Personal Learning-The Perpetual Goal
Museums proclaim they are about learning, and what they often mean is that visitors will gain knowledge about ideas the museum values. Yes, learning through others' valued ideas-whether about world cultures, history, art, and even oddities-can lead to new areas of thought that might contribute to learners' continual formation of self; however, is there another way to pursue museums' learning focus and practice so it explicitly values the learner (aka visitors)? Indeed, museums say they value visitors (aka visitor-centered work), however, where is the evidence that their exhibits provide ways for visitors to learn about themselves and explore our shared humanity?
Randi Korn founded RK&A in 1989-a company that worked with museums to plan and evaluate museums' work around achieving impact. Prior to that, Randi held a variety of museum positions, including executive director; exhibition designer; interpretive planner and writer; and audience researcher and evaluator. During the last few decades at RK&A, Randi focused on creating new services to help museums implement impact-driven work; she calls this intentional practice-the focus of her book Intentional Practice for Museums: A Strategy for Maximizing Impact. In retirement, when she isn't hiking or cycling, she works on select projects for small cultural organizations interested in intentional practice.ct. In retirement, when she isn't hiking or cycling, she works on select projects for small cultural organizations interested in intentional practice.