As a former museum educator, I can attest to the magnitude of the problem of
"silly docent tales."

I think David is in general correct in laying responsibility at the
administrative door.  Docents are any museum's or historic house's primarily
contact with the public.  Rightly or wrongly, they speak with the authority
of the institution.

One problem is that there is a constant need to increase docent groups, to
have backups during snowbird flight, to have adequate numbers during the
school visitation crunch that occurs generally in April, May and early June.
Not only are most (not all, but way too many) training programs too shallow,
but most programs are conducted without any input from the curatorial staff.
Most museums cannot afford to hire a competent scholar to work exclusively
with docents, and the "docent coordinator" position is more often than not a
bottom-rung, entry-level, and revolving-door position.

A great many docent programs are independent volunteer organizations that
run themselves with little oversight from the institution.  The "teachers"
more often than not in these situations tend to be the docents of longest
standing and strongest personalities, not necessarily docents who truly know
their stuff.  Moreover, many of these docents tend to be donors and
community honchos, and their pockets are more important to the
administration than the educational work (or damage) they do.

The other problem is that information in museums is rarely static.
Paintings are reattributed, renamed, reconsidered; science changes; history
is reevaluated.  A docent who learned "correct" material during his/her
initial training my never be able to unlearn that material when it becomes
incorrect.

The Getty produced a study about art museum education in 1985 called "The
Uncertain Profession."  It was, for me, depressing and discouraging.  I am
not under the impression that much has changed since then.

The Museum Education List is a terrific place to go to discuss docents.  You
can contact them at [log in to unmask]

Ellen B. Cutler
LNB Associates - Writing, Editing, Proofreading, Research Services
Aberdeen, MD  21001

----- Original Message -----
From: David E. Haberstich <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2001 9:11 PM
Subject: Re: Proper term


> In a message dated 01-02-22 21:03:24 EST, William Maurer writes:
>
> << I am wondering if there is a term for an entirely wrong statement of
fact
> or
>  wild exaggeration. A statement that certainly should have been caught by
the
>  director, educator or whoever is in charge of guide or docent training.
>  Have you experienced this as a common thing in historic houses and the
>  telling of the history? There must be a term stronger than "silly docent
>  tales." >>
>
> I've heard some volunteer docents in several museums tell some real
whoppers,
> and I suspect that part of the problem is inadequate or inappropriate
> training.  I know in my own museum docents are not generally trained by
the
> curatorial staff, which I've always thought was a mistake.  In fact, some
of
> the docents have no idea who the curators are.  I'm not trying to
generalize
> about docents or docent training programs, but I've heard enough errors of
> fact to convince me that there is sometimes a problem, and the innocent
> public gets shortchanged and misinformed.  When one gives a tour or
lecture
> in either a museum setting or a lecture hall, there's no substitute for
depth
> of knowledge and expertise.  I'm not attempting to slam museum educators
and
> their programs, and my evidence is purely personal and anecdotal, but it's
> clear to me that some institutions don't take seriously enough their
> obligation to disseminate accurate information to the public through
docent
> tours.
>
> One experience which stands out in my mind is a visit several years ago to
> Alnwick Castle, the home of the Dukes of Northumberland in England.  In
> describing some of the foibles of the ancestors of this family, the tour
> guide mentioned that one illegitimate son of a duke, James Smithson, was
so
> disgusted at the way he was treated by British society that he gave his
> fortune to the United States to found the Smithsonian Institution.  That's
> true enough, but then she went on to say that he designed the Smithsonian
> Castle.  Wrong.  He was long dead when the Castle was designed and built,
and
> he never visited the U.S., which is precisely what was so unusual about
his
> generosity.  This wasn't an earth-shattering mistake, but it was a totally
> unnecessary and avoidable muddle.
>
> David Haberstich
>
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