What’s Museum Links?

Museum Links is a project that connects young people and their teachers to the rich resources of museums and heritage in Thai society. We believe that learning history and culture should not be confined to the classroom alone but should come from direct experiences in real places — filled with stories, experiences, and memories — whether in museums, communities, temples, or cultural landscapes.

By engaging with museum objects and local heritage, we invite students to explore, ask questions, and build their understanding of the past, present, and future. This approach brings history to life and makes it more meaningful. The work of Museum Links is committed to supporting teachers in designing creative learning activities.

Theory and Approaches

We believe that students learn best when they actively engage in the learning process and connect with real places and people. They observe, document, and reflect on their surroundings, guided by the following key concepts.

• Place-Based Education: Place-based education focuses on using the local community and environment as starting points for teaching and learning. Instead of learning about abstract or distant examples, students explore the history, culture, and natural surroundings where they live. This supports sustainability and cultural awareness, encourages responsibility toward their communities, and makes learning meaningful.

• Constructivist Learning: Constructivist learning is based on the belief that learners construct their own knowledge by connecting new information with what they already know and through their experiences. It recognises that learners arrive with diverse perspectives and learn through doing. This helps museums design exhibits and activities that invite participation and reflection and supports inclusive and personalised learning.

• Inquiry-Based Learning: Inquiry-based learning puts students’ questions at the centre of the learning process. Instead of giving students all the answers, teachers and facilitators guide them to investigate, experiment, and find answers themselves. This builds critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration while fostering lifelong learning habits.

Collaboration

At the heart of Museum Links is collaboration — between museums, schools, communities, and the students themselves. We work closely with teachers to co-design activities that fit the school’s needs and local context. We also highlight the important role of elders and community members as knowledge holders, who share their memories, stories, and wisdom with younger generations.

This kind of co-curation — creating learning experiences together with schools and communities — helps students feel connected to their history and proud of their heritage. It also shows how learning is a shared journey, where everyone contributes and everyone learns.

Reference

Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2016). The museum experience revisited. Routledge.

Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (Eds.). (2014). Place-based education in the global age: Local diversity. Routledge.

Pedaste, M., Mäeots, M., Siiman, L. A., De Jong, T., Van Riesen, S. A. N., Kamp, E. T., Manoli, C. C., Zacharia, Z. C., & Tsourlidaki, E. (2015). Phases of inquiry-based learning: Definitions and the inquiry cycle. Educational Research Review, 14, 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.02.003

Sobel, D. (2014). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms and communities. Orion Society.

Yemini, M., Engel, L., & Ben Simon, A. (2025). Place-based education – a systematic review of literature. Educational Review, 77(2), 640–660. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2023.2177260