info@thinkingmuseum.com
FacebookInstagramTwitterLinkedInEmail

June 2021

Step Inside: Thinking Routines to Foster Perspective-Taking

STEP INSIDE: THINKING ROUTINES TO FOSTER PERSPECTIVE-TAKING SUMMARY 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

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Asking Questions

10 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN ASKING QUESTIONS SUMMARY 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 the 10 common mistakes I talk about in this episode. 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

Creating a Great Group Dynamic in the ‘New Now’

CREATING A GREAT GROUP DYNAMIC IN THE 'NEW NOW' SUMMARY 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 are the different types of groups you might come across the roles people play in

How to Use ‘See Think Me We’ Thinking Routine with Artworks

Tags: , , |

HOW TO USE 'SEE THINK ME WE' THINKING ROUTINE WITH ARTWORKS SUMMARY Today I’m discussing 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 W'e was our ‘thinking routine of the month’ recently in the Visible Thinking Membership. Every month we

How to Develop a Daily Slow Looking Practice

Tags: |

HOW TO DEVELOP A SLOW LOOKING PRACTICE 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

May 2021

6 Essential Thinking Routines you Need in your Repertoire

Tags: , , |

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 routine A thinking routine

The Art of Facilitation

The Art of Facilitation 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 5 Golden Rules for Asking Brilliant Questions

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! Links Masterclass: How to Ask Brilliant Questions That Get Results - https://thinkingmuseum.com/product/how-to-ask-brilliant-questions-that-get-results/

The magic of thinking routines: what are they and how can you use them?

Thinking routines are an essential part of the Visible Thinking in the Museum method. They have been a magical ingredient in helping me to confidently create engaging discussions around objects and artworks over the past 10 years. They’ve also been a great way to engage audiences to get them really interested in art and objects, making them curious and asking questions and, of course, getting them thinking. But what are thinking routines and how can you use them? And where does the magic happen? That’s what we’re discovering in episode 3! Links The Ultimate Thinking Routine List https://mailchi.mp/4dd4fbc3e870/ultimatethinkingroutinelist Making

April 2021

The moment when I first heard the words ‘Visible Thinking’

In this first episode, I’m going to be talking about the main method I use to engage audiences with art and ideas - that’s my Visible Thinking in the Museum method which I started developing 10 years ago this year. The Visible Thinking in the Museum method is an easy-to-follow framework that allows educators to confidently lead engaging discussion-based sessions with art, objects and ideas with any audience. It takes elements of a framework called Visible Thinking (from Harvard's Project Zero) and combines them with museum education practices, facilitation techniques and questioning strategies. I didn’t know it at the time,

Toggle Sliding Bar Area