Museum Education and Yemeni American Children's Immigrant Identity From a Vygotskian Perspective: A Mother's Diary

This is a report from the field, where an immigrant mother journaled about her Yemeni American daughters (ages 7 and 13, born and raised in the U.S.) visiting museums for the first time. Her diary documented how mother-child and sibling interactions in museum education contributed to building cognit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The School community journal 2023-10, Vol.33 (2), p.205-235
Main Authors: Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan, Muhsin, Hanan Taha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Arab Americans
Arabic language
Autobiographical literature
Case studies
Children
Children & youth
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Cultural groups
Diaries
Education
Evidence-based practice
Families & family life
Identity formation
Immigrants
Immigration
Learning
Literacy
Mothers
Multicultural Education
Museums
Parents & parenting
Skills
Social interaction
Sociocultural factors
Standardized Tests
Success
Thinking Skills
Vygotsky, Lev
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Summary:This is a report from the field, where an immigrant mother journaled about her Yemeni American daughters (ages 7 and 13, born and raised in the U.S.) visiting museums for the first time. Her diary documented how mother-child and sibling interactions in museum education contributed to building cognitive and affective skills required for academic success in formal schooling. Her diary entries included: (1) anecdotal observations, (2) interviews of her daughters and her immigrant father, and (3) reflective and photographic journaling. Her daughters' journaling and photo documentations further supported their mother's entries. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is the conceptual framework for this project. The mother promoted her daughters' immigrant identity via visits to museums and activities related to the museum and the family's immigrant identity offered before, during, and after the museum visits. The project culminated with her daughters creating their unique family museum and dramatizing as docents. We recommend (1) museum-related interactive literacy activities, and (2) creating and dramatizing a family museum.We buttress these recommendations with research, Vygotsky's theory, and our evidence-based practice. We conclude that the daughters demonstrated the cognitive and affective skills required for academic success in formal schooling while simultaneously developing their immigrant identity. We suggest replicating this project to promote immigrant identity among other cultural groups. We lastly present an educational case study of the grandfather's immigrant experiences in the appendix.
ISSN:1059-308X