An Exploratory Study on the Design of Summer Teacher Programs: The Case of Art Museums in the United States

According to a report about art museum educational program conducted by Wetterlund and Sayre (2003), 91% of the 85 art museums surveyed in the United States offer some kinds of teacher programs, including summer teacher programs. However, the content and structure of summer teacher programs have not been formally discussed and compared. This study investigated the content and structure of five major art museums’ summer teacher programs in the United States. The study selected five art museums from Wetterlund and Sayre’s 2003 report and to explore the structure and content of their summer teacher programs. These selected art museums are located in metropolitan are and serve diverse demographic populations (New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, and Seattle). Two research questions for the study: First, what are the common structure and content adapted by art museum for their summer teacher program? Second, how do art museums ’ staff or educators design their summer teacher programs for schoolteachers? In order to answer research questions, the study used qualitative research method. The data were collected from written document of program descriptions, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and survey. After analyzing data, this study shows eight common characteristics about the content and structure of the five art museums’ summer teacher programs: five goals of offering summer teacher program, registration requirements for participants, schedule of the program, assignments for participants, different activities, useful teaching strategies, resources and supports, and evaluation. This study also reveals art museum staff’s perceptions of program participants’ expectations and needs.