The-Museum-Educator-s-Manual-Educators-Share-Successful-Techniques-American-Association-for-State-and-Local-History-

THE MUSEUMEDUCATORSMANUALEducators ShareSuccessfulTechniquesAnna JohnsonKimberly A. HuberNancy CutlerMelissa BingmannTim GroveThe MuseumEducators ManualAMERICAN ASSOCIATION for STATE and LOCAL HISTORYBOOK SERIESSERIES EDITORRussell Lewis, Chicago History MuseumEDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARDKen Bubp, Conner Prairie MuseumJ. Kent Calder, Texas State Historical AssociationRebecca Conard, Middle Tennessee State UniversityW. Eric Emerson, Charleston Library SocietyVicky Kruckeberg, Harvard Extension School, Museum Studies ProgramModupe Labode, Indiana UniversityPurdue University IndianapolisThomas A. Mason, Indiana UniversityPurdue University IndianapolisElizabeth H. McClung, Belle Grove PlantationJerome L. Thompson, State Historical Society of IowaAnn Toplovich, Tennessee Historical SocietySTAFFBob Beatty, AASLHJack Meinhardt, AltaMira PressABOUT THE SERIESThe American Association for State and Local History Book Series publishes technical and professional infor-mation for those who practice and support history, and addresses issues critical to the field of state and localhistory. To submit a proposal or manuscript to the series, please request proposal guidelines from AASLHheadquarters: AASLH Book Series, 1717 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203. Telephone: (615) 320-3203. Fax:(615) 327-9013. Website: .ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONThe American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a nonprofit educational organization dedi-cated to advancing knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of local history in the United States and Canada.In addition to sponsorship of this book series, the Association publishes the periodical History News, a newslet-ter, technical leaflets and reports, and other materials; confers prizes and awards in recognition of outstandingachievement in the field; and supports a broad education program and other activities designed to help memberswork more effectively. To join the organization, contact: Membership Director, AASLH, 1717 Church St., Nash-ville, TN 37203.The MuseumEducators ManualEducators Share Successful TechniquesAnna Johnson, Kimberly A. Huber,Nancy Cutler, Melissa Bingmann, and Tim GroveA Div ision ofROW MA N & L IT T L EFI E LD PU BL I SHE R S, I NC.Lanham New York Toronto Plymouth, UKAltaMira PressA division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United KingdomCopyright 2009 by AltaMira PressAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form orby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information AvailableLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataThe museum educators manual : educators share successful techniques / Anna Johnson . et al.p. cm. - (American Association for State and Local History book series)Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1166-0 (cloth : alk. paper)ISBN-10: 0-7591-1166-9 (cloth : alk. paper)ISBN-13: 978-0-7591-1167-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)ISBN-10: 0-7591-1167-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)1. Museums-Educational aspects-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Museums-Educational aspects-Case studies. I. Johnson,Anna.AM7.M866 2008069.15-dc222008031383Printed in the United States of AmericaTM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for InformationSciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionKimberly A. HuberPART I. TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT1 Museum Education and Museum EducatorsAnna Johnson2 Working with VolunteersNancy Cutler3 Docent Training GuidelinesAnna Johnson4 Building Effective Tours: Taming Wild DocentsAnna JohnsonPART II. PROGRAMS AND OUTREACH5 Professional Development for TeachersMelissa Bingmann6 Families and More: Intergenerational LearningMelissa Bingmann, Tim Grove, and Anna Johnson7 Reaching Out into the CommunityNancy Cutler8 Planning and Managing Museum Programs and Special EventsKimberly A. Huber and Anna Johnson9 Education OnlineTim Grovevii171529476175879510910 Evaluation 117Nancy CutlerPART III. WORKING WITH OTHERS111213Financing Museum Education ProgramsKimberly A. HuberEducators on Exhibition TeamsTim GroveCollaborationKimberly A. Huber131141151vAppendix: Sample FormsBibliographyIndexAbout the Authors159243247249vi contentsAcknowledgmentsAuthors receive the credit for writing books, but ul-timately many people assist with research, editing,publishing, and support, including family and friends.We acknowledge the following people for their usefulcomments and suggestions: Melinda Adams, ConnieAinsworth, John Akers, Paul Ashton, Amy Bartow-Melia, Mary Anna Bastin, Kathy Boyer, Heidi Brinig,Michael Casebier, Christine Castle, Jane Clark, Cyn-thia Copeland, Jerri Copenhaver, Clare Cuddy, BryanCurd, Tim Cutler, Barbara Decker, Amy Douglass,Theresa Esterlund, Alan Gartenhaus, Carolyn Gilman,Ann Grimes, Bill J. Harrison, Ann Lane Hedlund, BobHuber, Briana Huffman, Gretchen Jennings, RichardJohnson, Maureen Kerr, Kayla Kolar, Bob and PatsyKovalesky, Kathleen Love, MaryLynn Mack, PatrickMartin, Linda McCleary, Jeanne Moe, Melissa Moore,Susan Moore, Howard Morrison, Debbie Mueller,Janice ODonnell, Rob Price, Kristen Pumo, MarlieseReeves, Blake Reid, Wayne Rice, David Schaller, Bev-erly Sheppard, Alissa Simon, Patricia Smith, KathleenSocolofsky, Scott Solliday, Laura Stone, Laurie KilgourWalsh, Larry R. Warner, Jannelle Warren-Findley,GladysAnn Wells, and Chad Wollerton.Many thanks go to all of the museum professionalswho responded to an inquiry we disseminated in thesummer of 2007 on “What is the role of a museumeducator?” and “What do museum educators do?”A selection of their thoughtful responses introducesour chapters. Included in this group is the GeorgeWashington University Graduate Museum EducationProgram class of 2008, which was just beginning itsclasswork.As authors we have benefited from the colleaguesat organizations that have informed and shaped ourexperiences and allowed us to share our forms andtextboxes to benefit others in the profession. We thankour friends at the following organizations: Ameri-can Association for State and Local History, Ameri-can Association of Museums, Arizona Museum ofNatural History (formerly Mesa Southwest Museum),Arizona State Library, Archives and Public RecordsAgency, Central Arizona Museum Association, Bureauof Land Management, City of Tempe, Deer ValleyRock Art Center, Desert Botanical Garden, Fort Neces-sity National Battlefield, Gilbert Historical Museum,The Heard Museum, Indiana UniversityPurdue Uni-versity Indianapolis, Museum Association of Arizona,Museum Educators Council of Arizona, Museum ofNorthern Arizona, Providence Childrens Museum,Rhode Island Historical Society, Sirrine House, Smith-sonian Institution, and Tempe Historical Museum.Special thanks go to Larry R. Warner for his illus-trations and to AltaMira Press and our editor, SerenaLeigh Krombach, for her guidance throughout thereview and writing process. Also instrumental tothis publication were Christopher Anzalone, Ma-rissa Marro Parks, Jehanne Schweitzer, and ClaireRojstaczer.viiIntroductionKimberly A. HuberExperts on professions maintain that a profession communicates formally through itswritings. Moreover, a profession determines its autonomy to the extent that it controlsits own knowledge base. In essence, writing for professional publication is integral tothe development of a profession. Writing meant for fellow practitioners constitutesthe discourse requisite for advancing any field of endeavor. When a profession mustrely on the literature from other fields, describing and analyzing its own concerns andapproaches proceed haphazardly at best. A professions identity and vitality spring froma shared command of its history, theory, and practice as continually updated and refinedthrough a vigorous professional literature.1Ever since Museums for a New Century was publishedin 1984, education and its role within museums has in-creasingly become a significant professional concern.Additional publications, such as Excellence and Eq-uity: Education and the Public Dimensions of Museums(1992) and The Educational Role of the Museum (1999)have reinforced the need for creativity, excellence, andaccountability in museum educational programs. TheMuseum Educators Manual: Educators Share SuccessfulTechniques will address the role museums and mu-seum educators play from an experience-based per-spective. Each author contributes key themes and casestudies that provide practical examples that can beimmediately applied to everyday work.The Museum Educators Manual is ideally suitedfor museum educators, volunteers, and students ofmuseum studies. It will help organizations developstrategies that work to improve the effectiveness ofeducational activities within all types of museums.This manual might also be relevant to teacherspub-lic, private, charter, and homeschool, or anyone whotakes students to museums for tours and educationalactivitiesto understand and plan how schools, par-ents, and museums can best work together. The au-thors believe it would be a useful resource for directorsand other museum professionals, as well as for futuremuseum managers or program planners, to better un-derstand the responsibilities that