Durmus, Ceyda; Guvelioglu, Elif

This exploratory qualitative study examines how pre-service early childhood education (ECE) teachers in Türkiye engage with museums as informal learning environments. Twenty-nine undergraduates completed a course-embedded museum visit and submitted reflective writings. Inductive content analysis yielded four key themes regarding how novice teachers negotiate professional identity: (1) navigating a duality between personal past experiences and professional vision; (2) prioritizing risk assessment where physical and emotional safety served as a prerequisite for pedagogical engagement; (3) hacking the museum through active gamification to counter static displays; and (4) critically auditing infrastructure, moving beyond content to evaluate accessibility and inclusivity. Findings suggest that for digital native teachers, museums are high-stakes simulation spaces. The study supports embedding risk-mitigation strategies and open-ended creative tasks into teacher preparation to foster confidence in museums.