A dramatic increase in interest, world wide, in the educational role of galleries and museums has occurred in the past decade. This results in part from a rekindling of the debate about their purpose and effectiveness - whether as public institutions founded with educational intentions, or as private foundations with an educational interest. While diverse informal learning opportunities and more structured education programmes have multiplied as a consequence, and networks have been established for sharing ideas, the need for a more substantial and sustained approach to research-informed practice has become evident. Since the educational issues involved cut across national and cultural boundaries, there is an opportunity for education providers, and for those who organise their training programmes, to record and to build upon the most enlightened practice. To achieve that there is a need for an international research resource. Researching Visual Arts Education in Museums and Galleries brings together case studies from Europe, Asia and North America, in a way that will lay a foundation for international co-operation in the future development and communication of practice-based research. The research in each of the cases directly stems from educational practice in very particular contexts, indicating at once the variety and detail of practitioners' concerns and their common interests.
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