Facilitation Techniques for Great Tours
According to the dictionary, facilitation is defined as: “to make easier” or “to help bring about.” Museums have the opportunity to play a role in how society reimagines community and culture. Most importantly, museums must charge themselves with helping to bring about change that makes life easier, more enjoyable, and more meaningful for the diversity of visitors who come through - or have yet to come through - the museums’ doors, virtual or physical.
As we reflect on our role as museum educators in the “new normal,” we must prioritize the things that make us unique as educational institutions: informal and experiential learning, entertaining programs, catalystic socializing, and community-minded activism. One powerful way to prioritize all of these characteristics is inquiry-based facilitation and confident improvisation. To incorporate this method into our tours is to find comfort in asking questions of our visitors and sharing authority; it’s about fostering curiosity, building trust, and investing in our visitors.
This two-part virtual workshop will provide useful tools and techniques to frontline educators and interpreters who want to foster greater meaning-making in their visitors’ minds. Participants will experience inquiry-based facilitation firsthand, discuss its potential application at their own institutions, and practice different activities to make their tours even more engaging. From Visual Thinking Strategies conversations to discussion-based group work to improvisational games, this workshop will intertwine the FUN and the PRACTICAL into an impactful “how to” learning journey.
A recording of this event will be shared with registered participants, though any activity in breakout rooms cannot be captured.
Tuesday, March 1: LEARN
1:00 – 1:20: CONVERSE: Shall we start off with some art?
1:20 – 1:40: ASSESS: What can we learn from Visual Thinking Strategies?
1:40 – 2:00: DISCOVER: What is facilitation? What is the benefit to question-based facilitated tours?
2:00 – 2:30: IDENTIFY: What are the qualities of a good facilitator?
Wednesday, March 2: DO
1:00 – 1:20: FORMULATE: How do I insert meaningful questions into my tours?
1:20 – 1:40: IMPROVISE: Can we make a game out of it?
1:40 – 2:00: PRACTICE: How do I apply this newfound knowledge?
2:00 – 2:20: REFLECT: How do I make my tours more of a facilitated experience and less of a walk-and-talk?
2:20 – 2:30: QUESTION: What more do I want to know?
Your Presenter
Erin Wederbrook Yuskaitis (she/her), Principal for Yellow Room Consulting, is an experienced museum educator and advanced Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) facilitator specializing in adult learning, innovative program development, and cross-discipline meaning-making. She spent fifteen years in the art and museum worlds, working for four different cultural institutions in both Alabama and Massachusetts. Now collaborating with corporate, healthcare, and nonprofit clients, Erin’s personal mission is to foster connections through visual art and material culture so that people operate from a place of curiosity, observation, and consideration with themselves and each other. Erin received her BA from the University of Virginia in art history and archaeology, her MA from the University of Alabama in American studies, and her Certificate in museum studies/education from Tufts University. She serves as the Education Professional Affinity Group Co-Chair for the New England Museum Association and the regional representative for the American Alliance of Museums Education Committee. With two young children, Erin’s limited spare time is spent doing yoga, drinking chai lattes, and listening to podcasts.
Attending an Online Workshop
To participate in this online workshop you will need access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection. We will be using Zoom to host this workshop as an online videoconference. Once you register, you will immediately be sent instructions for logging in via automatically sent email.
If you do not have access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection, you will still be able to call in on a telephone, but you will unfortunately not be able to see any of the participants or visuals.
Online registration will be open through March 1. Attendance is limited to 90 people; register soon to save your spot!
Registration for MAM members is $30. Non-members pay $45.
Members of MAM enjoy discounted registration (MAM members please log in first). If you're not a MAM member, join today!
