Understand how museum environments support learning
Explain how objects, displays, spaces and visitor choices can shape attention, interpretation, memory and participation.
Erasmus+ teacher training course
Amsterdam as a Learning Laboratory: Museums, Objects and Inquiry
How can artworks, experiments, objects and historical spaces help learners notice more, ask better questions and think from different perspectives?
Turn museum encounters into purposeful learning before, during and after a visit.
Target group: Teachers, adult educators, museum educators, trainers, school leaders and other education professionals from all educational levels.
- Activity type
- Physical mobility
- Duration
- 1 week
- Language
- English
- Equipment
- No special equipment required
Amsterdam Museums as Laboratories for Inquiry and Learning
Museums can offer much more than information delivered during a guided visit. Original objects, visual art, interactive exhibits and historical environments can stimulate observation, interpretation, curiosity and evidence-based dialogue. This course uses contrasting Amsterdam museums as working laboratories for examining how educators design learning before, during and after an encounter.
Participants investigate questioning, object-based learning, visual thinking, storytelling and inquiry while comparing different museum environments. They consider how instructions, movement, time and group organisation influence what learners notice and discuss. Access, language, sensory needs, emotional safety and practical visit planning are addressed throughout. The goal is not to reproduce one museum method, but to understand the design choices that make an experience educationally meaningful.
Participants complete the course with a tested museum-to-classroom learning sequence that can also be adapted to local collections, community sites, public spaces or ordinary objects available in their own institution.
Museum entrance fees are not included in the course fee.
For an additional fee of 75 euros, Understanding Academy can organise a
Museumkaart for participants. The Museumkaart is valid for one year and
gives access to hundreds of participating museums across the Netherlands,
so participants can also use it outside the course programme and after the
training week. Museum selection may vary depending on availability,
opening hours, booking conditions and group arrangements.
Learning outcomes
What You Will Learn
Facilitate observation, inquiry and dialogue
Use independently designed prompts and facilitation strategies to help learners examine evidence, develop questions and exchange interpretations.
Design inclusive museum experiences
Plan for different language levels, sensory preferences, mobility needs, confidence levels and ways of participating.
Connect museum encounters to curriculum
Create a coherent learning sequence that prepares learners before a visit, supports them during it and extends learning afterwards.
Plan realistic implementation
Develop a feasible museum-to-classroom application with clear learning purposes, practical arrangements and a method for reviewing its impact.
Six-day programme
Course Schedule
Day 1The Museum as a Learning Environment
Welcome and learning context
Participants share their educational settings, previous experiences of museum visits and the learning goals they want to pursue during the course.
How spaces and objects teach
Participants examine how layout, scale, atmosphere, labels, objects and visitor movement influence what people notice and how they make meaning.
Building a museum-learning lens
Participants develop criteria for analysing a museum encounter from the perspectives of purpose, participation, inquiry, access and transfer.
Day 2Art, Attention and Interpretation
Looking for evidence
Participants practise sustained observation and distinguish between what can be directly noticed, what can be inferred and what still needs investigation.
Interpretation without a single answer
Participants explore how educators can welcome different readings while asking learners to support ideas with visible details and reasoned connections.
Curriculum connections through art
Participants design ways to connect an artwork or visual object with language, history, citizenship, science, mathematics or interdisciplinary learning.
Day 3Science, Interaction and Curiosity
Learning from interactive exhibits
Participants examine how experimentation, physical interaction, surprise and immediate feedback can support inquiry and conceptual understanding.
From curiosity to explanation
Participants practise helping learners move from an initial reaction or question towards comparison, testing, explanation and further investigation.
Designing inquiry without overload
Participants consider pacing, choice, group organisation and reflection so that interactive environments remain purposeful and accessible.
Day 4Memory, History and Difficult Questions
Objects as evidence of lived experience
Participants consider how personal objects, documents, testimonies and reconstructed spaces can connect historical events with individual and community experience.
Perspective, uncertainty and historical empathy
Participants explore how to compare viewpoints, recognise missing voices and discuss difficult choices without reducing history to simple moral answers.
Responsible dialogue in emotionally demanding spaces
Participants identify ways to prepare learners, facilitate sensitive discussion, offer participation choices and close an emotionally demanding learning experience with care.
Day 5Inclusive Museum-Learning Design
Participation, access and choice
Participants review barriers connected to language, sensory load, mobility, confidence, prior knowledge and group dynamics, then identify practical alternatives.
Before, during and after the visit
Participants create a connected sequence with preparation, an on-site learning focus and a follow-up task that deepens or transfers the experience.
Prototype, test and improve
Participants test part of their sequence with colleagues, gather focused feedback and revise the design for clarity, inclusion and feasibility.
Day 6Course Closure & Cultural Activities
- Reflecting on learning outcomes and key takeaways
- Awarding of Certificates of Attendance
- Cultural excursion and local heritage experience
- Informal networking and exchange of best practices
Course foundations
Recommended Reading and Theoretical Influences
- Hooper-Greenhill, E. (2007). Museums and Education.
- Falk, J. H. and Dierking, L. D. (2016). The Museum Experience Revisited.
- Hein, G. E. (1998). Learning in the Museum.
- ICOM (2022). Museum Definition.
- Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Artful Thinking. Recommended reading only.
- Artful Thinking materials and named routines are not reproduced or distributed in this course.
Completing the course
Evaluation, Recognition and Practical Information
Learning is supported throughout the week through participation, reflection, practical activities and constructive feedback.
Evaluation of Learning Outcomes
- Format
- Continuous assessment based on class participation, practical work and self-assessment.
- Criteria
- Active participation in discussions, reflection, collaborative activities and practical course tasks.
- Procedures
- Trainer observation, participant reflection, feedback and attendance.
Recognition of Learning Outcomes
- Conditions
- Attendance at a minimum of 80% of the course and active participation in the learning activities.
- Recognition
- Learning outcomes are recognised through participant reflection, trainer feedback and completion of the course activities.
- Documentation
- A Certificate of Attendance documenting the course title, dates, venue and learning outcomes.
Learning approach
Practical, Collaborative and Learner-Centred
The course combines hands-on workshops, real-world examples, simulations, guided reflection and collaborative activities. Participants exchange good practices, work in international groups and develop ideas that can be adapted to their own professional context.
Optional cultural, social and networking activities support local engagement, intercultural learning and professional collaboration.
Before you travel
Practical Details
Duration
One week, normally comprising 25 academic hours.
Weekly Schedule
Classes take place from Monday to Friday, in the morning or afternoon. Saturday is reserved for cultural activities.
Final Timetable
The detailed timetable will be sent at least two weeks before the beginning of the course.
Preparation
No special preparation is required unless stated in the course programme. Any required materials or equipment will be communicated before the course.
Certification
Participants who meet the attendance requirements receive a Certificate of Attendance.
Course Fee
The standard fee is €480. See what the course fee includes.
Alternative arrangements: Other course durations and schedules may be arranged on request.
Erasmus+ funding: Course fees and mobility costs may be supported through an eligible sending organisation's Erasmus+ grant. Eligibility and final funding decisions remain with the beneficiary organisation and its National Agency. Read our Erasmus+ KA1 funding guide.
Administrative support: Understanding Academy provides course programmes, learning outcomes, registration documentation and certificates. Participants and sending organisations remain responsible for transport, accommodation and grant management.
Plan your Erasmus+ mobility
Ready to Join This Course?
Check the upcoming confirmed dates or register your interest. We will contact you with information about availability and the next steps.
Need funding information? Read our Erasmus+ KA1 funding guide.