Thinking Museum Blog

July 2022

4 Slow Looking Exercises for Summer 2022

BITESIZE: 4 SLOW LOOKING EXERCISES FOR SUMMER 2022 In an age where the average person checks their phone at least 85 times a day, our inundated brains are slowing down. ⁠ ⁠ We need to retrain ourselves to get better at sustained attention. And to learn to appreciate the benefits of it too.⁠ ⁠ Spending time slow looking offers refuge from the rush and time to slow down and see the details. It’s the opposite of scanning and scrolling. “Always-on” behaviour is about being in a constant state of alertness without

7 Ways to Be Creative with Thinking Routines

BITESIZE: 7 WAYS TO BE CREATIVE WITH THINKING ROUTINES I have a golden rule when I introduce participants on my team trainings and in my VTMO course to thinking routines for the first time. This that you should get to know one thinking routine really, really well before you learn any more. This is usually See Think Wonder - probably the most well-known and famous thinking routine of them all I tell participants to get to know the routine as it is written before they start to add in any variations. Try

How mindfulness and drawing can help us to connect with art

HOW MINDFULNESS AND DRAWING HELP US TO CONNECT WITH ART INTRODUCTION Today I’m so happy to be talking to Karly Allen about her work. We’re talking about how mindfulness can help us to connect with and engage with art, how we can bring mindfulness practices to the experience of drawing. Karly Allen is a UK-based gallery educator, drawing tutor and mindfulness teacher. She has worked for the National Gallery, London, over the past 20 years and has taught widely for UK art collections including the National Portrait Gallery, Wallace Collection and

Bitesize: Learn, Unlearn, Relearn

BITESIZE: LEARN, UNLEARN, RELEARN There is a famous quote by Alvin Toffler that goes: “The illiterate of the future are not those who can’t read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” As educators, you’re probably already quite enthusiastic about the learning part. Being a lifelong learner is something that is a part of us. We’re constantly learning new things and updating our knowledge. But learning is not just about acquiring new things to learn, it’s important to learn, unlearn and relearn. In today's episode I'm talking about why

June 2022

9 thinking routines to improve your powers of observation

9 THINKING ROUTINES TO IMPROVE YOUR POWERS OF OBSERVATION 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. INTRODUCTION So, observation 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

How to Create Wow Moments with Mitch Bach

HOW TO CREATE WOW MOMENTS WITH MITCH BACH INTRODUCTION 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

Bitesize: How to End Well – Creating a Strong Conclusion for your Programmes

BITESIZE: HOW TO END WELL - CREATING A STRONG CONCLUSION FOR YOUR PROGRAMMES 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

Learning to Love ‘Boring’ Objects through Slow Looking

LEARNING TO LOVE 'BORING' OBJECTS THROUGH SLOW LOOKING In today’s solo episode, I’m talking about ways to work with objects that you might find 'boring' or uninspiring. I’m sharing how we can use slow looking to learn to love objects that we might otherwise overlook or reject. And how we can get our visitors and participants excited by these types of objects too. INTRODUCTION I had a chat recently with a fellow educator about how we can work with objects that we don’t instantly feel attracted to, objects

Cultivating the conditions for inquiry with Jess Vance

Tags: book, curiosity, curious, educators, facilitating, inquiry, leaders, learners, listeners, listening, playful, questions, reflect, thinking|

CULTIVATING THE CONDITIONS FOR INQUIRY WITH JESS VANCE INTRODUCTION 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 loads of interest. I was honoured

May 2022

Pictures of Practice with Elisa Mosele

PICTURES OF PRACTICE WITH ELISA MOSELE INTRODUCTION Here is another 'picture of practice' episode. In these episodes, 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? Today I’m delighted to be talking to Elisa Mosele about her work. Elisa is an English language teacher and an art facilitator. She currently collaborates with the Verona Minor Hierusalem Foundation . We’re talking all

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