Museo Institute | The DoSeum

Museo Institute

Museo Institute

Dinosaurs, hippos, and Monet, oh my! Museums and zoos are more than galleries and things—they are laboratories for learning and research. Join the education and curatorial staff at The DoSeum and The Alamo, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Zoo, and the Witte Museum for an immersive, year-long professional development opportunity like no other in San Antonio: Museo Institute!

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Participating Organizations
The Alamo Logo
San Antonio Botanical Garden Logo
The DoSeum Logo
The McNay Art Museum Logo
San Antonio Museum of Art Logo
The Witte Museum Logo
San Antonio Zoo Logo

What Is Museo Institute?
Museo Institute is a year-long professional development program that invites formal educators to explore informal learning and teaching approaches, discover opportunities for collaboration, and create lessons and activities that merge the best practices of informal and formal education to the benefit of students. Upon successful completion of the program, educators receive up to 70 CPE credit hours, research-based curriculum resources from leading institutions, and new methods for teaching both in the museum and in each educator’s unique setting.

Why Museo Institute?
Cultural organizations like museums and zoos can be an endless resource for educators. From field trips to afterschool programs, they offer hands-on and minds-on educational experiences. And they can further serve schools as laboratories, art studios, and design workshops via true collaboration.

The DoSeum and The Alamo, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Zoo, and the Witte Museum have come together to offer this exciting opportunity for educators.

 

 

Museo Institute Information and Important Dates

CURRICULUM

Participants transform their teaching practice by implementing approaches and methods learned from the informal educators at each cultural organization. Fall training covers topics including:

  • Walking Through History: Diverse People and Perspectives - The Alamo

  • Constructivism in STEAM: Maker-Centered Learning, Inquiry, and Play - The DoSeum

  • STEAM and SEL: Exploring the relationship in the Art Museum - The McNay

  • Incorporating Outdoor Learning Experiences - San Antonio Botanical Garden

  • Making Connections: Using an Art Museum as a Resource - SAMA

  • Unlocking Exploration and Connecting with Nature - San Antonio Zoo

  • Interdisciplinary Strategies for STEAM teaching - The Witte Museum

The spring practicum is a hands-on/minds-on project during which each educator receives more training, beginning in late fall, along with coaching from educators at the cultural organization with which they are placed.

By engaging with each organization’s education staff and a cohort of peers from across the San Antonio area, participants design and implement projects to pilot new pedagogy and lesson/activity plans. By the end of the experience, these select teachers implement the new curriculum to students in their local learning environments. Each cultural organization provides a separate syllabus covering the details of their practicum. 

GOALS AND OUTCOMES

Our intent is to provide professional development that creates eager agents, thoughtful, reflective practitioners, and confident designers of educational content.

Our goal is to train educators in methods that empower students to inquire, investigate, solve problems, and think critically.

Our aim is to spark these positive outcomes for teachers through knowledge sharing, collaboration, reflection, and creativity inspired by each of our cultural organization’s educational offerings.

SCHEDULE AND IMPORTANT DATES

  • February 2023: Applications Open for 2023-2024 Museo Institute Cohort

  • March 31, 2023: Museo Institute Applications Due

    • Museo Institute is open to all educators (formal & informal) within the San Antonio region.  

  • May 1, 2023: Educators are selected and notified of acceptance into Museo Institute.

    • Museum partners seek a diverse group, representative of educators across age/grade range and academic content areas.

  • July 2023:  Kick-off Celebration to welcome the new Museo Institute Cohort and complete orientation. 

  • August - October 2023: Half-day training sessions, one per museum scheduled on Saturdays.

  • October - November 2023: Cohort divided into seven sub-groups. Practicum Orientation and Training at assigned museum.  

    • Educators give their preferred top three choices for the practicum and Museum partners select the cohort sub-groups. 

  • December 2023 - May 2024: Spring Practicum 

    • Pre-work begins in late fall.

    • Practicum continues in spring.

  • January 2024 - May 2024: Special events, ongoing collaboration

    • Special events hosted by various museum in spring.

    • Spring events offer opportunities to bring sub-cohorts together.  

  • May 2024 - June 2024: Showcase Celebration

    • Museo Institute Cohort gathers to show what they have learned and celebrate their achievements.

    • ​​​​​​​Individual museums may also feature educator and student work in unique showcase events.

Registration for the full, year-long Museo Institute program is $250.00 per educator, due May 31, 2023.


Questions about Museo Insitute

For any additional questions please reach out to Chris Navarro, Director, School & Community Programs at CNavarro@TheDoSeum.org.  

Enrolled Educator Resources

Educators who are looking for past session resources, please visit our Museo Institute Resource Center