Defining informal settings through narrative of personal experience: aquariums as unique venues for learning

Abstract

Natural history museums, art galleries, zoos, botanical gardens and other museum-type venues are commonly and collectively identified as "informal settings" by many researchers, practitioners, and educators. Although all of these spaces share common characteristics, each of them possesses particular features that make each kind of educational venue unique and different from the others. In this paper the author explores how the adult members of visiting family groups perceive and define different types of informal settings through a narrative analysis of visitors’ reconstruction and reflection upon a recent visit to the Vancouver Aquarium. As part of the analysis, visitors’ narratives are located within the larger discourse within most informal settings operate in current times.