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History of Wakanheza

    “I hate to say this, but when we first started this project, it was one of those things I did because my boss told me to. But as we started to integrate the principles into our work and our department, I saw the power of the program. The principles highlight everything we want our customer service to be–empathetic, non-judgmental and supportive. I have seen a definite culture change in our department in the years since we started this program.”
– Jessica Turgeon, visitor services manager at Minnesota Children's Museum

Supporting Parents in Public at Minnesota Children’s Museum

Minnesota Children’s Museum’s work on this project began with a web search for local resources. Museum managers were looking to develop some expertise in how to train staff to deal with escalating and potentially abusive interactions between adults and children. These serious incidents are extremely rare, but one tense situation sent the staff on the search for answers. Luckily, the Museum’s first contact was with officials of Ramsey County’s Department of Public Health.

Working with the Initiative for Peaceful Families and Communities in Ramsey County, the Department of Public Health had a new program focused on encouraging public places to be more welcoming and supportive family spaces.  This approach started with early intervention and assistance during difficult family situations, as opposed to a typical crisis-response approach.  The techniques were very simple but extremely effective. They called the program “Wakanheza.”

Workshop Development

After initial meetings between Ramsey County and Museum staff, it was clear that this program was exactly what the Museum was looking for.  The Museum didn’t need to have social workers or violence prevention specialists on staff.  What the Museum could do is provide additional resources to the frontline staff so that they had the tools to assist families during difficult situations, and even prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place.  The program had two main objectives: to help individuals step into difficult situations in positive ways, and to help organizations look at the ways that they could be more family-friendly.  The Wakanheza Project was in its infancy, and provided the raw material for the County and Museum to develop museum-specific training sessions.

An internal Wakanheza Team was created that included frontline and management staff. This team not only developed materials for the workshop, including a power point presentation and a facilitator guide but looked for ways to encourage staff to come up with improvements for the families that visit the Museum. The workshops have been well-received by attendees, and workshop evaluations consistently show improved comfort and knowledge on how to handle difficult situations.

Long-Term Benefits

There has been a definite culture change as the Museum has truly embedded the principles into the everyday work of running a museum.  Visitor comments about staff interactions are increasingly positive, and staff are more positive because they not only understand where parents are coming from, but they feel equipped to handle any situation that comes up.

“Confidence in difficult situations is what I see from our frontline employees and volunteers who have participated in a Wakanheza workshop.  We want everyone who visits Minnesota Children's Museum to have a fun, positive experience, but we recognize that parenting in public can be stressful.  The simple intervention techniques we learned through Wakanheza allow our staff to help when our visitors need it the most and turn negative experiences into positive ones."

– Jay Haapala, volunteer services manager at Minnesota Children's Museum

Additionally, frontline staff have implemented simple ideas to make challenging spaces within the Museum more family-friendly.  Toys are now kept out in the lobby so that children are occupied while families wait to buy tickets, or for one last chance to play on the way out.  These simple changes have made a world of difference to the families visiting the Museum.

In May 2006, Minnesota Children's Museum received the MetLife Foundation Promising Practice Award from the Association of Children’s Museums.  In May 2007, Minnesota Children’s Museum received the MetLife Foundation Promising Practice Replication Award.  This award allows the Museum to share this program with other children’s museums across the country.