2025 VIRTUAL SPECIAL ISSUE
Read the full collection here.

Museum education is continuously evolving, taking on different meanings and approaches depending on the educator, institution, and cultural context. What once may have been seen as a supplementary aspect of museums has grown into a dynamic field dedicated to fostering learning, engagement, and critical thinking through art, history, and science.

In recognition of Nathaniel Prottas’ invaluable contributions to the Museum Education Roundtable (MER) and the Journal of Museum Education (JME), we have curated a selection of articles that best encapsulate the essence of museum education. Since 2017, Prottas has played a pivotal role in shaping discussions within the field, first as a guest editor of JME 42.3: Does Museum Education Have a Canon? and later as a board member, where he developed the Virtual Special Issue Power Play: How Educators Articulated Their Role in the Museum (1973–2014). He became JME’s Assistant Editor in 2019 and was promoted to Associate Editor in 2020. Over the years, he has spearheaded numerous impactful issues, including Shared Challenges? Transatlantic Perspectives on Museums in the US and Germany (JME 46.1), Queering the Museum (JME 45.4), and Beyond the Cult of the Author: The Literary Museum Today (JME 45.3). His leadership and editorial efforts have helped shape discourse within museum education, highlighting its complexities, challenges, and transformative potential.

This compilation is a tribute to the labor of love and hard work that Prottas invested during his tenure. It offers readers an opportunity to reflect on the evolving nature of museum education and the ongoing conversations that continue to shape its future. Thank you so much for all your work, Nathaniel!

Edited by Asami Robledo-Allen Yamamoto(Director of Education & Communication, doctoral student, and Museum Studies Fellow) and Kate Mirand Calleri(Director of Education at Brooklyn Bridge Park).

Selected Titles:

• • “Does Museum Education Have a Canon?“, originally published in JME 42.3.
  • “Where Does the History of Museum Education Begin?“, originally published in JME 44.4,
  • “The Past in the Present: The Relevancy of the History of Museum Education Today“, originally published in JME 44.4,
  • “Museums for Somebody: Children’s Museum Professionals and the American Association of Museums (1907–1922)“, originally published in JME 44.4,
  • “Reaching Out, Reaching In: Museum Educators and Radical Transformation“, originally published in JME 45.4,
  • “Documenting Museum Education during Intersecting Pandemics“, originally published in JME 46.4,
  • “A Poet, Wayfinding“, originally published in JME 48.1.
  • “The Power of Words“, originally published in JME 48.1.
  • “In the Unrest of Implication: Museum Education Methods in Atmospheres of Scandalization”, originally published in JME 48.3.
  • “Living Up to Our Promise of Equity: The JME, ICOM, and the Work of the Museum Today“, originally published in JME 49.3.