Museum educators’ perspective of failure: A collective frame analysis

Museums can be powerful places for young people to explore, experiment, and take risks—especially when things don’t go as planned. In this study, we looked at how museum educators think about and talk about failure within STEAM-focused making programs, such as exhibits, workshops, and camps. Drawing on about nine hours of video conversations with educators from six partner museums, we examined how ideas about failure are shaped within organizations. What we found is that educators’ views of failure are not formed in isolation. Instead, they are influenced—and sometimes limited—by factors such as institutional priorities, program goals, and unspoken expectations about what learning should look like. At the same time, these forces can also reshape how educators approach failure in their own practice. This study highlights why it matters how failure is framed and communicated in museum learning experiences, showing that educators’ perspectives directly influence how young people experience challenge, risk-taking, and learning in STEAM-rich museum environments.