An Exploration of Learning in a Living History Museum: Family Groups, Costumed Interpreters, their Interactions, and the Making of Meaning

Family groups are a predominant museum-going demographic; an intact social group, within which members' actions and interactions of museum learning are socially and culturally constructed. Living history museums are the paramount of free-choice learning environments, full of possible avenues for exploration. The typical exhibits often contain little or no explanatory labeling, and a museum visitor's experience with objects and places becomes mediated through costumed interpreters instead of text. Utilizing a qualitative approach, this research was guided by questions concerning the learning experience of family groups in a living history museum. Specifically of interest were interactions with costumed interpreters, the role of identity and prior knowledge in living history museum learning, and the beliefs of both family groups and costumed interpreters in regard to museum learning.