The Art Engager

I often get asked about neutrality as a 'stance' for museum facilitators of discussions around art and objects. So today I'm addressing the question: How neutral do we need to be as a facilitator in the museum?  

Facilitation is a key part of creating engaging and interactive discussions around art and museum objects.

As a facilitator, you are guiding the process, creating participation and activating the learning and engagement. 

But do you have to be neutral too? 

If you look at the general definition of a generic facilitator you will often see the word ‘neutral’ or ‘impartial’ used.

What do these words actually mean? And what should we be neutral about? Is it even possible to be neutral as a museum facilitator?

Neutrality is a tricky concept and this subject is always quite a thorny one in my classes and trainings. Listen to today's new episode to find out what I recommend.

Links

EPISODE WEB PAGE 

Download the Ultimate Thinking Routine List

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Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Episode 5 - The Art of Facilitation

Episode 44 - The 4 Elements of a Great Introduction

Episode 84 - Why Inclusive Language Matters with Margaret Middleton

I know thinking routines are a huge crowd pleaser.

I’m their biggest fan too - they have fundamentally changed the way I lead discussions around art and objects.

Used in combination with the other 7  practices of the VTM approach such as  good questions, a range of facilitation skills, slow looking  and more, you can create wonderfully engaging discussions in the museum about art and objects.

Used as part of a holistic approach, thinking routines will transform the way you work with objects and with audiences in the museum.

Thinking routines have wonderful benefits for the participants in your guided tours and educational programmes.

But I also believe thinking routines are incredibly useful and beneficial tools for you too - as a museum educator, guide, docent or teacher.  

And so today I’m going to focus on you - and I’m going to share some 6 key  benefits you’ll get  from working with these magical structures with art and objects. 

I going to talk about why routines are beneficial, the importance of structure, the flexibility of routines, how they help you to master sharing information and improve your questioning technique. And finally I’m ending with probably the biggest benefit of all - so stay tuned for that one!

Links

Episode Web Page

Download The Ultimate Thinking Routine List

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Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Download my free guide - how to look at art (slowly)

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Episode 3 - The Magic of Thinking Routines

Episode 62 - 7 Ways to be creative with thinking routines

Episode 12 - 6 Best Practices for Sharing Information

Episode 36 - Quick Ways to Improve your Questioning Technique

Using Thinking Routines To Formulate Better Questions

I’m talking to Margaret Middleton today about what inclusive language is and why it matters. 

Margaret Middleton is an American independent exhibit designer and museum consultant currently based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 

With a degree in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design and over 15 years of experience in the museum field, they work at the intersection of design and social justice.

We know museums aim to be welcoming places for everyone, but the ways museums communicate can unintentionally exclude and alienate visitors.

Likewise, when we’re working as museum teachers, guides and educators the words we choose when we communicate can hide unconscious biases and assumptions, especially about subjects like “family.”

10 years ago, Margaret created a tool called the Family Inclusive Language chart which helps us to choose words that avoid labelling and making assumptions about the identities and relationships between museum visitors. 

We discuss:

• the ways you might use the Family Inclusive Language chart in the museum
• how certain words, phrases and tenses can have a positive or negative effect on a group.
• why choosing the right words is just as important as avoiding the wrong ones.
• how we can be more intentional about the language we use and can train ourselves to not automatically default to words that may not be inclusive.

This chat will make you more aware of the language and the words you use when you’re with visitors in the museum. And you’ll gain useful insight into how thoughtful word choices have the power to create connections and include everyone. 

Links

Support the Show

Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

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Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Episode webpage (+ transcript)

margaretmiddleton.com for Family Inclusive Language chart, helpful articles, and other free resources

Margaret Middleton on Twitter

Welcoming Young Children into the Museum: A Practical Guide - Sarah Erdman, Nhi Nguyen, Margaret Middleton

What words come to mind when you hear the word ‘teenager’? Or the word ‘adolescence’?

Do you love working with teens or feel a little apprehensive? 

I’ve recently been facilitating some team trainings in museums about how to engage with teenagers and so I’ve been thinking a lot about the best ways to work with teens. It's also a subject I get asked about a lot. 

Here are some tips and ideas for better ways to engage with teenagers in the museum on your guided tours and programmes.

I'm exploring:

• Why our thoughts shape our attitude towards teens
• Seeing teenage behaviour through a developmental lens
• Positive reasons for working with teens
• Creating an inclusive, warm and friendly atmosphere
• The importance of shared ownership
• The role of open-ended questions and careful listening
• Reading the group and avoiding false clues
• Why less is more
• And why teens like to discuss themes of global significance

Links

Support the Show

Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Download the NEW resource - how to look at art (slowly)

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

5 harmful myths and 5 inspiring truths about teenagers - Big Think

Episode 44 - The 4 elements of a great introduction

I’m talking today about making space and time for slow looking.

So if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you'll know that I've been practising the art of slow looking for a long time now the last 11/12 years. And it's very much a personal practice and also something that I use with groups of all ages with a variety of objects, artworks, situations and places.

But why is it so important to incorporate slow looking into your guided tours, educational programmes and art experiences?

In today's episode you'll hear:

• who inspired my love of slow looking when I first got started in 2011
• myth-busting: about what slow looking is and how it works. 
• how slow looking is the key to engagement
• 3 main reasons why it's important to make space and time for slow looking
• how you can incorporate it into your guided tours, your educational programmes your online session, even if you think you don't have the time or the space
• the key benefits to including slow looking onto your programmes - whatever format they take

If you're not making space and time for slow looking, then you're really missing a trick - listen to today's episode about making the space and time for slow looking and embed it as a fundamental part of all your programmes.

Links

Episode 2 - What is slow looking (and how can I get started?)

Episode 7 - How to Develop a Daily Slow Looking Practice

Free resource - Thinking Routines for Observation

Free guide - how to look at art (slowly)

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Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Today I’m sharing a variety of different ways to refresh your practice for 2023 so you don’t get stuck in a rut.

Are you looking forward to designing and leading guided tours, art experiences, educational programmes in 2023?

If, however, you’re not sure about your answers to those questions, or about how you feel about the coming year, then it’s definitely time to shake things up a little.

If you’re feeling tired, jaded or uninspired, then it’s definitely time to make some changes. 

It’s a wonderful thing to do at any time of year, but especially at the start of a new year. 

If you continue to do things exactly as you've always done them, then you might end up feeling like you’re on auto-pilot, or start feeling a bit restless or even bored. 

It’s tempting to stick to the tried and tested formula - especially if it worked well last year - but making a few simple changes to your practice and the way you do things might help you to rediscover a passion and enthusiasm for your work. 

And this renewed enthusiasm will of course come across to your participants and might even be contagious. 

This episode is for you even if you’re not feeling stuck, perhaps you’re  more than happy with the way you do things. But you may hear something here that you’d like to try out at some point this year. And your audience will thank you for it!

So here are 7 different ways you can refresh your practice for the coming year. This episode is not about sweeping changes, this is about small changes that will have a big effect. Enjoy!

Links

The Art of Questioning - A 45 minute self-paced masterclass taking you step-by-step through the process of improving your questioning technique. Full of takeaway tools and exercises to help you consistently create, sort & evaluate your own questions.

Other episodes to help you refresh your practice:

Episode 29 - How to Develop a Reflective Practice

Episode 52 - From Good to Great: How to Develop and Grow as an Educator

Episode 53 - How to Define your Personal Facilitator Style

Episode 60 Learn, Unlearn, Relearn 

Episode 77 - How to Show up in a Resourceful State

Episode 64 - 4 Powerful Questions to Supercharge your Art Experiences 

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Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Download the NEW resource - how to look at art (slowly)

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Today I'm really happy to be chatting to Sarah Ciacci about her wonderful work as a family tour specialist. We’re exploring how to engage and inspire families on a guided tour.

Sarah Ciacci has been a Professional Blue Badge Guide for London since 2008 and specialises in family tours and art tours. 

She set up Tours For My Kids to provide inspiring and engaging tours to families in London and Rome 

She is also a Blue Badge art tutor for trainee guides training in the National Gallery, Tate Modern and Tate Britain. She is an accredited lecturer of the Arts Society, a university lecturer, a gallery educator and runs regular courses and independent lectures on a variety of art historical periods.

In our chat today, we talk about the values and principles that guide and shape her work and What made her decide to focus on working with families

We explore what families actually want from museums and heritage (and what they quite often get instead)

We talk about how she engages children and their parents with art and history and the techniques she uses. How she designs AND facilitates for engagement using variety and pace. 

We talk about whether it’s all about the kids or whether the parents get involved too. And how you might design intergenerational tours. 

I’ve led  many many family tours in the past too and we have a good chat about what works and what doesn’t with family tours. Sarah and I seem to be on the same wavelength about so many things!

This is a lovely chat about creating engaging family experiences with art, objects and even buildings.  Enjoy! 

Links

Support the Show

Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

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Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Tours for My Kids Website: www.toursformykids.com

Social Media

www.instagram.com/toursformykids

https://twitter.com/toursformykids

https://www.facebook.com/toursformykids/

Today I’m sharing 5 different thinking routines that you can use to compare, contrast and make connections. I’m exploring how you can use these thinking routines to create engaging discussions with art, objects and ideas. 

I'll look first at what comparing & contrasting is and why it’s important.  Then I'm sharing some ideas for things you might want to compare and contrast, before sharing different ways to look at similarities and differences.

Then I'm sharing 5 thinking routines help us to make thoughtful and purposeful comparisons. 

Links

Support the Show

Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Download the NEW resource - how to look at art (slowly)

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Episode 8 How to use ‘See Think Me We’ thinking routine to create personal and community connections with artworks

I’ve recently lost my voice so I’m taking some time to recover this week and sharing an episode from the back catalogue. 

Today I'm revisiting an episode about to survive tumbleweed moments. This episode first aired in Oct 2021.

It takes a deep dive into what a tumbleweed moment is and how to get over one when it happens.

I'm also exploring 7 ways to avoid one in the first place. 

A tumbleweed moment is a moment of silence or dead air. It can happen when you ask a question and you don’t get a response. 

Tumbleweed moments happen to all of us - whether we are seasoned pros or just starting out.

Everyone gets them. 

This is also something that comes up time and time again when I do trainings. I always get asked the question, ‘But what if no-one says anything?’

So this is the ultimate guide. First I'm sharing some handy steps to work though to help you get over any tumbleweed moments you face. And at the end as I’ll share 7 ways to avoid one in the first place. 

LINKS

Original Episode: Episode 23 How to Get Over a Tumbleweed Moment (And Avoid One in the Future)

Episode 44 The 4 Elements of a Great Introduction

Episode 10 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Asking Questions

Episode 36 Quick ways to improve your questioning technique

Episode 42 How to Read a Group

Episode 69 How to Use Body Language to Create Engagement

Today I’m talking about how we can get ourselves into our best state - our most resourceful state - for when we show up to facilitate art discussions, tours, programmes or lessons. And sharing 8 different ways for you to turn up at your best!

How you show up is important.

Whether you’re leading a tour, teaching an educational programme, teaching a lesson in a classroom or facilitating a training.

You want to make sure that when you arrive, you’re in the best state possible. 

This is something that we can all strive for in whatever people-facing commitments we may have - that we are calm, ready and clear to do our work in the best way we can.

In the coaching certification that I’ve been studying for over the past year we’ve been talking about how to show up in a resourceful state.

In today's episode, I'll explain what this means and suggest 8 different ways to get yourself into a resourceful state before every tour, programme or session that you lead.

Links

Support the Show

Join the Slow Looking Club Community on Facebook

Download the NEW resource - How to Look at Art (Slowly)

Curated newsletter by Claire Bown

Episode 69 How to Use Body Language to Create Engagement

Episode 52 From Good to Great: How to Develop and Grow Personally as an Educator

'Everyday NLP' written by Florence Madden & Eleni Sarantinou - a really good read if you'd like an accessible introduction to NLP https://florencemadden.co.uk/the-story-of-everyday-nlp/

Stephen Gilligan and Robert Dilts Generative Coaching: Coach vs Crash state