Nicole Kummer

Museum Education '18

The program reinvigorated my love for museums, art, and history. Courses are filled with rich discussion about cultural institutions’ place in contemporary society and empowers students to innovate the field.

Before setting out on a move across the world to join the first progressive school in the Middle East, second grade teacher Nicole Kummer worked as a classroom educator in New York City while pursuing her master’s degree in museum education from Bank Street.

“After spending time in the classroom, I recognized that children were more engaged in their learning outside of [classroom] walls,” says Kummer, who is currently leading an integrated social studies unit on “Dubai: Now and Then.” “[The study] takes us all over the city. Bank Street, and the Museum Education program specifically, gave me the tools to create a program that is place-based and experiential.”

Kummer’s students participate in one or two field trips a week to explore the city, meet its people, and learn about its history. Through hands-on, real world experiences, Kummer’s students are able to deepen their understanding of the world around them and engage in and grow through meaningful learning experiences. This approach to teaching and learning is embedded in Bank Street’s history and continues to be the foundation of the College’s many academic programs.

Although Kummer studied museum education specifically, she finds the teaching strategies and techniques she learned relevant for her second grade classroom. “The museum education pedagogy has improved my own classroom teaching dramatically as I incorporate practices into my daily lessons and facilitate numerous field trips.”