RESEARCH REPORT FOR MUSEUM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SKILLS AND HIGHER EDUCATION NEEDS IN CHINA AUGUST, 2016 Research Report For Museum Professional Development Skills Project Name and Higher Education Needs in China Project Delivery Period August Commissioned by The British Council China Museology Department of the Minzu University of China, Researcher Research Centre for Multi-Culture 1 1 | P a g e CONTENTS 1. Research Methodologies, Relevant concepts , terminologies and explanations .......................................................................................................... 3 2. An Overview of the Development of Museums in China: Facts and Analysis ................................................................................................................. 6 3. Relevant policies, the environment and institutional setting ................. 10 A) The overall trend ........................................................................................... 10 B) Analysis on the industry’s top priorities, strategy and investment trends .............................................................................................................................. 11 C) Current issues and deficiencies in museum construction and development ....................................................................................................... 16 D) The analysis of the museum’s development strategies and trend ....... 17 4．Analysis on the Demand for Higher Education in Museology and Related Disciplines ............................................................................................ 19 （A) Students profiles and the universities ‘courses .................................... 19 (B) Analysis on current issues within Museology Higher Education and Training ................................................................................................................ 23 (C) Analysis on Strategic Development and Trends Prediction .............. 25 5．Professional Development Needs within the Museum Industry ........... 27 （A) An overview ............................................................................................... 27 (B) A Preliminary Analysis of Museum Leadership Statistics ..................... 27 （C）Museum staffing and on-the-job training ............................................. 29 (D) Vocational Skills Training ........................................................................... 31 (E). Current Issues in Talent Management and Professional Training ..... 32 6．Summary ....................................................................................................... 33 2 2 | P a g e 1. Research Methodologies, Relevant concepts , terminologies and explanations Research Methodologies and Data Access Methodologies: the research methodology in the report was a combined one between the qualitative and quantitative research. Questionnaires: the research team made two sets of questionnaires: survey for Museum professional training and for university students studies the museum studies related subjects. Interview: The interviewees included the senior officials of the Chinese Museums Association, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage( museum section, education section),the Museum director or deputy director from Hunan Provincial Museum, Capital Museum, Shanghai Museum, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Shanxi Museum, Henan Museum, National Museum of Chinese Writing, Guangdong Museum, The Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangxi Museum of Nationalities, Shandong Museum, Xichuan Museum, Suzhou Museum, etc. Data Access: Quantitative data, mainly from 2009-2012 grade one national museum evaluation report and qualitative data from the database, 2013, 2014, 2015 SACH annual statistics report, annual report of “8+3” museum. Concepts and Terminologies The English word museum has broad connotations that include zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, planetariums, etc. However, the definition is rather different in China. Due to historical reasons, and different administrative systems in the past, the Chinese usage of the word "museum", "Museum of Art", "Science and Technology Museum" (or Technology Centre), can be rather different. Zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums, by definition, are not museums. Museum:The "Museum Regulations” proposed in 2015 defines museums and their scope in Chapter 1, Article 2: 3 3 | P a g e • “Museums as defined in these regulations are legally registered non-profit organisations that serve the purposes of education, research, heritage appreciation, collection and preservation of artefacts, and exhibit to the general public proof of human activities and the natural environment.” Chapter 6 Supplementary regulations specify that “museums do not include venues for displaying and educating the general public about science and technology. Museums administered by the People's Liberation Army are managed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the army.” State-owned and non-state-owned museums: Museums include both state-owned and non-state-owned ones. State-owned museums are established with state-owned assets or predominantly with state-owned assets. Likewise, those established with non-state-owned assets, or predominantly with non-state-owned assets are regarded as non-state-owned museums. Art Gallery: It is called art gallery or art museum, which refers to an institution that owns and displays a collection of contemporary art works. Besides China’s Association of Museums, the Association of Art Museums enjoys equal status and all members are art galleries. Science and Technology centre:, including the Science and Technology Centres belong to venues for popular science. There are no permanent collections. The emphasis is on the display of "technological principles" rather than “authenticity”. Therefore, most of these science and technology centres have not been included in the ranks of museums. Besides the China Association of Museums, there exists another parallel organisation called China Association of Natural Science Museums, the members mainly are Science and technology centre and natural science museums. Museums’ Grades. Since the beginning of 2009, museums nationwide have been divided into 3 grades, through application and assessment, ranking from high to low with grade one being the highest, and three, the lowest. At present, there are 96 grade-one museums, and less than 900 grade-2 and grade-3 museums. 4 4 | P a g e Museums’ Administrative Ranks: Museums are administered by the state in accordance with the ranking system of government organisations. The ranks (from high to low) include the vice-ministerial level (The Palace Museum and the National Museum of China, for example, are vice-ministerial level museums), the bureau level, division level, section level, etc. The museums rank accordingly, with national museums at the top level, followed by museums under relevant ministries and industry sectors, down to museums under the jurisdiction of provinces, municipalities and counties. Museums are granted authority in accordance with their levels and rankings. For instance, museums at the bureau level would enjoy independent authority of personnel appointments, a financial budget and the right to set up divisional level institutions. Large-scale museums: which refer to museums that occupy over 20,000 square metres in construction area.Super Large scale Museums: Museums with building area of over 40,000 square metres are referred to as super large scale museums. “8 + 3 museums”: which refers to the state and local authorities having jointly funded the construction of high standard museums, with eight being “officially appointed” and another three that received strong backing from the national and local government. The eight officially appointed museums are the Shanghai Museum, Zhejiang Provincial Museum, Nanjing Provincial Museum, Hunan Provincial Museum, Hubei Provincial Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Henan Provincial Museum. The three strongly supported museums are Chongqing Three Gorges Museum of China, Shanxi Provincial Museum, and the Capital Museum. 5 5 | P a g e 2. An Overview of the Development of Museums in China: Facts and Analysis China’s museum industry entered the 21st Century with accelerated growth, it became an era when museums flourished. From 2002 to 2015, the annual increase amounts to some 300 new museums, according to SACH’s statistics.1. Table 1 Number of museums between 1905-2015 1905 1937 1949 1966 1978 1980 1991 2000 8 147 21 214 349 407 1215 1397 2004 2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1548 2300 3145 3489 3789 3866 4165 4510 Table 2 Histogram - increase in the number of museums between 1905-2015 1 The statistics in this report are all referring to the SACH and the Chinese Museum Association’s official data. 6 6 | P a g e museum statistics 1905-2015 6000 4000 2000 0 1980 1937 1949 1965 1978 1991 2001 2004 2005 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1905 Source: China Association of Museums and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage Board official statistics Characteristics of a prospering museum industry in China: 1 ) 1950 - 60 saw the completion of brand new provincial level museums, with some provinces completing even the second round of new museum construction (e.g. the Shandong Provincial Museum, Liaoning Provincial Museum, Museum of Jilin Province, etc.). 2) There has been a rapid growth of small and medium sized museums. Since 2005, some 300 new museums have emerged each year.