The Role of Museums in Art and Design History and Education of Elementary School Students with Special Educational Needs in New York City.

  ABSTRACT: Museums are generally conceived as spaces for the preservation of tangible and intangible heritages. While this is true, museums also serve purposeful educational roles with programs that are not often configured like those of conventional educational institutions. This important educational function of museums is often overlooked, although they serve unique roles that compliment those of educational institutions, sometimes providing structured contents for target student populations. This research examines how museums collaborate to provide art history and education content for students with special educational needs. It adopts students attending an elementary school, and selected students visits to a museum in New York city as its sample population. The findings show how elementary school pupils use museum contents, and the synergy that exists between museum education and educational institutions in New York city. It concludes by recommending other dimensions of collaboration possible between museums and educational institutions for the educational benefits of students with special education needs in New York city.

Keywords: Art and Design History, Museum Education, Special Education