Exploring Educators’ Perceptions and Needs Around Teaching Women’s History
Client: Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative | Location: Washington, DC
We explored educators’ perceptions and needs around teaching women’s history in a variety of formal and informal educational settings.
OVERVIEW
In 2022, we partnered with the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative (AWHI) to explore educators’ perceptions and needs around teaching women’s history in a variety of settings. AWHI works with other Smithsonian museums to create resources for educators that amplify women's stories to tell a more complete American history, reach a diverse audience, and empower and inspire people from all walks of life.
Our audience research was focused on helping AWHI understand how educators teach women’s history and where they may need support and resources to teach it in a more effective and inclusive way.
APPROACH
We designed an audience research study using two methods–focus groups and a standardized survey. The focus groups provided rich, descriptive data from educators who teach women’s history in a variety of settings, and the language they used to describe their experiences was used to inform the development of a standardized survey that was sent to a larger group of educators who teach women’s history. We also presented and facilitated a reflection on the findings with staff across the Smithsonian to help inform strategic next steps for AWHI to consider when developing resources for educators.
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
We found that many of AWHI’s existing resources for educators align well with their needs for teaching women’s history but that the awareness and use of these resources is geographically limited. Educators expressed their need for resources that they can integrate holistically into lessons, “normalizing” the inclusion of women alongside men in their curriculum, especially those whose stories have typically been underrepresented throughout history (e.g., women of color, disabled women, LGBTQ women). They described ideal resources as trusted primary sources that spark students’ interest in further exploration of a topic or individual and those that are in easily digestible formats searchable by grade level, time period, and subject or theme (e.g., videos, visual primary resources).
AWHI realized that many of their resources align with what educators need to teach women’s history but that creating more awareness of these resources among educators was essential for a Smithsonian entity that serves a broad public. During reflections with other Smithsonian educators, AWHI and their colleagues brainstormed several strategic next steps for broadening the use of its resources, including local and regional models for collaborating with their women’s history colleagues and the educators they serve across the country.
