Museum educators conceptualizations : teaching social studies through art

This case study on museum educators examined how they conceptualize and actualize their efforts in teaching for social justice and about social studies through the engagement of works of art. The study utilized research on museum and memory studies, activity theory, and aesthetic education to situate the findings. Interview participants included museum educators (both museum employees and volunteers) of the education department at the Arlen Museum of Art. Because of protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic interviews were conducted via Zoom. Each museum educator elucidated on their gallery teaching and discussed the negotiations and decisions present in their efforts. Interview data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. My findings suggest that museum spaces and museum educators illustrate significant possibilities for both learning outside of formal classroom settings and also for how teachers can engage works of art in their own classrooms with more critical intentionality. This study also highlighted works of art and the different ways in which the educators utilized them to engage students in necessary conversations of social importance.Curriculum and Instructio

An Exploration of Conceptual Teaching in Piano Study: Pedagogical Analysis of Three Selected Intermediate Piano Works by Two American Composers, William Bolcom and Lowell Liebermann

Music of contemporary classical composers is often neglected because of simple lack of familiarity or because some of the material is difficult; all too frequently, recent music is allotted very little time during the long-term course of a student\u27s piano study. These circumstances may contribute to the current situation, in which, all too often, students may get little encouragement to explore music by contemporary composers.;This paper highlights some possible reasons for the lack of exposure which contemporary classical compositions sometimes receive. The discussion continues by outlining a broad conceptual teaching paradigm and then shows ways in which a conceptual approach is applicable to studio teachers, especially in regard to teaching contemporary pieces.;In support of that approach, this paper analyzes three collections of elementary to intermediate solo piano works of composers Lowell Liebermann and William Bolcom. The analysis demonstrates how these particular compositions can prove beneficial to a student\u27s course of study.;The paper then concludes by summarizing the case for the importance of teaching contemporary compositions alongside the standard repertoire

Allusive, Elusive, or Illusive? An Examination of Apologies for the Atlantic Slave Trade and their Pedagogical Utility

This critical essay explores the topic of slavery within the context of public apologies. Drawing from both the historical lens of cultural memory (Le Goff, 1977/1992) and the critical race theory construct of interest convergence (Bell, 1987), the authors offer critical examination of the following questions: (1) Where do collective apologies fit in the narrative of slavery in the US? (2) What affordances might they offer to the social studies at the intersection of curriculum, instruction and the historical memory of enslavement? (3) What do apologies for slavery in the present potentially reveal about contemporary social and political relations as narratives? Central to the aims of this paper is an effort to situate recent engagements involving revisions to the historical memory of enslavement as US institutions attempt to atone and offer regrets for historical associations and affiliations with the Middle Passage and transatlantic slave trade

Sex differences in DNA methylation and expression in zebrafish brain: a test of an extended ‘male sex drive’ hypothesis

The sex drive hypothesis predicts that stronger selection on male traits has resulted in masculinization of the genome. Here we test whether such masculinizing effects can be detected at the level of the transcriptome and methylome in the adult zebrafish brain. Although methylation is globally similar, we identified 914 specific differentially methylated CpGs (DMCs) between males and females (435 were hypermethylated and 479 were hypomethylated in males compared to females). These DMCs were prevalent in gene body, intergenic regions and CpG island shores. We also discovered 15 distinct CpG clusters with striking sex-specific DNA methylation differences. In contrast, at transcriptome level, more female-biased genes than male-biased genes were expressed, giving little support for the male sex drive hypothesis. Our study provides genome-wide methylome and transcriptome assessment and sheds light on sex-specific epigenetic patterns and in zebrafish for the first time