Better Leveraging the Educational Function of Museums

Cultural relics carry splendid civilizations, transmit historical culture, and sustain the national spirit; they are precious legacies left to us by our ancestors. Museums, as social service institutions that research, collect, protect, interpret, and display tangible and intangible cultural heritage, bear an important educational function. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “museum construction should be more complete and more systematic, while also giving full play to the educational function of museums.” In recent years, the domestic museum craze has continued to heat up, the study tour wave has been in full swing, and high-quality cultural and creative products have attracted countless fans. In 2023, China’s 6,833 museums held over 40,000 exhibitions and more than 380,000 educational activities, receiving 1.29 billion visitors. Museums are increasingly becoming public spaces for the masses to study and learn, and have become the second classroom beloved by primary and secondary school students. In October 2024, when presiding over the 17th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued the call to anchor the strategic goal of building a culturally strong country and continuously develop socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for a New Era. Facing this new mission, how to better leverage the educational function of museums, meet the people’s spiritual and cultural needs, and continuously strengthen the people’s spiritual strength is an important task for museum professionals in the New Era.

文物承载灿烂文明、传承历史文化、维系民族精神，是老祖宗留给我们的宝贵遗产。博物馆作为研究、收藏、保护、阐释和展示物质与非物质文化遗产的社会服务机构，担负着重要的教育职能。习近平总书记强调，“博物馆建设要更完善、更成体系，同时发挥好博物馆的教育功能”。近年来，国内博物馆热持续升温，研学潮如火如荼，精品文创圈粉无数。2023年，我国6833家博物馆共举办陈列展览4万余个、教育活动38万余场，接待观众12.9亿人次，博物馆日益成为广大人民群众教育学习的公共空间，成为中小学生喜爱的第二课堂。2024年10月，习近平总书记在主持中共中央政治局第十七次集体学习时发出了锚定建成文化强国战略目标、不断发展新时代中国特色社会主义文化的号召。面对新使命，如何更好发挥博物馆教育功能，满足人民精神文化需求，持续增强人民精神力量，是新时代博物馆人面临的一项重要课题。

1. Education Is an Important Function and Mission of Museums

1.教育是博物馆的重要职能与使命担当

The theme of International Museum Day 2024 is “Museums for Education and Research.” In China, the Museum Regulations clearly stipulate that the three major purposes of museums are education, research, and appreciation. Museums have opened up methods of interpreting culture and science using material culture rather than textbook-style writing, giving cultural heritage deeper and broader significance; they provide new dimensions and new perspectives for understanding the world; they cultivate in the public a path to rationally understand the world through observable and experiential materials, further enhancing the public’s quality of life and even survival capabilities. The museum system, encompassing exhibits, space, design, and emotion, inspires the public to explore the relevant knowledge involved in the exhibitions, supports visitors’ autonomous learning, and provides the public with learning opportunities and leisure choices. Through exhibitions, education, and academic activities, museums disseminate knowledge in fields such as history, art, and science to the public, provide valuable research resources for academia, and carry out public education activities for communities, allowing more people to pay attention to, participate in, and integrate into museum educational activities.

2024年国际博物馆日的主题是“博物馆致力于教育和研究”。在我国，《博物馆条例》明确规定，博物馆的三大目的是教育、研究和欣赏。博物馆开辟了利用物质文化而非文字式的教科书阐释文化和科学的方法，使文化遗产具有更加深刻而广泛的意义；提供了认知世界的新维度和新视野；培育了公众由观察、体验等可感知的材料而理性认识世界的途径，进一步提升了公众的生活品质甚至生存能力。包含着展品、空间、设计和情感的博物馆系统，激励公众探究展陈所涉及的相关知识，支持观众的自主学习，为公众提供学习机会和休闲选择。通过展览、教育和学术活动，博物馆向公众传播历史、艺术、科学等领域的知识，为学界提供宝贵的研究资源，面向社区开展公共教育活动，让更多人关注、参与和融入博物馆教育活动中来。

Fine traditional Chinese culture is the spiritual lifeline of the Chinese nation. To promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, attention must be paid to making the past serve the present, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, and endowing traditional culture with new contemporary connotations and modern forms of expression. In this process, museum education plays a crucial role. Through exhibitions, social education activities, and other means, museums continuously strengthen the excavation and interpretation of cultural relics, combine modern technology and digital methods, use interdisciplinary multi-dimensional perspectives to carry out the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture, present it in ways that are easy for the public to understand and disseminate, and stimulate the public’s understanding and identification with fine traditional Chinese culture. This cross-border integration not only helps the dissemination of fine traditional Chinese culture but also provides an important channel and builds an important platform for its innovation and creation.

中华优秀传统文化是中华民族的精神命脉，推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展，要注重古为今用、守正创新，赋予传统文化新的时代内涵和现代表现形式，在这一过程中，博物馆教育扮演了至关重要的作用。通过展览和社教活动等方式，博物馆不断加强文物资源挖掘阐释，结合现代科技和数字手段，利用跨学科的多维视角对中华优秀传统文化进行创造性转化和创新性发展，以公众便于理解和传播的方式呈现，激发公众对中华优秀传统文化的理解和认同。这种跨界融合不仅有助于中华优秀传统文化的传播，也为其创新创造提供了重要渠道、搭建了重要平台。

Museums are not only windows to human civilization but also classrooms for social education and lifelong learning. In September 2020, at a symposium of experts in the fields of education, culture, health, and sports, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “the promotion mechanism for lifelong learning for all should be improved, and a lifelong learning system with more flexible methods, richer resources, and more convenient learning should be built.” As an important component of social education, museums possess rich and diverse educational resources, including historical relics, artworks, science and technology exhibits, and interactive experiences. They are characterized by materiality, contextuality, experientiality, initiative, and lifelong applicability, capable of meeting the learning and educational needs of different age groups and interest groups. Unlike other forms of education, museums provide a more intuitive and vivid way of learning, offering rich learning resources and opportunities for social groups of all ages, and are an important pathway for building a lifelong learning system for all.

博物馆不仅是人类文明的窗口，也是社会教育、终身学习的课堂。2020年9月，习近平总书记在教育文化卫生体育领域专家代表座谈会上指出，“要完善全民终身学习推进机制，构建方式更加灵活、资源更加丰富、学习更加便捷的终身学习体系”。作为社会教育的重要组成部分，博物馆拥有包括历史文物、艺术品、科技展品、互动体验等丰富多元的教育资源，具有实物性、情境性、体验性、主动性、终身性等特点，能够满足不同年龄段和不同兴趣爱好群体的学习和教育需求。与其他教育形式不同，博物馆提供了一种更直观和生动的学习方式，为各年龄层的社会群体提供了丰富的学习资源和学习机会，是构建全民终身学习体系的重要途径。

2. Museums Have Achieved Significant Results in Cultivating People Through Culture and Education

2.博物馆在以文化人、以文育人等方面取得显著成效

The Party and the state attach great importance to leveraging the educational function of museums. In 2008, multiple departments jointly issued the “Notice on the Free Opening of National Museums and Memorial Halls,” promoting more visitors to enter museums. Subsequently, a series of policy documents were successively issued, such as the “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Integration of Culture and Education and Improving the Educational Function of Museums for Youth” and the “Opinions on Using Museum Resources to Carry Out Primary and Secondary School Education and Teaching,” promoting the development and utilization of museum resources and facilitating the organic integration of museums with school teaching and comprehensive practice. Museums have achieved significant results in cultivating people through culture and education.

党和国家高度重视发挥博物馆教育功能。2008年，多部门联合下发《关于全国博物馆、纪念馆免费开放的通知》，推动更多观众走进博物馆。此后，相继出台了《关于加强文教结合、完善博物馆青少年教育功能的指导意见》《关于利用博物馆资源开展中小学教育教学的意见》等一系列政策文件，推动博物馆资源开发利用，促进博物馆与学校教学、综合实践有机结合，博物馆在以文化人、以文育人等方面取得显著成效。

Museum study tours are shaping a new model of cultural and tourism integration. In February 2022, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Office of the Ministry of Education, and the General Office of the National Cultural Heritage Administration jointly issued the “Notice on Using Cultural and Tourism Resources and Cultural Relics Resources to Enhance the Spiritual Quality of Youth,” requiring further integration of cultural and tourism resources and cultural relics resources, and the use of “museums, memorial halls, open cultural relic protection units, archaeological site parks, red tourism sites, etc., to design high-quality study tour routes.” The “Several Measures on Further Cultivating New Growth Points to Prosper Cultural and Tourism Consumption” recently issued by the General Office of the State Council proposes to innovatively develop study tourism and promote the healthy and orderly development of travel agencies operating study tourism businesses. Unlike classroom teaching, study tours are an open-ended learning method that emphasizes problem-solving and inquiry processes. The design and development of museum study tour courses should also closely meet the needs of target audiences, leverage the resource endowment and unique charm of museums, and continuously enhance the educational sense of gain for young people. In recent years, domestic museums have actively formed teams for study tour product development, marketing, and service, developed study tour courses, innovated study tour formats, and carried out online and offline promotion. For example, “Hebo Journey” is a study tour social education project launched by the Hebei Museum, organized and led by the Hebei Museum, with well-known cultural heritage experts or leaders of archaeological teams guiding the way. Participants can not only delve into famous cultural relics and historical sites but also personally visit the “front line” of archaeological excavations, closely contact archaeological sites and unearthed artifacts, and travel through time and space to explore archaeological mysteries in the most intuitive way. This study tour activity, which combines multiple natures and functions such as artistic appreciation, historical tracing, scientific research, and educational promotion, has received widespread public attention and praise since its implementation. In the summer of 2024, the Nanjing Museum launched multiple study tour courses such as “Museum Mystery Detective,” with history as the theme and time as the clue, exploring people’s lifestyles and the stories behind them in different historical contexts, using interlocking games to allow students to explore local cultural history while using their hands, eyes, minds, and bodies. The sustained popularity of these series of activities reflects the public’s recognition and expectations for the innovation of museum educational functions and also reveals the development trends of contemporary social education reform and cultural innovation.

博物馆研学，塑造文旅融合新模式。2022年2月，文化和旅游部办公厅、教育部办公厅、国家文物局办公室联合印发《关于利用文化和旅游资源、文物资源提升青少年精神素养的通知》，要求进一步整合文化和旅游资源、文物资源，利用“博物馆、纪念馆、开放的文物保护单位、考古遗址公园、红色旅游景区等设计研学旅行精品线路”。国办近日印发的《关于进一步培育新增长点繁荣文化和旅游消费的若干措施》提出，创新发展研学旅游，推动旅行社经营研学旅游业务健康有序发展。不同于课堂教学，研学是一种重问题解决和探究过程的开放式学习，博物馆研学课程设计开发，也应紧扣目标受众需求，发挥博物馆资源禀赋和独特魅力，不断提升青少年的教育获得感。近年来，国内博物馆积极组建研学产品开发、营销、服务团队，开发研学课程，创新研学形式，做好线上线下推广。例如，“河博之旅”是河北博物院推出的一个游学类社教项目，由河北博物院牵头组织，知名文博专家或考古工作队负责人引领，参与者不但可以深入探访著名文物古迹，还能亲临考古工地“最前沿”，近距离接触考古现场及出土文物，以最直观的方式，穿越时空探访考古秘境。这个兼具艺术观赏、历史溯源、科学研究、教育推广等多种性质与功能的游学活动，自实施以来受到公众的广泛关注与好评。南京博物院在2024年暑期推出“博物奇探”等多个研学课程，以历史为主题，以时间为线索，探究不同时代背景下人们的生活方式与其背后发生的故事，利用环环相扣的游戏，让学生们在动手、动眼、动脑、动身的同时探寻地方文化历史。系列活动热度不减，反映出公众对于博物馆教育功能创新的认可和期待，也揭示了当代社会教育变革与文化创新的发展趋势。

Museums and schools combine to build a bridge of inheritance. Museums and schools are important arenas for youth education. Deepening cooperation mechanisms, actively exploring inter-museum exchange and cross-sector collaboration, and achieving an organic integration of school education and museum education through resource sharing and joint curriculum development, in order to jointly create influential cultural brands and educational projects, is the practical direction of many museums in China. For example, the Liaoning Provincial Museum has for many years carried out in-depth cooperation with the Shenyang Municipal Education Bureau and the Shenyang Institute of Education, linking the education sector with the cultural heritage sector, organically integrating the three forms of education—school, family, and society—and exploring the construction of an “education consortium.” [7]7 “Education consortium” (教联体): A collaborative mechanism linking schools, families, and social institutions (including museums) to jointly support youth education. Relying on the 2024 exhibition “Mountains and Rivers in Unity: Exhibition of Cultural Relics on the History and Culture of the Liao and Jin Dynasties,” the three parties jointly carried out the project “Museum-Institute Cooperation, Collaborative Education: I Am a Little Museum Researcher.” Museum curators provided exhibition tours, educational research institutions conducted teacher training, and primary and secondary schools in Shenyang designed lesson plans according to their actual circumstances, organizing students to carry out inquiry-based learning, thereby sparking young people’s deep reflection on regional culture and Chinese civilization. In addition, many museums across China have also, based on their actual conditions, strengthened close cooperation between museums and school education, developing social education courses and cultural heritage service products tailored to the needs of young people. Centering on the three different learning stages of “classroom, extracurricular, and after-school,” they achieve the organic integration of museum education, maximize the role and value of museum resources, and assist in the comprehensive growth of young people.

馆校结合，共筑传承桥梁。博物馆与学校是青少年教育的重要阵地，深化合作机制，积极探寻馆际交流与跨界合作，通过资源共享、课程共建实现学校教育与博物馆教育的有机结合，共同打造具有影响力的文化品牌和教育项目，是国内众多博物馆的实践方向。比如，辽宁省博物馆多年来与沈阳市教育局、沈阳市教育研究院深度开展合作，联通教育部门与文博部门，有机融合学校、家庭和社会三种教育，探索“教联体”建设。依托2024年举办的《山河与共——辽金历史文化主题文物展》，三方共同开展“馆院合作 协同育人——我是博物馆小研究员”项目，博物馆策展人进行展览导览，教育研究机构进行教师培训，沈阳市内各中小学根据实际情况进行课时教学设计，组织学生开展探究式学习，引发青少年对地域文化和中华文明产生深度思考。此外，国内许多博物馆也从实际出发，加强博物馆与学校教育的密切合作，开发贴合青少年需求的社教课程和文博服务产品，围绕“课堂、课余、课外”三个不同学习阶段，实现博物馆教育的有机融入，最大化发挥博物馆资源的价值和作用，助力青少年全面成长。

Technology empowers, bringing new educational experiences. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC proposed, “Explore effective mechanisms for the integration of culture and technology, and accelerate the development of new cultural business forms.” [8]8 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC: A major meeting of the Communist Party of China held in July 2024, focused on comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization. In the museum field, digital technology has brought new opportunities, providing entirely new possibilities for museum communication and education. For example, the widespread application of technologies such as AR, VR, and AI allows museums to “never close.” In 2023, the domestic and international versions of the “Digital Sutra Cave” and “Encountering Dunhuang: Digital Dunhuang Immersive Exhibition” were successively released, enabling people at home and abroad to appreciate and understand the charm of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes art through the internet. In May 2024, the “Beauty Becoming a Heavenly Dragon: International Touring Exhibition of the Digital Restoration of the Tianlongshan Grottoes” held in Athens, Greece, attracted a large number of local people to appreciate and understand Chinese grotto art. The Guangxi Museum integrated Guangxi culture with elements such as performing arts and digital technology, launching special projects such as the multimedia stage play “Dreaming of Ouluo” and the exhibition “Drumming Up the Eight Gui Regions, Sound Shaking the Nine Provinces: Digital Exhibition of Ancient Guangxi Bronze Drum Culture.” Through immersive exhibitions and performances, they enable audiences to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the historical connotations of cultural relics. By creating new advantages in the “content + platform” business form, cultural relics are given new life through dynamic interpretation, providing audiences with a brand-new museum education experience.

科技赋能，焕发教育新体验。党的二十届三中全会提出，“探索文化和科技融合的有效机制，加快发展新型文化业态”。在博物馆领域，数字技术带来了新的机遇，为博物馆传播教育提供了全新可能。比如AR、VR、AI等技术的广泛应用，让博物馆“永不闭幕”。2023年，“数字藏经洞”国内和国际版、“寻境敦煌——数字敦煌沉浸展”相继发布推出，让海内外人士通过网络就能观赏并了解敦煌莫高窟艺术的魅力。2024年5月，在希腊雅典举行的“美成天龙——天龙山石窟数字复原国际巡展”吸引了大批当地民众前来欣赏了解中国石窟艺术。广西博物馆将广西文化融合演艺、数字技术等元素，推出了多媒体舞台剧《梦见瓯骆》、“鼓动八桂 声震九州——广西古代铜鼓文化数字化陈列”展览等特色项目，通过沉浸式展演，让观众更加深入了解和感悟文物的历史内涵。通过打造“内容+平台”新业态新优势，让文物在动态演绎中获得新生，为观众提供了一种全新的博物馆教育体验。

3. Promoting the better performance of the museum’s educational function through upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground

3.以守正创新推动博物馆教育功能更好发挥

On the new journey of the New Era, to better leverage the educational function of museums, we must adhere to the correct direction, firmly establish the value concept of putting the people first, actively apply innovative achievements, strengthen cross-sector integration, continuously launch high-quality projects, and constantly meet the new needs and expectations of the people for a better life.

新时代新征程，更好发挥博物馆教育功能要坚持正确方向，牢固树立人民至上的价值理念，积极运用创新成果，强化跨界融合，持续推出优质项目，不断满足人民群众对美好生活的新需求新期待。

Rooted in the fertile soil of fine traditional Chinese culture, grasp the correct direction. The long-standing and well-established Chinese civilization embodies the deepest spiritual pursuits of the Chinese nation, represents the unique spiritual identity of the Chinese nation, provides rich nourishment for the endless continuity and development of the Chinese nation, and is an important source for cultivating contemporary Chinese values. Museums are public spaces that provide cultural products and services, and are even more so great schools and halls that provide spiritual nourishment for the public. To leverage the educational function of museums, we must adhere to a people-centered approach, take fine traditional Chinese culture as the fertile soil, cultivate deep feelings for the family and the country, invigorate the national spirit, and unite China’s strength, thereby realizing the important role of educating people through culture and cultivating people through culture. We must firmly grasp the correct orientation of public opinion, cultivate and practice the core socialist values, base our work on the museum’s collection resources, focus on the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, plan and launch a batch of high-quality exhibitions and educational brands, carry out rich, diverse, and popular educational activities, and, taking fine traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture as the foundation of strength, fully leverage the museum’s role as a front in promoting patriotic education in the New Era, civic moral construction, and cultivating new generations for the era.

植根中华优秀传统文化沃土，把握正确方向。源远流长的中华文明，积淀着中华民族最深层的精神追求，代表着中华民族独特的精神标识，为中华民族生生不息、发展壮大提供了丰厚滋养，是涵养中国当代价值的重要源泉。博物馆是提供文化产品和服务的公共空间，更是为社会公众提供精神滋养的大学校和殿堂。发挥博物馆教育功能，要坚持以人民为中心，以中华优秀传统文化为沃土，厚植家国情怀、振奋民族精神、凝聚中国力量，实现以文化人、以文育人的重要作用。要牢牢把握正确舆论导向，培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，立足馆藏资源，聚焦中华文明的突出特性，策划推出一批精品展览和教育品牌，开展丰富多彩、喜闻乐见的教育活动，以中华优秀传统文化、革命文化和社会主义先进文化为力量根基，全面发挥博物馆在推进新时代爱国主义教育、公民道德建设和培养时代新人中的阵地作用。

People-centered, expand high-quality educational products and services. Museum education must always adhere to a people-centered approach, clearly define for whom and by whom it is carried out, firmly uphold the purpose of providing high-quality cultural services to the public, and take meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal. Based on the diversity of target groups for museum education, design and carry out educational activities in a targeted manner to meet the diverse needs of different groups. With the help of digital technology and big data analysis, dynamically track and accurately match the educational needs of audiences, provide more personalized cultural products and services, and enhance the inclusive and public-welfare orientation of museum education. Strengthen the research and development and promotion of online education, share cultural knowledge, achieve widespread sharing and dissemination of cultural resources, and allow more people to enjoy high-quality museum education services.

以人民为中心，拓展高质量教育产品和服务。博物馆教育要始终坚持以人民为中心，充分明确为了谁、依靠谁，牢牢秉持为公众提供优质文化服务的宗旨，并以满足人民群众日益增长的美好生活需要为出发点和落脚点。根据博物馆教育目标群体的多样性，有针对性地设计和开展教育活动，满足不同群体的多样化需求。借助数字技术和大数据分析，动态追踪、精准匹配观众的教育需求，提供更具个性化的文化产品和服务，增强博物馆教育的普惠性、公益性导向。加强线上教育的研发和推广，分享文化知识，实现文化资源的广泛共享传播，让更多群众享受到优质的博物馆教育服务。

Deepen cooperation mechanisms, build a platform for the integrated development of museum education. On the basis of deepening museum-school cooperation, museums should strengthen the integrated development of education, promote social participation, broadly incorporate research institutions, education departments, and qualified social institutions into the museum cooperation system, fully integrate resources, optimize resource allocation, and enhance the efficiency of museum education services. Strengthen regional coordination, explore an open, co-built, and shared path for the development of museum education, and achieve integrated development across regions and departments. Strengthen the construction of the museum talent team, and through exchange and study, education and training, and other means, build a composite talent team that understands both museums and education.

深化合作机制，构建博物馆教育融合发展平台。在深化馆校合作的基础上，博物馆要加强教育融合发展，推动社会参与，将研究机构、教育部门及有条件的社会机构等广泛纳入博物馆合作体系，充分整合资源，优化资源配置，提升博物馆教育服务效能。加强区域协调，探索开放、共建、共享的博物馆教育发展道路，实现跨地域、跨部门的整合发展。加强博物馆人才队伍建设，通过交流学习、教育培训等方式，打造一支既懂博物馆又懂教育的复合型人才队伍。

Strengthen technological empowerment, promote the digital transformation of museum education. In the digital age, technological innovation and the application of cutting-edge technologies have injected new vitality into museum education. We should use technological means to combine virtual elements with real scenes, create immersive and interactive educational projects, enhance the sense of cultural participation and experience, and strengthen cultural communication power and influence. Explore new forms of museum education business, use networked, digital, and intelligent technologies and internet platforms to create richer and more diverse projects, accelerate the iteration and updating of educational products, and promote the extension of museum education into virtual space. Build a museum education platform, allowing more of the public to enjoy equal, inclusive, and convenient museum education resources, and share the fruits of cultural relic protection and utilization.

加强科技赋能，推动博物馆教育数字化转型。在数字时代，科技创新、前沿技术应用，为博物馆教育注入了新的活力。要利用科技手段，将虚拟元素与现实场景结合，打造沉浸式、互动性强的教育项目，增强文化参与感和体验感，增强文化传播力和影响力。探索新型博物馆教育业态，利用网络化、数字化、智能化技术和互联网平台创作更加丰富多元的项目，加快教育产品迭代更新，推动博物馆教育向虚拟空间延伸。打造博物馆教育平台，让更多公众享受均等、普惠、便捷的博物馆教育资源，共享文物保护利用成果。

(Author: Wang Xiaowen, Director and Research Librarian of the Liaoning Provincial Museum)

（作者：王筱雯，系辽宁省博物馆馆长、研究馆员）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧