Iowa Museum Association Receives National Endowment for the Humanities Grant



The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a "Creating Humanities Communities" grant to the Iowa Museum Association (IMA), a statewide organization serving all Iowa museums.   

The grant was awarded for the IMA's project entitled "Teaching Iowa History." The project will support the recommendations made by the Iowa History Advisory Council in "Recommendations to Create a Systemic Approach to Improving the Teaching and Learning of Iowa History in Iowa’s K12 Schools" (August 2016).

Teaching Iowa History will work with Iowa's museums to collect Iowa history stories and images of artifacts and primary resources.  The project will work with the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa History Center at Simpson College, and Graceland University to transform those resources into text sets and lesson plans to support teaching to the new Iowa Social Studies Standards.

Cyndi Sweet, Executive Director of the Iowa Museum Association, said "We want Iowa teachers to have access to Iowa history content and primary resources and to know what resources are available at their local museum. We will reach out to Iowa museums, and to Iowa historians, local historians, and subject matter experts statewide to work with us on this project."

Stefanie Wager, Social Studies Consultant for the Iowa Department of Education said, “The teaching and learning of Iowa history has long been an afterthought in our state.  There are very few student and teacher resources that exist in order to help teachers teach, and students learn, Iowa history.  The Iowa Museum Association has recognized this gap and is working to close it.”

Wager went on to say, "We agree that personal stories and authentic artifacts evoke powerful emotional responses that enable deeper learning and will enable students to make connections across their varied curriculum.  This is an important initiative which will produce educators able to better teach Iowa's rich history, museums better connected to the educators in their counties, and students with a greater understanding of historical events from the perspective of their community."

The IMA's major grant partner is the University of Northern Iowa.  The University of Northern Iowa has long been recognized as Iowa’s leading teacher education university.  As a major partner with the Iowa Museum Association on “Teaching Iowa History”, UNI students in public history, geography, and education will be deeply involved with the project.

Mark Nook, President of the University of Northern Iowa said, "The University of Northern Iowa has the largest teacher education program in Iowa and a long-standing reputation for high quality programs.  We are fully committed to the success of “Teaching Iowa History” and bring institutional resources and expertise in content development, teacher preparation, and professional development.  In collaboration with the other project partners, faculty and students in UNI's Departments of History and Geography and the Social Science and History Education Program will develop new secondary level curriculum content that will be responsive to the unique needs of Iowa schools and supportive of continuous improvement."

Teaching Iowa History brings into partnership the members of the Iowa Museum Association, and historians and educators at the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa History Center at Simpson College to collect and vet historical content, and create teaching resources to assist teachers K-12 in meeting the new standards.  The project includes the development of a professional development template for teacher education.

In addition to the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa History Center at Simpson College, grant partners and supporters include Graceland University, Geographic Alliance of Iowa, Iowa Public Television, The World Food Prize, Heartland Area Education Agency, the Iowa Department of Education, and a wide array of stakeholders.

William Friedricks, Director of the Iowa History Center at Simpson College said, "The Iowa History Center at Simpson College was created in 2006 to advance the understanding and appreciation of Iowa history among our state's students, scholars, and the general public.  We are thrilled about the addition of Iowa history to the state's K-12 social studies standards and pleased to commit to providing funds and participating in the “Teaching Iowa History” grant, designed to create accessible Iowa history content and develop materials to help Iowa teachers in integrating state history into their classrooms."

Dr. Tom Morain, Graceland University, and former administrator of the State Historical Society of Iowa, was an early supporter of this project.  Graceland University will provide critical assessment of K-12 teacher tools developed by the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa History Center at Simpson College by modeling and testing the tools in classroom settings.  In addition, through the "Teaching Iowa History" grant, Graceland will be able to provide support for Iowa History Day, an opportunity for students to conduct extensive research related to an annual theme and present their findings.  Students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and improve their reading, writing, and research skills.

Cynthia Sweet, Executive Director of the Iowa Museum Association, said, “Teaching Iowa History” will make a difference for museums, teachers, and students, providing accessible history and professional development that connects stakeholders and supports Iowa Department of Education goals.  Creating connections between public school and museum educators will enhance lessons provided in both classrooms and active learning environments and build community across Iowa history related organizations for collaboration, partnership, and student benefits.”

For more information about “Teaching Iowa History”, visit www.iowamuseums.org or contact the Iowa Museum Association at email: [email protected].  

The Iowa Museum Association's “Teaching Iowa History" project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by the project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.


ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

ABOUT THE IOWA MUSEUM ASSOCIATION
Created in 1976, the Iowa Museum Association, is a non-profit organization and is the only Iowa organization providing professional development for museum staff and volunteers, advocacy on behalf of all museums, and providing a statewide communication network in order to build a strong community of museums in Iowa.  

Iowa’s approximately 400 museums include arboretums, archives, art centers, art museums, aquariums, botanical gardens, children’s museums, cultural centers, ethnic museums, historic cemeteries, history museums, historic sites, historical societies, historic theaters, living history sites, military museums, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, presidential libraries, science centers, sports museums, university museums and zoos.  While these organizations are different in many ways, they are all educational collecting organizations, providing careful stewardship of those collections for future generations, and offering educational opportunities for all ages.  

ABOUT SIMPSON COLLEGE
Simpson College, located in Indianola, Iowa, offers more than 80 majors and minors on an 85-acre campus.  Founded in 1860, Simpson College is a United Methodist related, independent, undergraduate, co-educational liberal-arts college serving 1,700 students.

ABOUT GRACELAND UNIVERSITY
Graceland University, established in 1895, is a private, four-year, liberal arts university. Graceland offers over 40 academic programs including three master's degrees and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Located in Lamoni and Independence, Missouri, Graceland has been a pioneer in distance learning opportunities.