Creativity as a strategy for educational mediation in museums: a scoping review of 25 years of academic contributions

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58265/pulso.8807

Keywords:

museums, scoping review, educational mediation, creativity, teaching

Abstract

Museums, as creative and cultural spaces, have evolved from being merely exhibition spaces to becoming cultural institutions with a clear educational and social role. In this context, “creativity” has been regarded as a central strategy of educational mediation for generating meaningful experiences, fostering audience participation, and promoting innovation in learning processes within museum settings. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature in order to identify and analyse the activities and strategies of educational mediation that museums themselves associate with the concept of “creativity”. To this end, a scoping review methodology is employed, following the PRISMA protocol and including publications from the beginning of the 21st century. The findings provide a structured and in-depth understanding of how creativity is conceptualised in scientific publications related to educational mediation in museums. The study concludes by identifying new questions as promising directions for future research linked to creativity in pedagogical practices in museums.

Author Biographies

  • Nerea Rodríguez-Suárez, Universidade da Coruña

    PhD student in Equity and Innovation in Education. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis linked to the spin-off Artefacto-Arteducación S.L., focusing on the analysis, design and systematisation of a cultural mediation model. After graduating in Early Childhood Education in 2019 from the University of A Coruña, she developed a scientific interest in children's literature as a resource for cultural mediation and dissemination for social improvement, with a focus on gender perspective. This research focus was consolidated with a Master's Degree in Research and Innovation in Specific Didactics for Early Childhood and Primary Education (2020) at the same university, specialising in the innovation of cultural revitalisation strategies through artistic mediation in various cultural institutions. She has a track record in the cultural sector that began in 2013 through collaboration with Civic Centres and the Municipal Service of the Public Library Network of A Coruña, participating since then in various social and cultural intervention programmes.

  • Carla Álvarez-Barrio, Universidade da Coruña

    PhD student in Equity and Innovation in Education, graduate in Early Childhood Education (2019) and holder of a Master's Degree in Specific Didactics (2020) with Special Honours (2021) from the University of A Coruña. In 2023, she became a pre-doctoral researcher at the UDC through the Ministry of Education's FPU (University Teacher Training) programme. Her doctoral thesis seeks to focus on contemporary artistic processes for children's human rights, from a protest perspective. Her lines of research intertwine artistic and activist experiences prompted by her previous participation and militancy in various student, LGBTQ+ and feminist organisations with the performance of anonymous subversive actions in public spaces.

  • Juan Luis Lorenzo-Otero, Universidade da Coruña

    PhD in History, Geography and Art History (specialising in Art History) from the University of Santiago de Compostela with the work "Rockstar Games. Innovation, research and intermediation in the art of videogames". Graduate in Art History from the University of Santiago de Compostela and Master's Degree in Heritage, Museum and Art Market Management from the University of Santiago de Compostela and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Curator of the exhibition Autómatas do Consumo (Consumer Automata) at the El Taller Gallery (Santiago de Compostela). His main lines of work focus on iconic mass culture through three main axes: 1) visual studies of video games and serious games, 2) aesthetics of comics and manga, and 3) heritage and educational culture.

  • José María Mesías-Lema, Universidade da Coruña

    Full Professor at the Faculty of Education Sciences at the UDC. Doctorate in Visual Arts and Education from the University of Granada. Director of the research group www.arte-facto.org (The Art of Teaching). Lecturer at more than 100 national teacher training conferences and guest speaker at international conferences in Buenos Aires (2006), Frankfurt (2007), Valencia (2007), Beja-Portugal (2008), Barcelona (2008), Vitoria-Brazil (2013), Lisbon (2015), Badajoz, Braga and Lekeitio (2017), Seville (2018), Aspe (2019), Granada, Castellón, Tegucigalpa-Honduras, Montevideo (2020), San Juan de Puerto Rico, Seville, Almería, (2021), Madrid, San Carlos-Brazil, Valencia and Tarragona (2022). His artistic work ranges from illustrated albums to photography and graphic design, and he has illustrated more than 50 magazine and book covers. He has curated 10 exhibitions in different cultural institutions and museums: CGAC-Galician Centre for Contemporary Art, MAC-Museum of Contemporary Art, NORMAL, Ágora, Luís Seoane Foundation.

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2026-07-17

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Avance - Núm. 49 (2026)

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How to Cite

Rodríguez-Suárez, N., Álvarez-Barrio, C., Lorenzo-Otero, J. L., & Mesías-Lema, J. M. (2026). Creativity as a strategy for educational mediation in museums: a scoping review of 25 years of academic contributions. Pulso. Revista De educación, 49, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.58265/pulso.8807