Article
What science communication for equitable communication? from conceptualizations to reconceptualizations and practices
Registration in:
AFONSO, Susana; AFONSO, Ana Sofia; LOPES, Aurora Simões; GONZALEZ, Ana Carolina de Souza. What science communication for equitable communication? From conceptualizations to reconceptualizations and practices. Curator: The Museum Journal, v. 65, n. 4, 2022.
2151-6952
10.1111/cura.12502
Author
Afonso, Susana
Afonso, Ana Sofia
Lopes, Aurora Simões
Gonzalez, Ana Carolina de Souza
Abstract
CIEd – Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT; CAPES While museum educators are essential to engage under-served publics in science, their communication often reinforces dominant cultural norms and disengage visitors. Why are certain communication models so dominant and why are the cultural norms that underpin these so resistant to reconceptualisation? What conceptualizations about science communication are held by museum coordinators and how representative are they of the real practices? We explored these through an interpretative phenomenological approach in the context of a mobile museum with a social justice agenda. The analysis of museum coordinators’ and museum educators’ narratives, through the perspective of Idealized Cognitive Models (ICMs), shows that coordinators hold two dichotomous ICMs: a dominant deficit model and a non-dominant participatory ICM. The data from museum educators, however, indicate the coexistence of blended practices, which attempt at establishing dialogue, but fail to align with the participatory model. This shows the difficulty in reconceptualising the deficit ICM, as it is deeply rooted in long-standing enlightenment project of museums and reinforced by organizational factors. 2122-07-31