weon-Kettenhofen
5 Rethinking Natural History Dioramas: Bundling the Needs
of Neuro-Diverse and Neuro-Typical Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Paul Gabriel
6 The Digital Diorama Project: A New Way of Exploring
Dioramas from Outside of the Museum Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Annastella Gambini
Part II P roblematic Aspects of Dioramas
7 Life, Living and Lifelessness in Taxidermy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Luanne Meehitiya, Dawn Sanders, and Jill Hohenstein
8 Cultural Conflict: The Stories Dioramas Tell
and Don’t Tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Doris Ash
vii
viii Contents
9 Intended and Realised Educational Messages
of Dioramas – An International Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Marianne Achiam and Martha Marandino
Part III C onnecting People with the Natural World Through Dioramas
10 Promoting People’s Connection with Nature Through
Natural History Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Henry A. McGhie
11 Receiving the Message – Environmental Education
at Dioramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Annette Scheersoi and Lara Weiser
12 Your Last Chance to See? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Keith Dunmall
13 Teaching and Learning Biodiversity with Dioramas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Martha Marandino, Juliana Bueno, Marianne Achiam,
and Carolina Laurini
14 The Relevance of Natural History Dioramas
for Sociocultural Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Michael J. Reiss
Contributors
Doris Ash Department of Education, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA,
USA
Marianne Achiam University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Roberta Altman Bank Street College of Education, New York, USA
Juliana Bueno Government of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Keith Dunmall Powell-Cotton Museum, Kent, UK
Paul Gabriel Sparking Your Genius LLC, San Francisco, CA, USA
Annastella Gambini University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Eirini Gkouskou University of East London, London, UK
Jill Hohenstein Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College
London, London, UK
Jay Holmes American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
Carolina Laurini University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Maritza Macdonald American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
Martha Marandino University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Henry A. McGhie Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, Manchester,
UK
Luanne Meehitiya Cultural Innovations Ltd., London, UK
Eva  Neitscher Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn,
Germany
Michael J. Reiss University College London, London, UK
Dawn Sanders Göteborgs Universitet, Gothenburg, Sweden
ix
x Contributors
Annette Scheersoi University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Sue Dale Tunnicliffe University College London (UCL), Institute of Education,
London, UK
Lara Weiser University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Hae-Yon Weon-Kettenhofen Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig,
Bonn, Germany