Learning through colonial inheritances

: Decolonisation in the practice and experience of museum learning staff

Abstract

Although several sources argue for the positive impact of contemporary decolonisation discourses on museums, it is unclear how the museum workforce experience the realities of decolonisation in practice. An understanding of the experiences of non-collections staff who engage with museum audiences is particularly limited. Indeed, the perspectives of staff in learning and engagement have been underrepresented in critical museum studies more generally. This thesis is an organisational ethnography of the experiences of such museum workers, examining how they understand decolonisation and the immediate realities of implementing it in their practices.
This research is founded on the experiences of the learning and engagement staff in two London-based museums in 2023: the Visitor Experience team at Wellcome Collection and the Formal Learning team at Horniman Museum and Gardens. Data was collected using participant-observation, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Using assemblage theory and practice theory, the research situates museum learning work within organisational, societal and historical contexts to elucidate how decolonisation is interpreted and enacted (Nicolini 2012). It applies decolonial theory and memory studies to understand decolonisation as a negotiation of colonial inheritances (Fanon 2004, Simon 2011).
The comparisons between the teams’ sheds light on the situational factors that affect the incorporation (and the negation) of decolonisation. The findings of this research are threefold. First, the thesis reveals how museum learning practitioners adapted decolonial practice into their work, informed by their own perceptions of audience needs and expectations. Critically, it identifies the conflicts between the priorities of museum learning and decolonial practice, and how staff navigate between these. Second, in keeping with documented wider reflections from other practitioners in the sector, the research shows that learning and engagement staff identified organisational structures as key in enabling or limiting decolonial work. The research finds that staff felt deeply affected by entrenched professional hierarchies, which negatively impacted their inclusion in decolonial projects. Finally, the research also provides insight into how personal and organisational responsibilities for engaging (or disengaging) with decolonisation impact the perpetuity of colonial legacies of museums. The findings of this research reveal the complex interplay between broader constructs of decolonisation, perspectives of staff towards their work, and their relationship to their organisations which determines how decolonisation is enacted. Therefore, the research contributes to ongoing discussions in museum studies and practice on what decolonisation means in the everyday, by centring the perspectives of staff who are key in engaging museum audiences with this work.

Date of Award	Feb 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton
Supervisor	Claire Wintle (Supervisor), Helen Johnson (Supervisor) & Helen Mears (Supervisor)