| Title: |
Communities of Belonging: Integrating Education and Evaluation through Participatory Design Research in Museums. |
| Authors: |
Connolly, Tarah; Todd, K. T.; McKelvey, Megan; Black, Alexandria; White, Annie; Wardrip, Peter Samuelson; Cummins, Charlotte; Karlen, Kia; Linzer, Danielle; Adisa, Zainab |
| Source: |
Journal of Museum Education; Spring2026, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p49-63, 15p |
| Subject Terms: |
PARTICIPATORY design; EVALUATION methodology; SOCIAL justice; SOCIAL belonging; CRITICAL pedagogy; COLLABORATIVE learning; MUSEUM studies; RESEARCH methodology |
| Abstract: |
Participatory Design Research (PDR) can help museum educators integrate evaluation into their daily practice while advancing equity-focused goals. Drawing on Communities of Belonging (CoB), a three-year collaboration between two children's museums, this article illustrates how PDR enabled educators to navigate the complexities of designing for belonging by grounding their educational designs and innovations within a framework for ongoing reflection, collaborative inquiry, and situated learning. PDR supported museum staff in developing evaluative practices while being sensitive to the constraints and power imbalances often existing within museum work. The article highlights perspectives from the process and practice of the partner museums along with reflective insights from the project's overall evaluation. As a whole, we aim to demonstrate how PDR can offer a practical and flexible framework for embedding evaluative thinking into the work of museum education, while supporting the design of more responsive, inclusive, and transformative educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| : |
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| Database: |
Complementary Index |