We have been discussing the value of informal spaces for science learning and how it allows for science to become accessible. But, in reality, there isn’t always equal opportunity for learning because not all informal institutions make a significant effort to incorporate the participation of diverse communities. Many factors – including socioeconomic, ethnic, and historical factors – influence the way people learn and interact with these learning spaces.

This is an important issue not just for science learning, but for learning in general as well. In high school, we learned about the Summer Reading Gap and how people who are economically disadvantaged are not presented with equal opportunities during the summertime. And while some of them outperform the more wealthy groups during the school year, during the summertime they do not have the same learning opportunities and fall behind. This connects with the informal learning environment, as many of these same groups do not feel included in these learning spaces. The main problem with the way people are choosing to remedy the situation is that they believe that simply providing access to non-dominant groups of learners will foster an equal learning experience. But this is not the case. Learning experiences are designed using the socioeconomic and cultural lens of dominant groups in order to appeal to these dominant groups. The example that is given is that the exhibition labels are sometimes written only in English, which puts foreign speakers at a disadvantage.  Not only do they feel disadvantaged while at the museums, many of them also feel unwelcome and choose not to come at all.

Especially when there is a growing community, it is important to cater to their needs and ways of interacting with learning. Kudos goes to the Children’s Discovery Museum who launched an initiative to try to better understand San Jose’s Vietnamese community in order to be able to better integrate them into the learning experience. By studying the communities, they don’t just make it easier for these groups to enter the museum, but find ways to appeal to the groups and enhance their learning experiences while there. Building relationships with the Vietnamese community not only helps with design and planning but also shows that the museum cares about their needs. This helps to create a welcoming atmosphere and shows that their presence at these institutions is valued.

The chapter emphasized the importance of formulating a deeper understanding of the needs of various non-dominant groups. The two solutions that are proposed are to focus on making the designing process of informal environments be a collaborative effort with communities, and to make sure that the design reflects diversity by integrating the interests of these communities.

When I traveled to Spain this summer I visited the Naval Museum in Madrid and experienced firsthand how detrimental it is to not understand the labels in the exhibition. The museum labels are in Spanish as they do not expect many tourists to visit, and while the museum was beautiful, unique, and interesting, it was very difficult to understand the importance of the artifacts in the exhibitions. Even though I have been learning Spanish, it was extremely difficult to be able to translate what was written since I did not learn maritime Spanish vocabulary in school. This highlights the importance of breaking through the language barrier in these informal institutions and I really do believe that more should be done to overcome this, and other, obstacles to learning.