”What happens if a whale devours you?”. Pupils’ knowledge-making in the Whaling Museum

Abstract

Each fall, seventh-graders and teachers from the Norwegian region Vestfold in south-eastern Norway are invited to the Whaling Museum for a guided tour with museum educators. In the article, approaches from actor-network theory are used to analyze learning strategies among students and how knowledge emerges in the cooperation between students, museum educators, objects and museum surroundings. Knowledge is seen as a relational and ongoing process where human and non-human actors participate and affect one another. The point of departure for the analysis is taken from the students’ explorative behaviour during the visit to the museum.