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Docent Educator, Page 2

Docent Educator

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For Your Consideration 10.1

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation house museums have developed school programming designed to spark young children’s interest in history. At Hay House, for instance, youngsters learn about the basic house structure from familiar fairy tales and games. Older children are involved in an elaborate program that illustrates family life …

For Your Consideration 9.4

Foods for Thought In addition to offering basic and advanced courses for adults in gardening, landscape design, floral design, botanical illustration, and plant studies, The New York Botanical Garden has a wide selection of food-related classes. The following have been among their offerings: Wild Foods of Spring examines forests, wetlands, …

Talking the Talk

If there is one characteristic that distinguishes those who excel at giving presentations or demonstrations it is proficiency in public speaking. Public speaking, like most skills applicable to teaching, is not a simple matter. It requires understanding how to engage audiences and how to hold their interest while stimulating reflective …

An Approach to Motivate Volunteers

Volunteer management its like any other management. It requires planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Good management requires another essential element — motivation. Traditional and Behavioral Approaches Organizations that use a traditional, hierarchical management approach believe that supervised workers should be simplified, standardized, and specialized, and that supervision and pay incentives …

Asking Questions

Ask interesting, thought-provoking questions and you know what happens? People try to answer them! Whether they respond orally, or simply contemplate in reflective silence, visitors will actively participate when asked appropriate questions. No matter whether you teach with art, history, or science collections, you can encourage active thinking and participatory …

A Museum-School Partnership A Venture Into “Community Service”

This fall marks the third collaborative partnership of the Temple City High School and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The “Dovetail Docents Program” empowers young adults, through service learning, to become student teachers who expertly share their knowledge of the current exhibits with …

Not Getting Burned

For years museum educators felt neglected, the step- children of their profession. They struggled for recognition within their institution’s hierarchy and vied for precious budgetary resources. Education departments and their programs were considered of secondary importance to their institutions and were treated accordingly. During the past 30 years, many of …

For Your Consideration 7.2

Tips for Teaching Limited English Speakers The Decent Council of the Oakland Museum, in Oakland, California, produced a highly instructive text to assist docents who tour visitors with limited knowledge of the English language. Their manual, entitled Expanding Horizons: Art Museum Tour Techniques for Beginning and Intermediate English Speakers, offers …

Knowing What’s Expected: Position Descriptions & Volunteer Agreements for Docents

As a docent program grows, how can changes in training and touring, expectations be incorporated without confusion or conflict? How can a docent program effectively clarify docent responsibilities and privileges and at the same time avoid misconceptions? If there are changes in staff, as well as changes in docent and …