A guide to reading objects
11 April, 2024
Teaching with Objects offers a collection of guides to support the theory, practice and evaluation of teaching and learning with objects. Together we hope to improve our field: you are welcome to copy and adjust a guide's content to meet your own teaching and learning needs. Share with us your improved, revised or specific version of the guides – we look forward to your feedback!
Introduction
In the literature surrounding teaching with objects, authors sometimes introduce a series of themes and questions educators/curators can address during teaching with objects lessons. The objects these documents focus on and the questions themselves vary from one source to another. However, common ground can be found in the questions asked to students and how they are organized. This guide introduces a collection of possible questions to ask students during a teaching with objects lesson. Alternatively, the table can serve as a tool to explain to students how much information is contained within an object. The goal is to help and inspire educators to build their own lessons.
How to use the guide
This table started as part of the Erasmus+ project Teaching with Objects (2022-present). Use it as an instrument to inspire and help you design your own practice. The specific order of sections and the questions themselves can be edited and changed, new questions or sections can be added to fit one’s own lesson, aims, and methods. The table is a work in progress. Please help your peers by pointing the TWO team to new resources (all fields of studies, and all languages are welcome).
Similar tables
Lelkes, J. (2019). How inclusive is object-based learning?. 'Libraries, Archives And Special Collections' Special Issue, 4(1).
Mida, I. and Kim, A. (2015) The dress detective: a practical guide to object-based research in fashion. London: Bloomsbury
Shuh, J. H. (1982). Teaching Yourself to Teach with Objects . Journal of Education, 7(4), 8–15.