Decolonisation guidance and its impact on museum learning practice

在过去的50年里，总部设在英国的博物馆已经认识到重新评估他们的社会义务和解决过去和现在的不公正的必要性。许多博物馆工作人员、学者和观众主张应用非殖民主义理论，批判性地处理殖民遗产、遣返申请和该部门的多样化问题。然而，对于“好的非殖民化做法”意味着什么(Wintle 2017)，以及“非殖民化”框架是否适合英国博物馆，从业者之间几乎没有达成共识。一些博物馆和部门组织，包括博物馆协会，已经成立了工作组来回答这些问题。除了这些复杂的辩论，各个层面的博物馆从业者都在与非殖民化的长期期望和眼前现实作斗争。针对他们的亲身经历，我将探讨非殖民化指导如何影响博物馆使用的学习方法和学习工作人员的做法。我将研究如何通过机构、工作人员和观众之间的互动来概念化和实施非殖民化，以构建所发生变化的全面图景，借鉴三家英国博物馆的民族志案例研究，这三家博物馆已经宣布在他们的工作中致力于非殖民化。通过参加会议、工作人员访谈和焦点小组，该项目将阐明实施非殖民化指导的现实情况和有效战略，以回应从业人员的具体关切并建立公众信任。最近媒体对某些机构的关注激起了公众对非殖民化项目的强烈反对，指责它们存在政治偏见(希克斯2020)。然而，大流行和最近的黑人生活也是抗议活动突显了棘手的社会话题不能被文化部门忽视。学习项目通常被视为一个就令人不快的问题进行“有礼貌的对话交流”的空间(Golding，2009，2)。因此，作为博物馆非殖民化议程的面向公众的传播者，学习从业者如何在将社会政治关切纳入其实践的同时，培养对敌意的韧性，这是一个及时的研究。

In the last five decades, UK-based museums have recognised the necessity to reassess their social obligations and address injustices of the past and present. Many museum workers, academics and audiences advocate for the application of decolonial theories to critically address colonial legacies, repatriation claims and diversification in the sector. However, there is little consensus among practitioners on what 'good decolonial practice' entails (Wintle 2017) and whether 'decolonisation' frameworks are appropriate for UK-based museums. Some museums and sectoral organisations, including the Museums Association, have established working groups to respond to these questions. Alongside these complex debates, museum practitioners at every level contend with the long-term expectations and the immediate realities of decolonisation. Addressing their lived experiences, I will explore how decolonisation guidance affects the learning approach used by museums and the practice of learning staff. I will examine how decolonisation is conceptualised and enacted through interactions between institutions, staff and audiences to build a comprehensive picture of the changes that occur, drawing on ethnographic case studies of three UK-based museums who have announced their commitment to decolonisation in their work. Through participation in meetings, staff interviews and focus groups, this project will elucidate realities of and effective strategies for implementing decolonisation guidance that responds to specific concerns of practitioners and builds public trust. Recent media attention on certain institutions has incited public backlash to decolonisation projects, accusing them of political bias (Hicks 2020). Yet the pandemic and recent Black Lives Matter protests have highlighted that difficult social topics cannot be ignored by the cultural sector. Learning programmes are often envisioned as a space of "respectful dialogical exchange" on uncomfortable issues (Golding 2009, 2).Therefore, it is timely to study how learning practitioners, as public-facing communicators of museums' decolonisation agendas can build resilience to hostility while incorporating socio-political concerns into their practice.