New Perspectives in Science Education
Inclusive Science Learning in Museums: Educator Perspectives, Practices, and Institutional Conditions
Senem Bas, George Mason University (United States)
Abstract
Science museums can provide important opportunities for broadening participation in science, yet comparatively little research has centered the museum educators who design and facilitate inclusive science learning. This exploratory qualitative study examined how museum educators understand and enact inclusive science education and how organizational conditions shape those efforts. The study combined analysis of institutional mission statements and diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion documents with semi-structured interviews with six museum educators from six science-focused museums across the United States. Findings showed that educators conceptualized inclusive science education in three interconnected ways: as access across the whole museum ecosystem; as belonging, identity, and epistemic recognition in science learning spaces; and as an ethical, reciprocal practice grounded in shared authority with communities. Inclusive practice included creating multiple pathways for participation, building accessibility into programs and environments from the start, using responsive facilitation that supports comfort and agency, and working with communities through co-creation. Participants also emphasized that inclusive practice is shaped by institutional conditions, including staffing stability, time, funding, space, cross-department coordination, leadership support, and evaluation capacity. A recurring concern was that existing evaluation systems often emphasize participation counts or demographic measures while overlooking outcomes such as belonging, agency, and sustained participation. The findings suggest that inclusive science education in museums depends not only on individual educator commitment, but also on organizational infrastructures that make inclusive practice feasible, visible, and sustainable over time.
Keywords: Inclusive science education; museum education; informal science learning; museum educators; belonging; accessibility
REFERENCES
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[2] Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2013). The museum experience revisited. Left Coast Press.
