MEST 2022: programme

Oslo Seminar

The AEJM MEST Seminar 2022 for museum educators will take place from 24 until 26 October in Oslo, Norway. The programme hosted by our colleagues from the Oslo Jewish Museum will focus on best practice in secondary schools programming. The seminar further zooms in on Generation Z (or Gen Z or “zoomers”) that nowadays constitutes our visitors from secondary school groups.

Gen Z is born between 1997-2012 and is mostly known as digital natives, but also for their more flexible attitudes towards identity, diversity, gender, and individualism. Due to the pandemic, museums have not been able to physically welcome Gen Z on their premises over the last years. Now that the museum sector is gradually opening its physical doors again, our educators and Gen Z are experiencing a reboot. How does Gen Z challenges us to develop new educational practices? Which opportunities does Gen Z offer to museums and museum pedagogues?

The MEST Seminar in Oslo aims at enhancing professionalism in museum education practice at Jewish museums in Europe and at strengthening this network by offering learning, exchange, and networking opportunities. The intensive 3-day MEST seminar programme comprises various hands-on workshops, presentations, and discussion, as well as behind-the-scenes visits to museums in the Oslo area and meetings with Norwegian museum professionals, including:

keynote session by Manfred Levy, previously Head of Education at Jewish Museum Frankfurt (DE)
keynote session and workshop on Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness in Museums, by Jolien Posthumus, Programme Manager Menthal Health at Museum of the Mind (NL)
workshop Exploring Gen Z, with Alexandra Palm from opinion.no (NO), Mats Tangestuen from Oslo Jewish Museum (NO), and Katarzyna Suskiewicz from Galicia Jewish Museum (PL)
workshop Creating a Safe Space for Gen Z, by Elzbieta Grab from POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews (PL)
workshop on the on.tour outreach programme from the Jewish Museum Berlin, by Sarah Hiron (DE)
workshop on Marketing & Communication Strategies with Schools, by Lisa Shames from Jewish Museum London (UK)
visit to the Intercultural Museum
visit to The 22. July Center
visit to the Memorial and Learning Centre at Utøya

Click here to view the programme in detail:

MEST Oslo Programme 2022

Seminar Dates
24-26 October 2022

Registration
This seminar has a limited number of participants. It is primarily open to staff members of AEJM member institutions (Full or Institutional Associate Members) that are working as museum pedagogues or that are involved in the creation and development of educational programmes. Participants are required to attend the full seminar programme – registrations from delegates who can only partially participate will not be accepted.Registration is open from 6 until 26 June.
Participants will receive a confirmation before 1 July.Travel Support
Travel support is available for AEJM member institutions with limited financial means that would like to send a staff member to MEST professional development activities.Registration for the seminar is closed.

Previous Events:

I ASK Training Programme

This spring and summer, MEST offers an extensive hybrid training course of the I ASK pedagogical method. I ASK is a practical, step-by-step method for guided tours and educational programmes in museums developed by the Jewish Cultural Quarter and TACT Advisors (NL). Its aim is to increase openness for new knowledge and ideas so that visitors leave your museum with enriched experiences and more nuanced thinking about the themes addressed. I ASK invites museums to clearly articulate the impact they desire to have on their audiences and offers museum professionals tools to achieve that.

To be inclusive of the diversity of points of view that visitors bring into the museum, museums themselves also need an open mind to apply I ASK, even when these points of view seem to be contrary or not so much nuanced. I ASK offers practical tools to engage with these points of view effectively.

The I ASK training course is designed to:

Discuss the premises/fundamental ideas underlying the method, in order to stimulate reflection on the why and the how of I ASK
Teach the building blocks of the method: preconditions, steps and tools
Provide practical training in the usage of the method
Teach the participants how to design an educational programme that is I ASK based and support them in the application of the method to their own museums and educational programmes
Stimulate museum-to-museum learning, allowing for the common themes and challenges of Jewish museums across Europe to receive special attention

The hybrid course consists of three stages. The first step is a 90-minute online group meeting that serves as kick-off of the training programme wherein a working relationship between tutors and participants and a mutual understanding amongst participants will be established. The second step is a 3.5-day training at the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam. Participants will experience the method on location. They will receive training in its main principles and will apply the method by practice and learning sessions. In the two 3-hour online sessions of the third and final step, participants will focus on designing I ASK based educational programmes. In between the different steps, participants are expected to complete assignments.

Course Dates

Step 1: Creating Fertile Ground
1.5h online session
On Monday 30 May, 14:00-15:30 CET (via Zoom)
Step 2: Training live session in Amsterdam
3.5-days on location
From Monday 13 June (morning) until Thu 16 June (afternoon)
Step 3: Training online sessions
3h online sessions x 2
On Thursday 1 Sep, 10:00-13:00 CET (via Zoom)
On Monday 19 Sep, 10:00-13:00 CET (via Zoom)

Registration
This training course has a limited number of participants. It is primarily open to staff members of AEJM member institutions (full or institutional associate members) that are involved in the creation and development of educational programmes and secondly to those that within their institution are responsible for museum guides. Participants are required to attend the full programme and complete the assignments – registrations from delegates who can only partially participate will not be accepted.

Registration is open from 8 until 22 April.
Please motivate your registration by briefly describing how I ASK could make a difference for your museum’s audiences (max. 250 words).

Selected participants will receive a confirmation before the end of April.

Travel Support
Travel support is available for AEJM member institutions with limited financial means that would like to send a staff member to MEST professional development activities.
Upon registration, please motivate your application for travel support and give an estimation of the ticket costs to/from the event.

I ASK Pedagogical Method

April 7, 14:00-15:00 CET

Get to know I ASK, a practical, step-by-step method for guided tours and educational programmes in museums developed by the Jewish Cultural Quarter and TACT Advisors. This method aims at opening minds: increasing openness for new knowledge, experiences and ideas so that visitors leave your museum with enriched experiences and more nuanced thinking about the themes addressed. I ASK invites museums to clearly articulate the impact they desire to have on their audiences and gives museum professionals tools to achieve that.

In this online session I ASK trainers Judith Whitlau and Irith Koster will introduce participants to the I ASK method. What is this method about? How it can be useful for Jewish museums from across Europe and their diverse audiences?

This spring and summer, MEST will offer an extensive hybrid training course of I ASK to a limited number of participants. Those interested in partaking in the training are strongly recommended to attend this introduction session before applying to the course.

Online Accessibility Activities

March 14, 14:00-15:00 CET

Get to know best practice in online accessibility programming together with Accessibility Coordinator Wioleta Jozwiak from POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. How to create and organize online educational workshops for children with disabilities? At the next online MEST session on 14 March we will focus on POLIN’s pedagogical strategy for online accessibility. We will take a closer look at the projects Create a communication-friendly Jewish story with us, using supportive and alternative communication, and the sensory friendly concerts for children with the autism spectrum disorder.

Educator’s Coffee Meeting

February 21, 14:00-15:00 CET

AEJM is launching the 2022 edition of the Museum Education Seminars and Training (MEST) on Monday 21 February. Join us for the Educator’s Coffee Meeting from 14:00-15:00 CET.

Learn about our upcoming activities and meet your international colleagues while enjoying an afternoon coffee or tea. After a word of welcome by the Norwegian and Polish project partners, MEST’s Creative Director Eva Koppen will present the calendar of online and IRL activities in 2022. Judith Whitlau will shortly introduce the intensive I ASK course that is scheduled for this spring and summer. Catch up with old and new colleagues during the online networking activity in the second part of the Coffee Meeting.

About MEST

Initiated by POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Oslo Jewish Museum, AEJM’s Museum Education Seminars and Training (MEST) is a professional development programme that addresses educators from Jewish museums in Europe. The hybrid 2022 programme will consist of a series of online and IRL activities, comprising training, interactive workshops and lectures, exchange of best practice, and peer-to-peer support and network opportunities. Jewish Museum in Trondheim holds a role of as a partner in the programme.

AEJM finished the 2021 edition of the MEST programme. From February until July, educators from Jewish museums and collections from across Europe attended our live online sessions. For more information on the 2021 activities visit our online archive of educational activities. Join us in 2022 for the next edition!

The MEST is curated and produced by Eva Koppen. For more information please contact eva.koppen@aejm.org

MEST is part of the Jewish Cultural Heritage Project supported by the EEA Grants from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and by the state budget of Poland.