Affective Learning in the Museum: Community-Based Art Education with Military and Veteran-Connected Familie

This study documents affective learning during a community-based art museum education program for military and veteran-connected families, which included gallery teaching, art-making, and a final exhibition of participant artwork. A review of literature on public pedagogy, affective learning, museum education, and community-based art education provides the theoretical framework for the study. Narrative ethnography and participant observation were employed by the primary researcher-educator to gather a diverse array of data and construct a holistic narrative of the development of and participant experiences within the art museum program. Data collected includes field notes, personal communications (such as meeting notes and emails), interviews, open-ended survey questions, curriculum artifacts (such as lesson plans and worksheets), and artworks created by military family members. Analysis of the educator goals, participant expressions, and personal interactions informs the final discussion of how affective learning took place within one museum program and how attention to this domain of learning can enrich museum programs for diverse community members. Keywords: affective learning, museum education, community-based art education, military families.