Collage as Reflective Practice

Abstract

This article examines how pupils engage with difficult history through creative, affective, and relational processes in museum-based learning. Drawing on a series of educational workshops conducted at former internment, concentration, and forced-labor sites, the study explores how pupils encountered narratives of war, persecution, and resistance, and how they made sense of these histories in practice. Rather than approaching learning as the achievement of historical knowledge alone, the article focuses on how meaning emerged through emotions, social interaction, and creative work. The study draws on theories of aesthetic experience, museum learning, performative space, and relational meaning-making. Together, these approaches frame the museum as a relational learning environment where meaning emerges through the interaction of bodies, materials, emotions, and place. Methodologically, the study combines participant observation, reflection circles, and analysis of student-produced artifacts. Through the findings, we argue that creative methods, particularly collage-making, support inclusive museum learning by legitimizing diverse emotional responses and offering accessible ways for pupils to engage with emotionally challenging heritage.