There’s an old adage in education that you shouldn’t smile until Christmas. I’ve never been able to make it work. I couldn’t stand to go that long without a laugh! Every now and then, however, my class and I visit a museum where this rule is alive and well. We’re greeted …
As docents, we’ve all had them. Sometimes we get advance warning. Most of the time we don’t. But we have all known those occasions when we find ourselves in the middle of a tour, and we realize that things are out of control. How it happens will vary. It may …
In a previous issue of The Docent Educator, a docent invited readers to contribute humorous interpretive JL. experiences. I would like to share an incident that happened at Colonial National Historical Park, where I am an interpretive park ranger at Yorktown Battlefield. Among the programs at our park is the …
Picking Up the Slack According to a survey conducted by the Business Committee for the Arts, business support for arts organizations in the United States reached an estimated $875 million in 1994. That figure represents a significant jump from the $518 million figure of the previous survey, which reflected business …
It is said, “when you have a question, ask an expert.” And that’s just what I do when I want to know how to design tours to accommodate people who are deaf or hard of hearing. So let me introduce you to two experts — in matters both of museums …
Minority cultures recognize disrespect, for they encounter it often. It is fairly easy for the museum, representing as it so often does the values of the dominant culture, to slip into unintentional disrespect for other cultures. But it is also fairly easy to communicate respect. When exhibiting material aspects of …
Planning effective tours for school groups depends on your awareness of the gradual changes in children as they acquire mature observation and language skills. The following are some guidelines gleaned from the research findings and practical experiences of various sources, such as Howard Gardner and Michael Parsons. You should be …
The joke on the first day of theater class is to tell a novice actor to “just walk naturally” across the stage, and then to watch. Suddenly, the innate skills of movement and coordination become jumbled into a series of labored and self-conscious gestures. The humor comes, of course, from …