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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Ms Claire Bown
Founder, Thinking Museum
Claire Bown is a museum educator, trainer, facilitator, author and podcast host, originally from the UK and currently based in the Netherlands. With over 25 years of experience in the field of museum and heritage education, and a strong background in designing and facilitating guided experiences, Claire founded Thinking Museum in 2013. Her expertise lies in consulting, designing, and leading professional learning opportunities for museum educators, guides, docents, and volunteers, encompassing a wide range of facilitation and engagement techniques, including her own approach Visible Thinking in the Museum. Claire loves teaching people the secrets of facilitating engaging experiences with art, objects and visitors.

At its core, museum education is dedicated to providing opportunities and experiences for people of all backgrounds, abilities, and circumstances to actively engage with collections and ideas, fostering personal growth and learning. As education takes on an increasingly central role within the mandate, mission, and vision of museums, museum educators are playing a key role in encouraging visitors to observe, think and engage in wonder.

Drawing insights from contemporary practices and with an eye on the future, this talk will explore the evolving role of museum educators. It will focus on the essential approaches and mindsets necessary for success in the present and for embracing future challenges and opportunities. What values and foundations are critical for designing and facilitating engaging museum experiences today and tomorrow? Which tools and techniques should guide our approach? What ideas, beliefs, or practices must we learn, unlearn, or relearn to be future-ready?

Dr. Aidan M Wong
Assistant Professor of Urban Studies (Education), College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University and Deputy Director, Wee Kim Wee Centre
Aidan Wong is Assistant Professor of Urban Studies (Education), College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University, where he is also Deputy Director, Wee Kim Wee Centre. Trained as an economic geographer, Aidan’s teaching interests include urban cultures, Singapore studies, and food cultures. He is also a strong supporter of SMU-X (a unique University-Industry collaborative project-based learning), and adopts this teaching pedagogy in his delivery of courses. Aidan’s research interests include urban waste management and environmental citizenship; urban heritage and active citizenship; and labour relations, particularly in the informal economy, the gig economy, and youth entrepreneurship.

Museums present a unique partnership opportunity for educational institutions through the various programmes that heritage institutions curate and organize on a regular basis. Educational institutions often rely on heritage institutions to provide unique touch-points for students to ground their classroom learning. There is however, an opportunity for heritage institutions to partner with educational institutions to promote greater heritage appreciation through in-depth participation in shaping the classroom. In this presentation, Dr. Wong will reflect on his experiences in partnering with the National Heritage Board, Singapore, and also proffer a few ideas on how heritage institutions may engage with educational institutions to shape the future of heritage awareness and action.