History and Government Notes - Form Three - KENYA - Download All Topics

Museums inspire and challenge us to think in new ways. Exhibits can spark creativity, spur discovery, and inspire wonder through stories, music, art, information, and adventure. They take learning out of the textbook and bring it into real life through interactive exhibits, personal histories, or hands-on experiments.

8. Museums bring communities together

Museums have the power to create unity on both a social and political level, but also on a local one. Local museums are able to provide a sense of community and place by celebrating a collective heritage, offering a great way to get to know the history of a particular area.

There are endless examples of local museums in the UK. One such institution is the Hove Museum and Art Gallery, located in Hove near Brighton. Housed in an Italianate Victorian villa near the seafront, this local abode was once home to a wealthy widow before housing German prisoners of war during World War II.

9. Education

In terms of education, going to a museum can bring what is taught in schools to life, by seeing artefacts or paintings for example. If children are learning about the Romans for example and they go to an exhibition full of armour and weapons dating from that period, they are more likely to find it interesting and want to learn more about it.

Research also shows that those who have had first-hand experience of such information are more likely to retain it in later life. Museums can then be an extremely valuable source of creativity, particularly organisations such as art galleries or photography exhibitions, as many people find they are inspired and subsequently want to try such activities themselves.

10. They Display Alternative Perspectives on History
Many mainstream history courses and books are biased, focusing on the perspective of the dominant culture and ignoring the thousands of minority cultures with fascinating history to be told. Museums display histories, timelines, and perspectives you may have never heard before, potentially altering the mind-sets of people who have simply never been educated outside the mainstream culture.
This differing perspective is something any well-informed person should have. When viewpoints are only taken from one’s own culture, they find themselves severely limited.