What value does the art gallery experience have in an already crowded school curriculum? From my view, it is that art is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression available to the human mind. Art can explore anything, from the literal to the spiritual. The very existence of a …
Can we talk? Some of my teaching colleagues have only two requirements for a successful field trip — their kids don’t embarrass them and nothing (animal, vegetable, or mineral) gets broken. Some of the docents in your museum also have only two requirements for a successful tour— the class gets …
This fail marks the fourth year of an innovative “high school docent program” at The Friends of Photography in San Francisco that empowers young adults by making them leaders in a public setting. Bringing in high school students to serve as an integral part of a museum changes the institutional …
To take children’s knowledge where you want it to be, start with what children already know. That’s the concept and basis for the Museum of the Cape Fear’s “Now & Then” tour for students in grades K – 3. The Museum of the Cape Fear, located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, …
Docents can make humor a work for them, especially with children’s tours. A laugh together early in a tour establishes rapport and friendship between the group and the docent. What are the benefits of humor? Most of all, it makes children (and the adults with them) feel good to laugh. …
Survival Skills for Student Discipline Though successful strategies for control of student discipline problems (and for maintaining order) will differ from one situation or student to the next, the following are some suggestions for influencing students toward appropriate behaviors. Communicate institutional rules for behavior, such as “objects should not be …
Every art museum has its share of portraits, but sometimes it’s hard to get school visitors engaged in looking carefully at this genre. We want them to move beyond the cheap thrill of noticing “how the eyes follow you when you move around the room!” We want them to work …
Although the fireworks explode on January 1st, for most of us it is Labor Day and the opening of school that truly signal a new beginning each year. Museum education departments are beehives of activity in September. School teachers are calling or writing, anxious to make sure their students don’t …
For those of us in museums, “back-to-school” means yellow school buses moving into formation in our parking lots with battalions of enthusiastic young passengers mounting a benevolent assault on our institutional “front line” – – the docents. The following thoughts are just a few ideas with which to prepare for …
The immediacy of objects in museums, parks, gardens, and I historic sites can clearly demonstrate the compelling and satisfying experience that comes from learning. Their potential to stimulate curiosity and hold interest is inherently great. This is one reason why the brief encounters that volunteer or staff educators have with …
History museum docents, like those in other types of museums, are increasingly offering participatory tours that encourage visitors to think creatively about the objects they encounter. Docents challenge their groups to look closely at objects, accurately describe what they see, answer open-ended questions that allow information to be interpreted meaningfully, …
Think of it — the overwhelming majority of students you tour on school visits were born since 1980!! So what? So everything! We are all products of our time, and this generation of young people cannot be expected to be an exception. For those who are now in grades nine …