The Art Engager

Today I’m talking all about how to use the ‘Unveiling Stories’ thinking routine to investigate multiple layers of meaning with a photograph. This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online.Unveiling Stories was our ‘thinking routine of the month’ for June in my Membership Programme. Every month we have a specialist thinking routine online class that gives us the opportunity to discover a new thinking routine or to dig a bit deeper into one we already know. Discover in this episode:What is ‘Unveiling Stories’ thinking routine?5 Steps of Unveiling Stories About ‘Unveiling Stories’How we structured the discussion using 'Cross-Border Love' - a photograph by Roland SchmidMy key takeaways and tips for using this thinking routineLINKSSupport the showRoland Schmid, ‘Cross-Border Love’ (25 April, 2020 )Courtesy of World Press Photo https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2021/41420/1/Roland-SchmidThe Thinking Museum MembershipULTIMATE THINKING ROUTINES LIST

Many of us are experts in our field - possibly art historians, historians or archaeologists - and want to share that incredible knowledge with the groups we lead in our programmes.But knowing what information to share, how to share it and when to share it is often tricky – especially on interactive, discussion-based programmes. And what happens when you add too much information? And how much is too much?Sharing information that is engaging and memorable (without overloading your participants) is a great skill to master.In this week's episode I'm sharing some thoughts on information delivery and 6 best practices for how to share your knowledge AND keep your audience engaged and curious (as opposed to bored and frustrated).Make your knowledge work for you. Learn how to use information as a tool to create curiosity and engagement in episode 12!LINKSSupport the showMini-Course From Monologue to dialogue: How to Share Information to Engage and delight your Audience available in my membership programme Patterson Williams, Object‐Oriented Learning in Art Museums Nina Simon, Museum 2.0, 2010, Making Museum Tours Participatory

Perspective-taking is about seeing a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative view point, such as that of someone else. It is a skill that needs to be encouraged - particularly in children. Your brain has to work quite hard to get good at perspective-taking. And in the opposite direction of what it is hard-wired to do - which is to place YOU at the centre of everything. Engaging in perspective-taking means moving away from this starting point in order to understand others. THE GOOD NEWS is that like most things, it gets easier with practice and our perspective-taking skills do improve.  In today's episode I'm going to introduce you to 4 thinking routines that are specifically designed to foster this disposition. You can  use these thinking routines with artworks to create discussions that consider multiple solutions to a problem and look at situations or people from multiple perspectives. LinksSupport the show https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown Ellen Galinsky ‘Mind in the Making’

So, this week in honour of our 10th episode I’m talking about 10 common traps to avoid when asking questions! For some people questioning comes easily. But for the majority of us, we are not asking enough questions AND we’re not phrasing them in the best way. The good news is that we can all become better questioners with time and practice. To become a better questioner, it’s really important first all to avoid these 10 common mistakes. Which ones of these are you guilty of? I’ve certainly done a few of these in the past! And stay tuned until the end where I’m sharing a follow-up exercise you can do to work on your own questioning skills!LINKSSupport the show https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Welcome back to the Art Engager podcast! Today I’m talking about building rapport and creating a great group dynamic in the 'new now'. Creating a great group dynamic is even MORE important now after the last year or so. We will need to take extra care to create social comfort and psychological safety, we will also need to build trust and social interaction. In this episode I'm talking about :what group dynamics arethe different types of groups you might come acrossthe roles people play in groupsthe size of groupshow to use spaceI'll end by talking about how to still create a great group dynamic even when you’re wearing a face mask, so stay tuned for that at the end of this episode. So, the big questions for today’s episode are:how we are going to lead engaging in-person group experiences around art and objects going forwards?how might we make our audience, our participants feel socially comfortable – what will group dynamics look like now? And how CAN we create a great group dynamic with awareness and sensitivity for how people feel right now. Throughout this episode think about how some of the ideas might work for you or how they could be adapted to your organisation or environment. There is unfortunately not a one-size-fits-all approach to this, but I'm hoping some of these suggestions might help you to think about how you can lead engaging, enjoyable and safe group experiences going forwards. LINKSPriya Parker, ‘The Art of Gathering’ Refresher Course for Teams https://thinkingmuseum.com/refreshercourse/ULTIMATE THINKING ROUTINES LIST

Today I’m talking all about how to use the ‘See Think Me We’ thinking routine to create personal and community connections with artworks. This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online. See Think Me We was our ‘thinking routine of the month’ recently in the Visible Thinking Membership. Every month we have a specialist thinking routine online class that gives us the opportunity to discover a new thinking routine or to dig a bit deeper into one we already know. Here’s how we used See Think Me We thinking routine to discuss Kerry James Marshall's ‘SOB, SOB’ (2003). LINKSKerry James Marshall, ‘SOB, SOB’ (2003) https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/sob-sob-7874Andrew Wyeth, ‘Christina's World’, (1948) https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78455Amy E Herman, 'Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life' Visible Thinking MembershipULTIMATE THINKING ROUTINES LIST

Slow looking is not only an important part of my work, it is also a personal practice - something that I’ve been doing regularly for the last few years. I’m really interested in developing my observational skills and I’m also fascinated by what happens when we spend a longer period of time looking at something. Our general approach to looking is, however, flawed and we try to look at things as briskly and efficiently as possible. We need to slow our looking down and give our brain the time and space to focus on what is in front of us. Developing a daily slow looking practice will enable you to improve your observational skills and start noticing more details. And if we are better at this ourselves, as educators, then we are in a far better position to guide others through the process of slow looking too.So, here are 6 ways you can start to develop your own daily slow looking practice - I’ve included a number of ideas, some outside, some inside, some to do with art, some not. The idea is that you pick one of these activities and you do it every day for a few days and see what happens. After a few days you should start to notice a difference! LinksThe Intelligent Eye, David PerkinsHow to Use your Eyes, James ElkinsOn Looking: 11 Walks with Expert Eyes, Alexander Horowitz

In this episode, I’m discussing 6 essential thinking routines you should have in your educator repertoire. These are thinking routines that you can use to create engaging discussions with art or artefacts or routines that will help you develop and grow in your work as an educator. I’ve found it really hard to select just 6 thinking routine out of the 100+ routines out there, but I’ve come up with a list that every educator should have in their repertoire to draw upon in different situations or for different purposes.I’ve chosen :An all-rounder thinking routineA thinking routine to focus on observation and descriptionA thinking routine for perspective-taking & opening up thinkingA routine to help capture the heart and summarise A thinking routine for formulating and sorting questionsA thinking routine that will foster meaningful reflection To find out which 6 thinking routines I chose, listen to this week’s episode!Plus, if you’d like a copy of my newly updated Ultimate Thinking Routines list, I've put a link below in the show notes so you can sign up for your own copy of this resource with 100+ thinking routines in one place. It’s a really useful reference document for any educator interested in creating engaging discussions with art, objects and ideas. LinksThe Ultimate Thinking Routine List - https://mailchi.mp/21a87a092bdd/thinking-routine-listSee Think Wonder https://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/01/01/see-think-wonder-visible-thinking/Looking Ten Times Two https://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/01/05/visible-thinking-routine-of-the-week-looking-ten-times-two/Step Inside https://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/01/11/visible-thinking-routine-of-the-week-step-inside/Creative Questions https://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/05/27/using-thinking-routines-to-formulate-better-questions/ESP+I https://thinkingmuseum.com/2020/07/03/the-power-of-reflection-in-online-learning/

Facilitation is a key part of creating engaging and interactive discussions around art and museum objects. But developing the skills of a good facilitator is an art form in itself – it requires practice, patience and the best facilitators MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY. Sometimes people wonder why I chose the word 'facilitator' - rather than guide, educator, teacher, docent, or interpreter - to describe people who lead participative, discussion-based experiences around art and objects.It’s certainly not the easiest word to say, but it does sum up what we do. As a facilitator, you are guiding the process, creating participation and activating the learning and engagement. In this week's episode, I’m talking about facilitation - how can you develop the skills of a good facilitator (and make it look like you were born to do it), and what are the different roles you will be expected to play? 

In this week's episode, I’m sharing my 5 golden rules for asking brilliant questions. But what is a brilliant question? Asking more questions is one way to get more interaction and engagement in your programmes. But asking the wrong types of questions can actually shut down the discussion and stop people participating at all. So, in this episode, I'm sharing 5 rules that will help you to ask questions that create interaction and engagement, open up discussions and encourage everyone to participate fully!LinksThe Art of Questioning - Improve your questioning technique with tools and exercises for creating, sorting, and evaluating brilliant questions.