Docent Educator

As we conclude this publication, I’d like to go back a bit to the beginning. Our first issue appeared in the autumn of 1991, and, on the front page of the “little-bit-smaller-than-now” magazine was this statement: Every issue of The Docent Educator will present valuable information and practical techniques applicable …

How Does Your Teaching Feel? Do you have sesquipedalia? Those who teach should be on the alert for this terrible scourge, which can diminish one’s ability to communicate effectively and maintain an audience’s interest. The warning signs may include using jargon excessively, speaking in the least concise and most convoluted …

We, who were longtime docents for the Palm Springs Desert Museum, helped ourselves to the farewell potluck lunch that the Palm Springs Adult School students had prepared tor us. It was the last day of our art appreciation class and we felt regret at its ending and exhilaration about its …

In almost every thing we do there is some element of a plan. Even if you are embarking on an adventure of total discovery and the plan is very loose, there is still a reason for where you are going and why you are headed there. A major restructure of …

This past November, my sister and I had the pleasure of planning  and hosting our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Over the several months prior, we initiated e-mail and phone conversations with eighteen family members to bring the upcoming celebration to the forefront of their minds. We determined what we needed …

When meeting visitors and beginning a tour, do you feel obliged to give them everything you’ve got, to fill them in as much as possible about your institution and its collection? Do you hope they will experience the benefits of all the books you’ve read and experts you’ve listened to? …

A fidgety third grader; a bored teenager; a young husband who has been dragged into our tour as part of a previously arranged marital agreement (“I went to the boat show with you, so . . .”)• We’ve all had them, or some variation of them. Visitors who just didn’t …

Historically, a museum was a scat or shrine to the muses, those nine who inspire art and science, history, poetry, dance, and song. The muses are the guides to creativity, to the joy of learning, and to discovery. As museum educators and docents we have a similar role in our …

Imagine seeing Washington National Cathedral for the first time through the eyes of an eight-year-old. After stepping off the school bus, you walk along a curved path through well-manicured grounds towards a great edifice with majestic flying buttresses and soaring towers reaching several hundred feet. Inside, you enter a colossal …

1- Ask open-ended questions. Asking open-ended questions encourages visitors by allowing them to examine and respond to objects and specimens at whatever level of knowledge and awareness they may have. These questions demonstrate what visitors are capable of learning, even with little prior information. 2- Be aware of your audience’s …

1- Ask closed-ended questions. Asking visitors questions that have pre-determined answers is a form of testing and can discourage participation by making visitors aware of what they do not know. It also can inhibit additional exploration, as it reinforces the erroneous notion that there is a correct way to view, …

Recently, several friends and I went on a camping trip on the island of Maui, in Hawaii. The trip lasted four days and each of us was responsible for carrying all our own food, water, shelter, and gear. The hikes were challenging, especially considering the heavy packs, but they were …

A number of years ago, one of my sixth grade students asked me, “Mrs. Littleton, don’t you get tired of being in the sixth grade forever?” I was able to answer, quite truthfully, “No, I love being in the sixth grade because it’s different every year.” Some of the ways …

Many students — from elementary to college age — sometimes appear intimidated upon entering the “grandeur” of our museum (designed by I.M. Pei), and then fall into bewilderment at the array of objects competing for notice in the galleries. Recognizing this problem, I have developed stories that relate the historical …

Interpreters and docents often work in isolation and are rarely able to share practical experiences, beyond the exchange of “war stories” in the staff room. Such stories are important, but to identify problems and learn from their own experiences, interpreters and docents need skills that will help them to reflect …

As educator at the Early American Museum in east central Illinois, most of my time is spent conducting school field trips through our facility. Every program I present has two basic challenges: educational content and logistics. The educational needs of the teacher include those of her students, school, district, and …

Over the years, I have sought resources that would help docents and other educators understand more fully the positive impact of teaching through direct, personal experience. I hoped to find something that demonstrated how much more compelling that method of teaching is than is the technique of lecturing. Though some …

Here’s an old trick that’s worth repeating. Interlace the fingers of your two hands. Look and see which hand’s thumb is on top. Now, unlace your fingers and interlace them again, but this time place the opposite thumb on the top. How does it feel? If you find it “awkward,” …

For nearly thirteen years, Jackie Littleton and I have had the honor of producing The Docent Educator. What began as a late-night revelation — that no publication for professional development existed solely for staff and volunteers teaching in museums, historic sites, aquariums, zoos, gardens, and libraries — has grown into …

My decision to resign my decent position lit the Camp Tyler nature trail was dictated by the development of chronic allergies. Simply put, the woods and I no longer enjoyed each other’s company. Not all decisions to leave a cherished and rewarding place within the museum community are as clear-cut, …

Objects elicit stories. The kindergartner holding a turtle shell can hardly hold still as she tells you about the turtle she and her brother found while on a camping trip. “It was sitting on a log and then we poked it with a stick and it put its head in …

Oral history projects, senior citizens, and history museums, historical societies, historic sites, and history centers have a long symbiotic association. Seniors have the memories that these institutions treasure, and oral history projects put the two together. Sometimes the impetus is a centennial or other anniversary of a community, museum, or …

This article first appeared in the Autumn 1992 edition of The Decent Educator. We believe the excellent counsel this text offers is worth repeating and is particularly germaine to the topic of this issue. Successful tours for older adults, as with any group, are largely a matter of understanding the …

Hearing Challenges According to Consumer Reports On Health, a publication of Consumers Union, almost every older person experiences some hearing loss. “Much of it is caused by a lifetime of exposure to loud noise. When communicating with an older person is difficult, the American Speech- Language-Hearing Association suggests reducing background …

AARP has been after me for years, but the U.S. government has finally made it official. I’m a senior citizen, and I have a card to prove it. I’ve reached that stage in life that owes me some privileges. At last, I can tell everyone exactly what I want and …

As a freshman in college, and all of 18 years old, I shared a Spanish class with a woman who was in her 70’s. One day, while chatting before the teacher arrived, I asked the woman why she was bothering to learn a new language at her age. “I don’t …

Many of the people who have the time and the interest to become museum docents are those who are retired from an active business or professional life. That being so, it occasionally occurs that a qualified applicant is disabled or an active docent suffers an illness or accident that limits …

The very idea of being evaluated seems to create anxiety among members of a decent corps. It is especially uncomfortable when evaluation is perceived as a judgmental process. The challenge, then, is to create a method that defuses these concerns and provides docents with a useful and positive tool with …

One of the central missions of a dynamic collecting institution is the interpretation of objects it displays. Constructing the information and methods of transmission typically falls to the institution’s educators, who are completely and desperately dependent upon the (often volunteer) services of docents, who personally impart this to members of …

Most of you history docents know that, in the not-too-distant past, horses were often fitted with blinders, a pair of leather flaps attached to the bridle to limit their side vision and, hence, their distractions. Blinders made it easier to keep them on the path. Binders worked so well, in …

You’ve seen them rumbling into the museum — bundles of energy packaged in all sizes, trailed by moms pushing strollers and a few dads in jeans. In they come, and they want a tour! A tour for all, ages six months to 55. Maybe you, dedicated educator and part-rime magician …

To successfully implement inquiry teaching, docents must master the skills of communication. They must be particularly sensitive to how their words will be received and understood, and acutely aware of the intentions and meanings of words used by their visitors. Though the goal of an inquiry lesson is determined in …

Once upon a time, my husband and I and three friends visited Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home on the banks of the Hudson River in Tarrytown, New York. Like many historic homes, Sunnyside offers particular challenges to a docent that wants to allow visitors to “participate” in the experience. The home’s …

Would tour guides like it if a group of just-toured visitors slipped onto their knees and exclaimed, with tears pouring from their eyes, that the tour was the best, most life-altering experience they had ever had? Of course! While that may be pushing the envelope, tour guides do want our …

A special challenge for docents at the Walker Art Center is a schedule of rapidly changing exhibitions. This emphasis on a changing exhibition schedule means that our docents need to not only learn the basic information about the works on view, but also arrive at some effective ways of incorporating …

As educator at the Early American Museum in central Illinois, I present to many school field trips every year. Most of the students I see are through 5* graders, with few occasions to enjoy the special group of young people known as “junior high” students. So, when the opportunity to …

They say you can’t go home again, but I’m not entirely sure it’s true. When I became a docent at the National Gallery of Art after a long career as a nurse educator, I discovered that some of the tools I had used in that former life were quite useful …

Museums in the Caribbean Planning an island getaway? Well, you don’t have to leave your museum orientation and interests at home. The islands ot the Caribbean are rich in cultural, historic, and scientific institutions that can further your understanding of, and appreciation for, these exotic locations. Dominican Republic The Museo …

What am I hoping to accomplish by asking a question? I sometimes begin my “Minds in Motion” workshop about developing interaction skills by asking this question. If you will, take a moment or two to answer it yourself before you read any further. I’ll wait, (la, la, la . . …

Unless you are reading The Docent Educator for the first time, you probably know that I advocate teaching methods that use active learning strategies. It is my strongly held belief that object-based learning is best accomplished by placing visitors in the active roles of seekers and contemplators, rather than putting …

Like all teaching strategies and their implementation, object-based activities should be frequently reveiwed and evaluated. Here is a checklist that can be adapted for self-evaluation, peer evaluation, or formal evaluation when using object-based activities for teaching. Which type of object-based activity was employed? What was the overall theme of the …

As students leave the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden Of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, a docent gives each of them a set of four trading cards. The trading cards, not unlike baseball cards, are printed on two sides. On one side, the cards feature a favorite image …

Objects such as turtles, squirrels, and woodpeckers are among the best part of our nature trail tours at Camp Tyler, an outdoor learning center that is located in the East Texas piney woods. Unfortunately, we just don’t know from one time to the next which objects will be available. Most …

A drawer full of late 19th century objects, collected for an antiquated tour called “Grandma’s Attic,” stood unused for many years in the Montana Homeland exhibit at the Montana Historical Society. In the 21″‘ century, many of the students who visit have grandparents who were born in the 1940’s and …

One of the most difficult jobs for those involved with student programs in cultural organizations is the process of change. Reassessing and critically evaluating a long-standing children’s tour, convincing some of the need tor change, and ultimately deciding to revise the format can be a daunting task. Although docents may …

Every semester with the students in my social studies methods course, I draw a blank time line on the board of the last 10,000 years of human history and ask the students how well they could fill in the major events. A nervous silence immediately permeates the room. My students …

“Ahoy,” Bay Area Visitors and Residents Surrounded by water on three sides, San Francisco has been a major seaport since its inception. While steamships gave way to container ships and yachts, the city retains an important waterfront, and the San Francisco Maritime Museum honors this history. Crafted in the shape …

As a poet teaching in a museum environment, I often turn to writing-based activities to assist visitors in appreciating and understanding works of art. For the novice art viewer with a limited art background and art vocabulary, a writing exercise functions as a strategy to slow down the mind in …

Object-based activities are teaching strategies designed to shift visitors from the passive repose of listening into the active postures of seeking, finding, and/or responding. Object-based activities are employed to encourage learners (visitors) to make discoveries on their own. Because these activities must enfranchise all learners present, regardless of their diverse …

Don Bacigaiupi was one of a number of presenters at the National Docent Symposium in San Antonio in October, 2001, who gave docents different perspectives on museum education. The following is an excerpt from Dr. Bacigalupi’s keynote speech, which focused on a program developed for high school students, but has …

The 2001 National Docent Symposium was held in San Antonio, Texas, in early October 2001. Despite the tragic and unnerving events that transpired on September 11, 2001, nearly all the docents who registered for the symposium chose to attend, and the event was a resounding success! Jackie Littleton, associate editor …

The “three R’s” of old have been replaced in the modern middle school. Reading has become literacy; writing is now called composition, and ‘rithmetic is, more often than not, pre-algebra. Nevertheless, four “R’s” are still available to help museum and classroom teachers make learning real and relevant for these “tweenagers.” …

“History? Ho-hum.” A spoken or body language response that is every history educator’s nightmare, whether his student is of elementary school, junior high, or college age. How does a decent make the past come alive and resonate relevance to people living now? A group of dedicated and determined docents of …

If all the world is a stage and we are merely players . . . then is history our script, in serial form and full of cliffhangers? Will we repeat the same plots or produce a new version of our story? How can the past help us find meaning and …

Docents at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, have long had access to copies of The Docent Educator as it arrives throughout the year. However, upon the recent death of my mother, a life-long teacher who clearly understood the role of art education, docents made …

Imagine a hypothetical situation in which an out-of-town couple asks for directions to your museum. In all likelihood you would give them directions that you, yourself, feel most comfortable following. If you have a good sense of direction, you might tell them to go “north on 5* Avenue.” Alternately, you …

Perhaps you might salute a group of arriving eighth-graders with the same slogan I’d use, “Hail mighty contrarians!” These awkward, yet occasionally articulate, fourteen and fifteen-year-olds reflect the many challenges and dichotomies inherent when transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Young people in this age range are full of a restless …

A number of years ago, I happened to be on the grounds of Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the Patton Museum of Calvary and Armor, on the Fourth of July. Visitors that day had been promised a “parade” of some of the armored vehicles in the museum’s collection. I wasn’t expecting …

At the Dallas Museum of Art, education staff and docents often work collaboratively to develop and refine a variety of strategies for teaching in the galleries. Many of the DMAs 140 actively touring docents are practicing artists who bring their own perspectives to teaching about art in the collections. The …

Normally, when we think about appreciating art, we think of using our eyes. Questions such as, “What do You see?” or “What might the artist be portraying?” come to mind. But, there are other ways to perceive art —ways that involve other senses and other questions. Recently, an exhibit at …

Have you ever watched a house cat sitting outdoors? A cat is super-tuned to its environment. Ears, eyes, nose are all alert and taking in information. Its survival may very well depend upon its ability to perceive what is lurking in its environment. A cat will never just exit from …

New Designs on Audiences Across the United States, and in other countries as well, museums have gone on a building spree. In the U.S., more than 25 major art institutions, and many smaller ones, are constructing new facilities. When most of the current projects are completed, more than $3 billion …

The giant saguaro cactus, tall and powerful, depicted as the John Wayne of the desert. The majestic Hon, loud and troublesome, seen as a neighborhood bully. The Grand Canyon, diverse and full of life, perceived as a large, metropolitan city. An ancient piece of pottery thought of as a lost …

Our five senses are the portals through which we gather impressions and information. We experience the physical world around us by seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling it. The more sensorial routes through which we experience things, the more intellectual and emotional routes by which we can know, understand, and …

In general, visitors go to museums to see what might be new and interesting. In other words, visitors are curious. Curiosity, according to psychologists, is an intrinsic motivator — that is, curiosity motivates people to seek and find something. What an opportunity for docents, who thrive on sharing information! The …

The museum was small, and the budget even smaller, when I undertook to write my first docent manual almost twenty years ago. The docents I had recruited all volunteered to “help” in our small town’s first and only museum. Many of the volunteers, and most of the town, had never …

America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was dramatically transformed by new inventions and innovations in daily living and social thought that drastically altered the way we perceived ourselves and our nation’s role in the world. Satirist Mark Twain dubbed this time period “The Gilded Age,” implying there …

Trainers enable people to do something — catch a football, perform heart surgery, ride a bicycle. Educators enable people to know something— the dimensions of a football field, the arterial system, the history of bicycles. All training involves some knowledge imparted before and during training. Therefore, the terms are commonly …

Similarities in the roles of classroom teachers and docents suggest that a review of teacher training programs may provide insights into docent training. Perhaps the best known model of teacher training was developed by Bruce R. Joyce and Beverly Showers. According to these two scholars, staff development programs for teachers …

There is a long history of poets and writers who draw inspiration from the visual arts. Master poets John Keats and Percy Shelley crafted great poems like “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and “Ozymandias,” translating the visual world into poetic language. Using creative writing in the galleries can be an …

One does discover new lands without consenting — to lose sight of by the shore.” (Andre Gide) The safety of “shore” in a docent training Nelson program can often be the security of mastering factual information about a particular museum collection. But what happens when docents move away from the …

During my 27 years of involvement with museums and docent training, I have arrived at the opinion that the most effective docents are those who have the firmest understanding of teaching and education. Likewise, it is my observation that the most common error made in constructing and executing docent training …

Games are more than child’s play. They are one way in which children learn about their culture and what is expected of them within that culture. Games also are an excellent way for museums and other such institutions to make learning fun. In many cases, games already exist that can …

By nature, we are tactile creatures. People want to touch, hold, or feel what they look at. Tactile experiences add another dimension to the learning experience. They help the learner form a mental image of an object and provide another route toward understanding what an object represents. Adding a tactile …

“Who are some of the great entertainers? What qualities do they have in common?” So began panelist Dana Conte-Hurst at the recent Virginia Docent Exchange, a biennial conference for docents serving in Virginia museums. Held at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, the tide of this year’s meeting …

Baldwin Hills Charter/LEARN Elementary and Magnet School has embarked on an exciting new model project to create ongoing links between Los Angeles’ rich community-based arts programs and classroom learning. The goal of this innovative program, tagged “Arts in the City Improves Literacy,” is to improve student achievement and encourage active …

The National Docent Symposium The volunteer docents of the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, are hosting the National Docent Symposium on October 6 -10, 2001. The theme of the Symposium is River Odyssey . . . An Extended Journey. In addition to the McNay, other institutions …

One of public television’s most entertaining shows painlessly educates the American viewing public about antiques. “Antiques Roadshow” offers some tricks for combining education and entertainment that museum educators might do well to consider. During its first year, “Antiques Roadshow” traveled to 13 cities in 17 weeks and managed, by the …

This is awesome! Look at that dinosaur spine made of sticks!” “Wow! The “spiral vortice” is really a wooden whirlpool!” Such comments were heard over and over again as all the third and seventh graders from the public schools in Brockton, Massachusetts, enjoyed ten outdoor installations in the woods adjacent …

“Eat your vegetables!” That battle cry resounded through our house when I was growing up, and the mealtime encounters that ensued could range from tense to all out warfare. The problem wasn’t really the vegetables, but my dear mother’s cooking. She didn’t enjoy cooking and it showed. She did little …

I do a lot of traveling, both for business and pleasure. Wherever I go, museums and similar institutions are always on my list of “must visit” places. Consequently, I am frequently a “walk-in” visitor. I’ve enjoyed docent-led tours, demonstrations and mini-programs on specific aspects of a museum’s collection, and individual …

One method that I’ve found to help me “lead by discovery” in the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY, is an exercise that I call “What If?” The students are given some basic information at the beginning of the tour to acquaint them with the history of glassmaking and …

Once-a-week walk-in tours at the Wichita Art Museum in Wichita, Kansas, have evolved into weekly Sunday Gallery Talks attracting visitors with specific interests, as well as the general public. Originally, the subject of these focus tours was whatever the decent “on duty” wanted to speak about on any given day. …

“Look at the size of that group out there!” exclaims one docent-in-training As the class studies inside the lecture hall, they can see through the large glass windows that eighty people have just walked in on a Saturday morning to take the Historic Skyscrapers tour at 10:00 a.m. The class, …

An Important Lesson The October 6, 2000, edition of The Wall Street Journal chronicles how a museum, with all the resources any institution might wish for, has steadily lost its audience. “How the Getty Lost Its Buzz” describes the J. Paul Getty Art Museum as “scholarly and removed” and as …

Though Sister Eileen Rice passed away several years ago, her words and advice are as prescient as ever. We repeat this article because we feel it is useful, germaine to this issue’s theme, and essential information for all who provide public tours. As it is well known, the root meaning …

1  Assess the group through casual conversation prior to touring. Get a sense of what they hope to see and why they are taking your tour. 2  Don’t memorize a talk. Know the subject matter and speak about it. 3  Allow your own personality to show. It will make you …

Effective teaching is a challenge regardless of the circumstances. Working with walk-in visitors, however, may be among the more formidable of educational responsibilities. While certain assumptions can be made about a fourth grade class coming to your institution in conjunction with its social studies curriculum, such presumptions cannot be applied …

Docents at the Indiana University Art Museum follow-up on their comradeship and work as educators by publishing a literary magazine. The Docents’ Lunching Society Writes! includes opinions, experiences, images, poetry, and “thoughtful trivia.” This poem, which appeared in that magazine, was submitted to The Docent Educator by its author. N’est-çe …

We’ve composed them. We’ve received them. We’ve probably even coerced our children into writing them. However, many of us in the museum field may have overlooked the educational possibilities of thank you notes. For docents, they can be a reality check. For classroom teachers, student-written thank you letters can reinforce …

As a follow-up to docent training and on-the-job experience, many docents and staff have asked if The Docent Educator could provide a bibliography for further reading about teaching— its aims, processes, and procedures. Therefore, we have assembled the following, highly idiosyncratic, annotated bibliography for your convenience and use. As you …

How can organizations that rely upon volunteers be assured that the quality of tours given tor the public is of an appropriate caliber? How can tour evaluations be accomplished with a limited staff? How will docents react; and how will their concerns and anxieties be addressed? In the summer of …

by Miya Elizabeth Bernson “It’s a lion!” “Um … a tiger!” “A bear?” Oh my, it’s a group of wiggling and giggling elementary school students, temporarily transformed into experts on two stone animals that once guarded the entrance to a Chinese tomb and now bare their sharp teeth in a …

An Experiential Exhibition offering Follow-Up The Los Angeles Country Museum of Art (LACMA) is presenting an exhibition of 11 original installations by California artists designed specifically to engage children and their families. Made in California: NOW is the inaugural exhibition of LACMALab, a new experimental research and development unit within …

Somewhere between toddler and teenager, most young people misplace the wondrous creative drive that impels them to draw on every available piece of paper, dance around the room, and invent songs and stories. Yes, many of them still love to dance, draw, act, sing, but for the majority, “art” is …

Recently, I followed a decent who was touring visitors through an historic home site. She was terrific . . . until the end. During the tour, she did everything right, keeping her visitors focused, interested, and engaged. But, when she and her visitors arrived at their last station, she concluded …

One thing that can be said of any U.S. Navy ship is that it has a “wow” factor. No hooks are needed. The ship’s size will immediately impress kids. And, its function — it does have guns doesn’t it? — makes excitement a sure bet. But, what can be said …

To target knowledgeable, talkative docents as an audience is an educational challenge. How do you teach the teacher? It you have given a tour for a group of educators, you know that they can be a tough audience. After attending the National Docent Symposium, the docents in North Carolina decided …

At one point in the movie “Life is Beautiful,” I began to believe I could speak Italian. I became unaware that I was reading subtitles. In fact, the action on the screen was so visually expressive, my dependence on the spoken and written text was negligible. This experience is often …

In the early 1990’s, field trip funds for the District of Columbia Public Schools decreased dramatically. That meant that students in the District of Columbia Public Schools were missing out on the bountiful resources available to enhance their education. In response, the department of teacher and school programs of the …