Museum is one of the cultural hubs of any nation. It is the store house of cultural artifacts, a reservoir of historical faiths. It is a place where objects of historical and cultural value are kept for study, research and exhibited for public view and entertainment. Museum is not just a place of fun, it is an institution of cultural study and research. It is also an agent of socialization. It consists of many departments or organs that play complementary roles to achieve the core objective of preserving our rich cultural heritage.
The education department is one of the most strategic organs of the museum. Its core mandate is to inform and educate the public about various aspects of our culture. The museum educators and tour guides are the first contact point to museum visitors. They are mainly stationed in the exhibit gallery. They usually welcome visitors into the exhibit gallery and take them round the exhibition in collaboration with the tour guides. Without the museum educators and the tour guide, the museum remains a mere store house, a dumpsite of cultural objects. The museum educators/tour guides are the custodians of the information about the objects on display. They interpret the research findings by the researchers and archaeologists, bringing out the cultural value of these objects. The average museum visitors seeing the objects at the exhibition gallery at first may not know their importance, their usage or users. This information is at the fingertips of the museum educators/tour guides. This they carefully explain to the visitors.
Apart from this, the museum educators take the cultural knowledge to the towns and villages. They organize trainings, seminars and workshops. They visit schools and teach pupils and students how to make gift items such as hand fans, cups, mats, pots (pottery) using clay or meters. Many people see and use bronze and ivory materials, but are not aware of the processes of their production and their cultural and historical value. It is the work/duty of the museum educators to bring all these to their knowledge. There are some objects that are used only by certain class of people, while some others are used by the general populace/public. Also, there are some objects that are tied to specific festivals or ceremonies. All this information needs to be made available to visitors and the onus lies on the museum educators/tour guides. Apart from operating at the exhibit galleries, the museum educators/tour guides lead visitors to monuments and sites outside the museum. They are the museum ambassadors and instruments of cultural transformation. They package and showcase various aspects of our culture. They are involved in drama, songs and dance. Through these media, they help in creating positive awareness on the people. They are also at the forefront of reviving some of our ailing cultural festivals and values and norms. Many youths today have lost touch with most of our customs and traditions. They now brand our songs and dance as old schools and out of fashion. Our traditional dressing code is now seen as a plague to youths of today. As they visit museum, the museum educators make it a duty to educate and enlighten them about the need to value our culture. Many get convinced and are encouraged and embrace them.
In this era of high moral decadence, the museum is at the forefront of advocacy and enlightenment. They reach out to the public with the message of honesty, transparency, accountability, hard work commitment and loyalty. These are the things really lacking in our world today and have led to the level of societal decay we are currently facing. The museum educators act as useful agents of change. They organize talk shows and talent hunts; they visit schools and organize/establish school clubs such as war against cultism (anti-cultism) club, anti-corruption, anti-prostitution, girl-child empowerment clubs, etc. Through these clubs the officers educate and sensitize members. Their meeting is a window to access new socio-cultural horizon. New friends are made; new connections are also cultivated. The cultural world is dynamic and new innovations come up every now and then. New awareness is made. The educators are exposed to national and international seminars where they are well equipped with updated knowledge which they impart on museum visitors and the public.
