Our Positions

For more than 40 years, Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) has been a leader in creating innovative, diverse and impactful learning experiences. The organization developed a series of position papers in an institution-wide initiative to identify and examine important issues with the goal of creating institutional policies that support the work of staff.

This ongoing and evolving process strives to create institutional policies that support and guide the work of staff based upon CCM’s child-centered philosophies – our mission, vision and best practices in the field.

Explore Our Positions by Topic

• Active Play

• Arts

• Corporate Engagement

• Diversity

• Environmental Sustainability (NEW!)

• Learning

• Play

• Role of the Adult

• Science

• Technology

About The Position Paper Project

The Position Paper Project is a reflection of our unique culture and an example of the commitment of CCM staff to our organization’s mission and vision. Team members spend countless hours researching and gathering information to develop a comprehensive position on these major issues. They draw upon academic and field research and gather input from external experts, consultants, and CCM’s Board of Advisors. These key insights are combined with staff’s first-hand experiences and observations as museum and education professionals, balancing passion for our mission with objective intellectual rigor.

Our position papers:

• Establish institution-wide decision-making criteria.

• Sanction and encourage innovation and change in the face of new research that may impact the well-being of children, families and all adult caregivers.

• Build institutional capacity to develop new ideas and partnerships.

• Encourage meaningful, lively and ongoing discussions between staff and management.

• Serve as a model for other institutions in our field.

CCM continues to grow, evolve, and play, and with new experiences will come new position papers to share with the entire museum field.