Hi Mary,
We too have an active docent group of about 50 volunteers. I really like your idea of a Tour Feedback Committee, it would give your docents some ownership of the outcome. We have a steering committee comprised of 8 docents, where pairs rotate through over a 3 year period. Within that steering committee, 1 of the participants is partnered with another docent as trainers for our provisional training program. The director of education and myself are also on the committee to oversee the program and offer guidance and of course representation especially with regard to policy.
Our docent evaluation is 2 fold: a peer-to-peer observation held after being in the program for a year or more frequently if the docent requests and also an anonymous survey sent to all docents at the end of the school term (we are an academic museum) for feedback to and from all. I also send a survey out to our schools post-tour which is shared at the end of the year as well.
For us this a good foundation, however there is always discussion and input amongst smaller groups which needs to be re-directed to the steering committee. I hope this helps in your planning, I'm going to be thinking about your tour feedback committee!
Best regards,
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Sherri Jones
Museum Education Program Coordinator
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
Eugene OR
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2017 11:24 AM
From: Mary Morris
Subject: Docent Corps - Committees
Hello All,
I manage the docent corps. at my institution and am considering some changes for the upcoming year. Looking for advice on incorporating/ creating various docent committees to help create a more self sustained corps where docents have more involvement and ownership but also help alleviate some of the burden of managing 50+ volunteers. For example -
Tour Feedback Committee:
Group of docents that act as a liaison between the corps. and education staff in regards to tour feedback. Will communicate to staff main concerns of corps and will work together to create solutions that will be reported back to docents at monthly meetings.
Docent Evaluation Committee:
A group of well-seasoned docents that will spearhead the effort of evaluating docents, focusing not only on tour content but also now how a tour is given. Providing tips on classroom management and constructive feedback
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You!
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Mary Morris
Museum Educator
The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Jacksonville FL
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