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Docent Educator Kickstarter

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We did it! You all came through, and we successfully funded the digitization of The Docent Educator. Stay tuned for updates, and funder rewards, and thank you all for your support. When we started this effort we thought it might demonstrate this community’s appetite for supporting projects we all believe in, and you came through. You all made our belief that we can do great things together a reality, so thanks for that too.

The Docent Educator

Between 1991 and 2003 museum educator Alan Gartenhaus published the essential guide for interactions between museum docents and the public. The 49 issues of The Docent Educator produced during that twelve-year span comprise a core resource for both museum docents and the educators who train them. As a whole it is a comprehensive compendium for the field addressing docent specific issues such as “Tough Topics” to help docents deal with nudity and violence in art or “Honing Your Teaching Skills.” Articles were written by a wide range of professionals from the museum education field, and they are as relevant today as when they first appeared.

The Docent Educator was available to institutions and individuals for a nominal subscription fee. However, in the ten years since the last issue little has been done institutionally to archive this resource. Past issues of The Docent Educator are hard to come by. Without this digitization project these important documents in the history of the museum education field will be lost.

Museum-Ed is using this Kickstarter Campaign to create a searchable archive of this valuable resource. Full text of all The Docent Educator articles will be available for free on the Museum-Ed website. Ebooks and library bound volumes will be available for purchase.

Save The Docent Educator. Don’t let these valuable documents be lost. Contribute now.

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View articles from The Docent Educator

Issue: Autumn 2002

Article: Knowing What’s Expected

Article: Interpreting a Time of Slavery

About Alan Gartenhaus

Alan Gartenhaus is a museum educator whose career has spanned over 40 years. He has worked in museums all over the United States. He is a recipient of the Alden B. Dow Fellowship for his work relating to museum use and creative thinking. As a teacher and education specialist for the Smithsonian Institution he earned their Award for Meritorious Service to honor his work building programmatic bonds between museums and school systems in communities across the US. Gartenhaus is also the author of Minds in Motion: Using Museums to Expand Creative Thinking, Start Exploring: Masterpieces of American Art from the National Museum of American Art and Questioning Art: An Inquiry Approach to Teaching Art Appreciation. Gartenhaus is now retired and living in Hawaii.

 

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