case study: Consulting at Ithra

In March 2019, the education team at Ithra engaged my consulting services to lead staff training, work with managers to develop education strategy and goals, and to create a program planning and lesson planning tool to be used across the organization. Ithra, part of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, opened in 2018. Because the field of museum education had not existed in Saudi until Ithra opened, education management needed assistance in building staff capacity. Read below for some highlights of my ten day residency with the educators at Ithra, a world-class museum complex with excellent staff who are dedicated to the Center’s mission of serving as a beacon of lifelong learning in the Kingdom.

While many aspects of this project were specific to Ithra, its principles are universal: using my skills and experience to build organizational and staff capacity, making a world-class museum an even stronger resource for its community, its visitors, and its staff. If you have projects that could benefit from these same skills, please contact me.

 
 
An educator works with a school group in one of the Ithra Museum’s galleries. He is about to give each pair of students one of the bags he’s holding; the bags contain hands on materials.

An educator works with a school group in one of the Ithra Museum’s galleries. He is about to give each pair of students one of the bags he’s holding; the bags contain hands on materials.

program assessment & strategy

Ithra offers dozens of programs every month in its various components, which include the Museum, Children’s Museum, Energy Exhibit, Library, special exhibitions, Theater, Cinema, and outdoor spaces. Over several days I observed many of these programs, including programs designed for families and schools. I then worked with the education management team to discuss feedback and to strategize about some changes that might make programs even stronger, such as ways to engage parents and grandparents along with the kids at family programs.

 
Interpreters view the gallery individually at the beginning of the “Juicy Questions” exercised, developed by Joshua Gutwill and Sue Allen.

Interpreters view the gallery individually at the beginning of the “Juicy Questions” exercised, developed by Joshua Gutwill and Sue Allen.

interpreter training

I developed and led a training for about 50 interpreters over four days. The training grew out of small group and one-on-one interviews in which we asked the interpreters what type of skill development would be most useful to them. The training sessions included discussion of John Falk’s visitor motivations as well as several strategies for engaging visitors, which we then practiced in the galleries.

 
Educators engage in an exercise to compare formal and informal learning. Many of the educators came to Ithra from previous careers in classroom teaching.

Educators engage in an exercise to compare formal and informal learning. Many of the educators came to Ithra from previous careers in classroom teaching.

educator training

Three sessions of an in-depth training I developed for educators (department managers who supervise the interpreters) included a discussion of the characteristics of informal learning; a proposed program planning and lesson plan template, which we revised together over several days; and a discussion about inter-generational learning. Educators also made a plan to follow up with interpreters on their new toolbox of engagement strategies.