THE PROFESSIONAL FIGURE OF THE MUSEUM EDUCATOR AND THE CULTURAL HERITAGE

In collaboration with AIEM – Italian Association of Museum Educators

Museum and heritage educators in Italy have not yet been recognized, despite the fact that the educational purpose is the core of the museum’s identity, reaffirmed by legislation and implemented in practice by public and private museums throughout the country.

The Italian Association of Museum Educators (AIEM), founded in 2021, aims to bring to the surface the situation of precariousness and lack of recognition of a community of professionals engaged on a daily basis and on a large scale, at museums and cultural institutions of different spheres.The focus is also on the training issue, emphasizing the lack of university training paths capable of responding with adequate skills to the needs of the contemporary museum and its audiences. The new museum paradigm puts the person at the center-an aspect that calls for educational and pedagogical skills to respond to multifaceted needs-and becomes a concrete possibility for the well-being of individuals and communities.

A different situation is observed in other European countries, resulting in different terms and approaches, well photographed by the Group for Education in Museums (GEM).

Chair: Lida Branchesi – former Lecturer in Museum and Territorial Education at “Sapienza” University of Rome, member of the Groupe des spécialistes sur la pédagogie du patrimoine of the Council of Europe

  • Lucia Cecio – Head of educational services Accademia Carrara Bergamo, doctoral student in Education in contemporary society
  • Emma Matteuzzi – Museum and heritage educator Horne Museum Florence and Cultural Association L’immaginario
  • Maria Antonia Rinaldi – Art historian, representative of GEM Italy – Group for Education in Museum, external consultant for communication – Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, museology teacher at Istituto Marangoni Florence and IED-Florence
  • Mirko Vecchiarelli, Head of the Training Area of the Foundation School of Cultural Heritage and Activities.

The meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 17 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Gauguin Room