Education on the history of slavery in museums: there is no learning without emotions

Led by the current aims of museum decolonization and the Dutch government’s goal to improve education on the history of slavery, the present study investigated the effects of slavery-related exhibits’ labels on museum visitors’ emotions and learning. 63 participants were recruited in the Rijks Museum and asked to look at three paintings under one of three label conditions: old labels (designed to guide visitors’ view), new labels (providing slavery-related historical context), and no labels (control condition). Eye-tracking, questionnaire, and interview data were collected. The labels did not seem to have a measurable effect on visitors’ learning, as no differences in label echoing and the number of history and slavery related words spoken during the interview between participants in different conditions could be observed. Moreover, participants in the new and no label condition displayed an increase in positive emotions. There were no changes in negative emotions across conditions....Show moreLed by the current aims of museum decolonization and the Dutch government’s goal to improve education on the history of slavery, the present study investigated the effects of slavery-related exhibits’ labels on museum visitors’ emotions and learning. 63 participants were recruited in the Rijks Museum and asked to look at three paintings under one of three label conditions: old labels (designed to guide visitors’ view), new labels (providing slavery-related historical context), and no labels (control condition). Eye-tracking, questionnaire, and interview data were collected. The labels did not seem to have a measurable effect on visitors’ learning, as no differences in label echoing and the number of history and slavery related words spoken during the interview between participants in different conditions could be observed. Moreover, participants in the new and no label condition displayed an increase in positive emotions. There were no changes in negative emotions across conditions. Overall, the differences in emotional changes between conditions were not significant, suggesting that labels did not have a measurable effect on emotions. Eye-tracking data suggested that participants did not find one type of label more engaging. By combining multiple types of data, the present study provides elaborate and complex insights about the challenges that museums face when addressing slavery-related topics.Show less

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Education on the history of slavery in museums: there is no learning without emotions