The Art Engager

In today’s solo episode, I’m talking about observation skills - why they are important and I’m sharing 9 thinking routines that you can use to boost your observation and description skills.As you’ll know from previous episodes, I’m really fascinated by observation and really interested in developing my skills in this area (I have LOADS of  books on this subject!)Most of the time we are observing passively - missing out on a wide range of life that we simply don’t notice. The act of looking requires some work to improve it - but like a muscle we can train it to work better. So, today I'm sharing 9 thinking routines that you can use to improve your powers of observation or with your groups. LinksThinking Routines for Observation - FREE download of 9 thinking routine cheatsheets https://pages.thinkingmuseum.com/observationSupport the Show Episode web pageEpisode 6: 6 Essential Thinking Routines you Need in your Repertoire https://thinkingmuseum.com/2021/05/26/6-essential-thinking-routines-you-need-in-your-repertoire/Episode 25: 3 Thinking Routines for Slow Looking and Drawing https://thinkingmuseum.com/2021/10/18/3-thinking-routines-for-slow-looking-and-drawing/Episode 42 How to Read a Group https://thinkingmuseum.com/2022/03/02/how-to-read-a-group/

Today I’m so happy to be talking to Mitch Bach about what makes a great guided experience and how you can create wow moments in your programmes. Mitch is one of those people you meet and instantly get on with. He’s warm, witty and whip-smart. We met in New York a few years ago and have been friends ever since. We share the same passions about making guided experiences interactive, participative, memorable and even, transformative. Mitch is the co-founder of TripSchool, a community of 6,000+ tour guides, tour leaders and entrepreneurs committed to lifelong learning. He's also the leader of Tourpreneur, a community of 4,000+ tour operators. Both organisations offer training, mentorship, meetups, and a wide range of other resources to empower and encourage experience creators.And that’s what we’re talking about today - guided experiences and tours. We discuss what makes a great guided tour and what makes a great guide. Then we spend some time exploring what a ‘wow’ moment is and how you can create them to make your programmes more memorable and, even transformative. This is a longer chat than usual as we had so much to talk about. You will definitely want to grab a notebook as there are so many takeaways from this chat. So, here it - enjoy!LinksTourpreneur Community Group - facebook.com/groups/tourpreneurTripSchool - thetripschool.comBooks Mitch recommended: The Experience Economy - B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore The Power of Moments - Chip HeathInterpretation: Making a Difference on Purpose - Sam H. HamThe Art Engager Episode 32 - 6 Ways to Create Awe-Inspiring Moments Tourpreneur Podcast episode with Joe Pine about experiences: The Experience Economy in Tours and Activities with Joe Pine

It’s time for another bitesize episode - a short and snappy episode that will give you a quick win or something to think about in less than 10 mins. Today I’m talking about why endings are important and sharing with you a 3 part framework for planning your strong conclusion. If the introduction is setting the scene for what’s to come, then the conclusion is most definitely when you wrap everything up, tie up any loose ends and leave your participants wanting more. The way you end your programme or guided tour is super-important. Great guides, educators and facilitators know that how you end things shapes people's memories of the experience. Find out how to go out with a bang, rather than a whimper in Episode 57!LinksPriya Parker 'The Art of Gathering'

In today’s solo episode, I’m talking about how we can use slow looking to learn to love objects that you might find 'boring' or uninspiring.We can’t possibly love everything in a museum’s collection. There are always going to be some objects or artworks that we are drawn to for some reason. Equally there will also be objects or artworks that leave us cold.Equally, every museum or art gallery has its superstar or highlight objects. These are the objects or artworks that get far more attention than others. They are usually well positioned, even spotlighted and quite often have a space all to themselves.So, as much as this episode is about how we as educators, guides and docents can learn to love so-called ‘boring’ objects, it’s also about how we can get our visitors to love objects that are less well known too.Today I’m sharing examples of two objects that only came to life for me once I had spent time with them. I hope the examples will provide some inspiration for you to search out the ‘boring’ and ‘mundane’ objects in your organisations, and to fully embrace them.Spending some time slow looking with objects that you’re not immediately excited by will, I promise, transform the way you see them.At the end, I’m sharing the key takeaways from these two examples and how they can teach us to love boring objects.LinksSUPPORT THE SHOWJoin the SLOW LOOKING CLUB Community on Facebook Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedInSign up for my weekly dose of carefully-curated inspiration  The TM WeeklyVintage Dutch Bean Slicer (Snijbonenmolen) The Great Pustaha Google Arts and CultureEpisode 2 What is Slow Looking (and How Can I Get Started?)Episode 41 - 12 reasons to get started with slow looking

Today I’m delighted to be talking to educator, facilitator and newly published author Jess Vance about her work. We’re talking about how questions are her superpower and how we can cultivate the conditions for inquiry to thrive.Jess and I met on Instagram a while back when we were discussing the importance of the question ‘what makes you say that’. Since then we’ve chatted regularly and I’ve watched her journey to becoming a published author with interest. I was honoured to be involved with reading some of the early chapters and thrilled to be asked to write a recommendation for the book too. I couldn’t wait to invite Jess to be on the podcast as I think we can all learn so much from her practice. It just so happens to coincide with the publication of her book too. Jess Vance is an enrichment and environment coordinator with a thorough teaching and leadership background - she’s a former IB PYP Educator & PYP Coordinator. After about a decade in the classroom, Jess moved into leadership roles. And she’s taken the things she learned inside of the classroom - such as her approach to questioning and listening as an inquiry educator into her role as a leader. In her newly released book, 'Leading with a Lens of Inquiry', she outlines the ways in which we need to support and facilitate teachers in the same ways in which we want them to engage with their students.Her book is for teachers, leaders, coaches, coordinators, and anyone basically who is invested in cultivating the conditions for authentic and meaningful inquiry to thrive.In today’s chat we talk about the values that drive Jess’s work and the connections we can find between her work and ours. What can we learn from her practice? We discussed how questions are her superpower, the role curiosity, listening and reflection play in her work and how mindfulness is the thread brings everything together. We had so much to talk about. So, here it is - enjoy!LINKSSupport the ShowJoin the Slow Looking Club Community on FacebookJess Vance's website-- downloadable resources, coaching and other professional learning offeringsLeading with a Lens of Inquiry on AmazonJess' Instagram-- giving you an insight into her professional practice and offering tangible ways to infuse curiosity and an inquiry mindset each and every dayMichael Stone - Awake in the WorldWarren Berger - A More Beautiful Question & The Book of Beautiful Questions

Today I’m sharing a 'picture of practice' from art facilitator and English teacher Elisa Mosele.We’re talking all how she uses thinking routines to overcome the fear of speaking a language and encourage all her students to participate. We also explore how she combines slow looking, church art and spirituality in her work as an art facilitator.Elisa Mosele is a English language teacher and an art facilitator.  She currently collaborates with the Verona Minor Hierusalem Foundation. She introduced the concepts of VTM and thinking routines to the foundation and in 2020 initiated their first virtual sessions looking slowly and carefully at artworks from local churches. Elisa wrote a blog for me in 2020 about her very first experience facilitating with thinking routines virtually and it was great to hear in our chat about how she is now facilitating sessions in person too. In today’s chat we talk about how Elisa uses thinking routines to develop vocabulary and how she combines Visible Thinking with spirituality in her work at the foundation. LinksEpisode Web PageSupport the Show What I learned from my first virtual facilitation session with arthttps://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/12/10/first-virtual-art-facilitation/Elisa Mosele on LinkedIn Home - Fondazione Verona Minor HierusalemMuseo di Castelvecchio - Caroto e le arti tra Mantegna e Veronese: dal 13 maggio al Palazzo della Gran Guardia

Today I’m starting something new. I know we are all busy and sometimes it can be hard to find the time to listen to a full length podcast episode. So once a month I’ll be sharing a 'bite-sized' episode that will give you a quick win or something to think about in less than 10 mins.  Today I’m going to share a quick episode that will help you to start defining your personal facilitator style.  We'll look at what we mean by personal facilitator style and why it's super-important and then I'll take you through an exercise to help you to define your personal facilitation style.

A willingness to continue growing and developing is at the heart of our practice as museum educators, teachers and guides. We are never ‘done’ with learning. There is always a strong desire to keep honing our craft.Personal development keeps us motivated and pushes us out of our comfort zone. It helps us to keep innovating, experimenting and being creative. But, what are the best ways that we can grow and develop personally? Today I'm sharing 8 different ways to go from good to great…and can reach your full potential.

Way back in 2011, I discovered the magic of thinking routines and Visible Thinking whilst working at a museum in Amsterdam. It was at this point that I started developing a new approach for educators, what became Visible Thinking in the Museum or VTM for short. Visible Thinking in the Museum is an easy-to-follow method that allows educators like you to confidently design and lead engaging inquiry-led sessions with art, objects and ideas for any audience. But what’s it all about? And why should you use it? Today we’re talking about the foundations, principles and practices of the VTM method and 8 ways it can help you to engage your audiences. LinksEpisode Web PageVisible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO) Course Support the ShowJoin the SLOW LOOKING CLUB Community on FacebookFind me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedInSign up for my weekly dose of carefully-curated inspiration  The TM Weekly

Today on our 50th episode, I'm launching a new series of episodes all about 'pictures of practice'. I'm really interested is in finding out how other museum educators around the world engage their audiences with art and objects. What are some of the practices that are really important to them? How might they use thinking routines, or slow looking, questioning or facilitation?For our very first Pictures of Practice, I'm talking today to Gabrielle Grime is a Heritage Education Officer at Wanneroo Regional Museum in Australia. She believes museums can be places of sanctuary which foster wellbeing, as well as sparking creativity, wonder and connection. Gabrielle read about the Peel the Fruit thinking routine on my blog and decided to give it a go with a group of primary school children. She speaks about this powerful experience in today’s chat and how it moved some people in the group to tears. She then followed my VTMO course last year and is now a member of my community of practice The Thinking Museum Membership. Gabrielle shares how she is applying a number of ideas from the course and the continuing membership classes in her work.In this chat we talk about what values inform her practice, how she's going to use slow looking with Front of House staff in a pilot programme and what thinking routines she loves to use. Gabrielle also shares why she stays up until 11pm or midnight to attend classes! We talk about questioning, facilitation and being part of a community of educators learning, exploring and sharing together. I know you’re going to love listening to Gabrielle - and hope her enthusiasm inspires you as much as it did me - enjoy!LINKSEPISODE WEB PAGESupport the ShowJoin the Slow Looking Club Community on FacebookVisible Thinking in the Museum Online Course - starts 09 May!The Thinking Museum MembershipConnect with Gabrielle Grime on LinkedIn Wanneroo Regional Museum