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 …
More and more, our schools are gathering places of students with differing cultural backgrounds. Stepping from his Spanish-influenced household, a youngster may head off to his English-speaking school where the teacher introduces the customs of the Chinese New Year. Similarly, museum docents welcome busloads of diverse children and explore with …
At first glance, these three article titles—Making the Multicultural Connection: Multicultural Education: Development, Dimensions, and Challenges: American Pie, A Multicultural Snapshot – – all taken from recent educational journals, might indicate that multicultural education is simply the latest buzzword in a field well-known for leaping from trend to trend with …
The use of a word or phrase unique to a historical period can add a memorable touch to a tour. Visitors are always interested to hear a word that is no longer in modem usage but reveals an aspect of early American culture. It not only brings visitors one step …
Curators are educators, too. Every decision we make during the exhibit planning process is made with educational goals in mind. Like each word in a Poe short story, each object and illustration is selected for its contribution to the whole and for its ability to tell a story larger than …
The paintings are in muted browns, greens, and beige. Asian eyes — eyes like mine – – stare back at me from behind barbed wire and in barracks. They were my parents and my relatives and all their friends. In this case, art imitated life — the life of over …
Incorporating multicultural perspectives into exhibit interpretation encourages visitors to gain an appreciation for the longevity and diversity of native cultures. At the Brookfield Zoo. a team of docents has developed a “touch cart” demonstration that introduces visitors to the lifestyles of the Gabbra people, who live in the Chalbi Desert …
Multiculturalism is a term that perplexes me. I have attended conference sessions and museum-sponsored seminars, read articles, and participated in many informal discussions on the term. It seems the term ‘multiculturalism’ is one of those enormous concepts that holds a variety of meanings. I’m a little uncomfortable with this because …
Regardless of whether you read The Docent Educator in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Panama, or the United States, you reside in a multicultural environment. All modern nations are composed of a variety of cultures — indigenous, dominant, and minority; and all societies are characterized by diversity — including …
When Congress established the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities as sister agencies over twenty years ago, the legislation raised questions whose answers remain confusing to this day. Most people are pretty sure they could define “arts,” but they feel less certain about the …
“What do shotgun houses, Creole-speaking Cajuns, and vodun rituals in Louisiana have in common with Haiti? Everything!” Students, teachers, museum visitors, and docents all made this discovery through an innovative cross-cultural, interdisciplinary exhibition, Haitian Cultural Legacy: From the Caribbean to Louisiana. Developed and presented by the Meadows Museum of Art …
What’s something everyone wants, few believe they get, and all must give to appreciate the cultural heritage of others? The answer is . . . “respect.” Fundamental to everyone’s psyche is bias, or their predisposed point of view. Bias is the consequence of individual, temporal, and cultural variables. It is …
by Tamra Carboni In 1989, the American Association of Museums established a task force on education to examine critical issues, and to develop proposals for strengthening and expanding the educational role of museums. Their final report, which was recently issued, discussed the “public dimension” and “educational role” of museums, and the …