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 …
“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 …
Technology has revolutionized communication in virtually every aspect of daily life and, hence, has the potential to dramatically alter the nature and level of communication between museums and their visiting publics. In many cases, it already has. Not surprisingly, science museums and children’s museums have enthusiastically embraced the newest technologies, …
Once upon a time, I thought I had this touring business , figured out. After all, I had the material more-or-less mastered. I knew generally how to select objects that would be the most engaging to visitors and how to shift course, most of the time, if I needed to! …
Individuals respond differently to evaluations. Some of us use a positive judgment as license to maintain the status quo: the if-I’m-already-good-why-try-to-improve mentality. On the other hand, while some of us may regard a “negative” evaluation as a unique opportunity to learn and to grow, more of us probably react with …
How much content from your last tour do you think students retained? It may well depend on the method you used to convey the information. According to S. Famham-Diggery in Paradigms of Know ledge and Instruction (1994). there are four teaching methods which encompass all other teaching activities, they are: …
As docents, we have the privilege and responsibility of teaching viewers how to “read” works of art, and then urging them to construct their own meanings. But, how often have you heard the complaint, “How do we know if our interpretation is really what the artist intended? Aren’t we reading …
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 …
Most staff members think of docents as teachers because they educate the visiting public about our collections and exhibitions. The very word “docent” is derived from a Greek word meaning “to teach.” But those of us privileged to provide docent training must also consider their needs as learners. Museum education …