As students leave the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden Of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, a docent gives each of them a set of four trading cards. The trading cards, not unlike baseball cards, are printed on two sides. On one side, the cards feature a favorite image …
Objects such as turtles, squirrels, and woodpeckers are among the best part of our nature trail tours at Camp Tyler, an outdoor learning center that is located in the East Texas piney woods. Unfortunately, we just don’t know from one time to the next which objects will be available. Most …
A drawer full of late 19th century objects, collected for an antiquated tour called “Grandma’s Attic,” stood unused for many years in the Montana Homeland exhibit at the Montana Historical Society. In the 21″‘ century, many of the students who visit have grandparents who were born in the 1940’s and …
One of the most difficult jobs for those involved with student programs in cultural organizations is the process of change. Reassessing and critically evaluating a long-standing children’s tour, convincing some of the need tor change, and ultimately deciding to revise the format can be a daunting task. Although docents may …
Object-based activities are teaching strategies designed to shift visitors from the passive repose of listening into the active postures of seeking, finding, and/or responding. Object-based activities are employed to encourage learners (visitors) to make discoveries on their own. Because these activities must enfranchise all learners present, regardless of their diverse …
At the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), many docents have been members of the Education Division for over twenty-five years! ! ! Keeping their teaching fresh and enthusiastic is a top priority. This goal presents several obvious challenges, not the least of which is how to stimulate new insights …
Although “reading, interpreting, and discovering meaning” is an acknowledged goal in all teaching, object literacy (a.k.a. visual literacy) may not be as readily understood or embraced. Even experienced educators are sometimes uncertain about the importance of object literacy. What does it mean? Is it essential? Will it advance my curriculum? …
by Sandra Mackenzie Lloyd We’ve all taken them. Those historic house museum tours led by a pointing finger identifying one thing after another in a room. “And, over here is a beautiful Duncan Phyfe table.” (You are thinking. “What is a dunkinfife?”) “Next,” the tour leader continues, “please notice the …
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 …
“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; AH mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.” If this selection from Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” seems gibberish to you, imagine how confusing it must be to someone who doesn’t read English. For, as nonsensical as …
Before visitors, especially students, can be expected to “read” museum objects on a tour, they should be given an example for practice. Whether during a pre-touring visit to a classroom, or as an introduction before entering the galleries, docents can conduct a simple “object lesson” as preparation. Using ajar of …