Professional standards of museum work are defined by the clearly formulated International Council of Museums (ICOM) Code of Ethics and by the activity of professional organisations on both national and international levels. The goal to establish the general requirements for the education of museum workers was mainly pursued by the ICOM and some of its committees. Since museum pedagogy has developed into an independent discipline and museum pedagogue (educator) has become a full-value profession, the specialised commissions within individual professional organisations and the efforts of individual researchers have helped to gradually transform these general requirements into specific standards of museum pedagogy. These standards reflect both the scope of activities and necessary competencies of museum pedagogues, and the expected quality of education practice in museums (best practice). The varied views of professional standards for museum pedagogues in the international context represent a source of inspiration in the sphere of Czech museum pedagogy, which is undergoing a dynamic development in several areas of its activities (educational practice, consolidated legislative position) and gradually formulating its own professional standards.
The study deals with the question, what is a small museum and what are its specifics compared to other museums. Based on available foreign and local sources, it summarizes the current state of research which is largely focused on searching for the consensus on how to clearly define this type of museums. The study is based on the published results of key research in the past twenty years. It outlines selected approaches to the characteristics of a small museum and summarizes its typical features. Analogously, it looks at the state of research in the Czech museum sphere, where the topic of small museums has been repeatedly opened, examined and debated from different perspectives of professional activities and professions in a small museum. The study raises the question of how to effectively build on this state of research and develop it further within the Czech Republic, where this type of museums seems to be insufficiently mapped so far.
Museum pedagogue as an independent museum profession has been paid an increased attention in the practice, professional literature and in empirical research. The Committee for Public Relations and Museum Pedagogy at the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries also entered this sphere by updating the number of members and carrying out a questionnaire inquiry. Who are the members? Which professional qualities and specializations do they offer? The study presents current outputs of a research inquiry among educational workers in Czech museums and the other museum professions.
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