Rosa Martinez

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Brion, Katherine

Area of Concentration

Art History with Museum Studies

Abstract

In my thesis I developed an educational program plan entitled Ringling’s Art Academy, which delves into the elements of art as a foundation to art making. Inspired by the constructivist theory and approaches currently used in the Ringling Museum’s youth and family programs, I designed the program as a series of sessions that would facilitate sequential learning: learning goals that build on one another through scaffolding methods. This format consists of four weekly sessions that introduce different elements of art over the course of the program, exploring these elements in a historical context, as well as through art-viewing and art-making activities. Constructivist theory strives to encourage meaning making in the museum space through social, conceptual, and experiential learning in informal learning environments. The target audience for the program is homeschooled children and their caregivers. This target demographic for my program applies many nontraditional learning methods inspired by the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori and Reggio Emilia, which share some of the same principles as constructivist learning methods. These methods encourage learning through play, in environments and with supervisors supporting and encouraging children’s exploration. Through expanding the program structure into a series of scaffolded sessions, I as the museum educator hope to support this kind of playful exploration while bringing attention to the specific learning opportunities planned and facilitated in informal learning.

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