Young children’s engagement with art museum objects and spaces: implications for the civic role of museums

Museums have a role to play in civic life as sites of cultural dialogue and exchange. Our youngest citizens have the right to engage with this discourse (United Nations, 1989a; Anderson, 2012). This study explores the nature of young children’s engagement with an art museum in the context of cultural citizenship(Mai and Gibson, 2011). Using a case study approach (Stake, 1995; Flyvbjerg, 2011; Yin, 2013), the study uses contextual data alongside accompanied museum visits with individual families to explore the concept of young children’s museum engagement. Data generated by the visits included fieldnotes, photographs, a project scrapbook, children’s artwork, and recordings of follow up interviews. These were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis, during which codes were organised into seven key themes: the nature of objects, physical engagement, sonic engagement, engagement through pattern, emotional engagement, imaginative engagement, and relationships. These themes were grouped into three arenas of engagement: engagement with materials, personal engagement and social engagement. Findings demonstrated that young children’s engagement with museum objects and spaces was complex and sophisticated. Engagement stemmed from the interconnection between numerous elements of each encounter, and was non-hierarchical, supporting a view of distributed agency between humans and the more-than-human. Time and care were identified as vital components of engagement, alongside interaction with materials, emotions, and other people. On the basis of the findings, the Solar System Engagement Model was created to support practitioners in noticing and valuing different kinds of engagement. The Solar System Engagement Model, and the evidence underpinning it, demonstrates that children are able to contribute actively to cultural dialogue. However, to maximise this potential, museums have a role to play both in welcoming young children and their families, and in shaping societal perceptions by positioning them as competent cultural citizens.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

PhD

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wolverhampton

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Wallis, Nicola

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Pascal, Chris
• Bertram, Tony
• Williams-Brown, Zeta

• museums
• young children
• engagement
• cultural citizenship
• mosaic approach
• early years

Licence

• https://wlv.openrepository.com/bitstreams/61788c3b-0ffb-40c6-9726-7d595ed44713/download