Docent with student visiting the galleries. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.
“Go big!” Now that our field trips have moved to Zoom, our dedicated storytellers and docents have been learning new techniques to get kids excited about art. “Taking a cue from acting, we encourage our storytellers to ‘use the whole Zoom box,’” says School Programs Education Assistant Jennifer Miller.
Transforming on-site field trips into virtual offerings has allowed our school programs team to deepen its collaborations with docents and storytellers, as well as with teachers. “These partnerships with our stakeholders are making our programs stronger,” says Manager of School and Teacher Programs Margaret Yee.
Since the museum closed in March 2020, the school programs team, which also includes educators Nina Gray and Pamela Low, has developed an impressive collection of virtual tours for grades pre-K through college. Teachers can opt for livestreamed tours or video and lesson plan packages that they can work through at their own pace.
In September, the team recruited a group of Bay Area teachers to provide feedback on the new online offerings. Teachers asked for vocabulary lists, which adds a literacy component to each tour. Another key takeaway was the need to break prerecorded tours into shorter segments, interspersing the video with interactive discussion questions and art activities.
“This revised approach prompts students to actively engage with the material, rather than passively watch,” notes Yee. Teachers also wanted the livestreamed tours to incorporate more movement, so our storytellers are asking the kids to join in with hand movements and sound effects.
While shifting to virtual field trips wasn’t easy, many of the lessons learned — theatrical teaching techniques, incorporating movement, and a literacy component — will persist when we can once again welcome groups back to the museum.
Stories like these demonstrate the tremendous impact you have on the Asian Art Museum and its education initiatives. Your support will enrich the lives and minds of schoolchildren near and far for years to come.