SCHOOL VISITS TO TOES AND MUSEUMS - A MISSED EDUCATIONAL-OPPORTUNITY

Recent studies in exhibitions have begun to consider the cognitive con tent of the 'dialogue' between visitor and exhibit designer. Such stud ies have focused on the leisure Visitor and not on organised school vi sits. The study reported here compares the conversational content of p rimary school and family visitors at the London Zoo and the Natural Hi story Museum, London. The data show that there are common features to the children's interactions with animal exhibits and that the content of the conversations varies little between family groups and school gr oups both within an institution and between institutions. The lack of any marked distinction between school and family visitors strongly sug gests that schools are failing to make effective use of the educationa l potential of toes. Secondly, the findings of this study are importan t in pointing to the features of animal exhibits to which children, an d their accompanying adults, attend. The data suggest that there is a gulf between the level of knowledge and understanding visitors bring t o the exhibits and the message that the museums and toes may wish to c ommunicate. It is suggested that more successful education will only b e achieved when museums and toes give more credence to understanding w hat the visitor already does, or does not, know.