Olivia Hardy is exploring ways to make static content more engaging for young minds. The fourth-year Bachelor of Early Childhood Curriculum Studies student completed a placement at the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM), where she presented a capstone project designed to increase the ways that children interact with museum displays and exhibitions.
Hardy was tasked with making the museum more exciting for the children who pass through it. “They have a children's gallery, and they also have other galleries that are primarily designed for adults. So they want to find ways to make those more inclusive, inviting and engaging for children.”
She began developing her capstone project with that idea in mind. Hardy invited two staff members from Early Learning at MacEwan (ELM) to go through the RAM with their families, and observed how the children interacted with the displays and exhibits.
“They're educators, but they're also parents,” Hardy says of the ELM staff she observed. “I observed them for a few hours to see what they did and to get that perspective from parents and educators.”
She found that the best way to ensure that children are interested in learning is to cater their time in the museum to their personal interests. Creating individual tours for children wasn’t feasible, so she created a way for children to generate their own paths through the museum.
Using a list of open-ended questions, children can approach the exhibitions as if they’re completing a scavenger hunt, searching for answers to the questions on their list.
“The children are able to hold it so they have autonomy in their exploration, which helps them to build confidence and feel good about themselves. The questions are very broad so every child can relate. They’re things like, ‘I wonder what…?’ or ‘Do you think…?’”
Because the questions don’t have a single correct answer, children can look at the things that interest them and create their own solutions. Hardy was able to present the capstone project on her last day at the museum, and she got some promising responses.
“They said they want to keep the scavenger hunt on so they can use it.”
She also hopes that projects like hers will help open up possibilities for more varied career options for early learning educators outside of childcare centres. “There is still a lot of stigma and assumptions being made, and sometimes we are seen as glorified babysitters. But it’s great seeing our work go further and achieving results in the early learning field. We’re showing that children should be welcomed in all spaces, not just those that are designed for children. They're capable and strong enough to do all kinds of things.”
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