The Art Engager Claire Bown

My guest today, Trevor MacKenzie is an experienced teacher, author, keynote speaker and inquiry consultant who has worked in schools throughout North America, Asia, Australia, South Africa and Europe. 
Trevor’s day job is as a high school English teacher in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, He teaches from an inquiry stance, guided by specific values and beliefs. In addition, Trevor is also an author, speaker and consultant, travelling worldwide to help schools implement inquiry-based teaching structures and frameworks. 
Trevor’s new book Inquiry Mindset Questions Edition is out imminently and because questions are a favourite subject of mine, I had to invite him onto the podcast to talk about it. 
I’ve known Trevor for a few years now since we connected on social media through shared interests and enthusiasms.
Trevor is an advocate and champion for inquiry-based learning, generously supporting the work of many educators in the field, including me, and he is well known for his kindness, alongside his expertise. 
Listen to find out more about:
the power of inquiry-based learning and what it means to teach from an inquiry-based stancethe key principles and values that guide Trevor's work, drawing from his extensive experience and his new book, 'Inquiry Mindset Questions Edition' generating question confidence and competence; the importance of both open and closed questionsthe 10 high impact question routines in Trevor's new book, 'Inquiry Mindset Questions Edition' and how they can be used to promote inquiry. using images, photos, and art as provocations to spark curiosity and engagement. 
There’s so much in our conversation from fostering curiosity, agency, active listening and the connections between Trevor’s work and our work in museums. What can we learn from each other? Where are the crossovers? 
Listen to our conversation to discover more about the power of inquiry, curiosity and so much more. 
Episode Links:Episode webpage
Trevor MacKenzie's website: https://www.trevormackenzie.com
Inquiry Mindset Questions Edition: https://www.trevormackenzie.com/inquiry-mindset-questions-edition
https://www.trevormackenzie.com/posts/2024/4/14/announcing-inquiry-mindset-questions-edition
Trevor MacKenzie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trev_mackenzie/
Trevor MacKenzie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-mackenzie-37103b261/
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How can we engage children with classical music in the museum environment? 
Today, I'm talking to Cecilie Skøtt about how to engage students with the music of Carl Nielsen through a blend of philosophical questioning and the art of slow listening.
Cecilie Skøtt is a mediation designer at Hans Christian Andersen’s House and the Carl Nielsen Museum in Denmark. 
Cecilie plays a key role in crafting and delivering school programmes for both museums, as well as interacting with visitors of all ages on weekends and holidays. With a passion for literature and dialogical teaching in the arts, Cecilie focuses on easing classroom-related anxiety and uses her expertise to create memorable museum experiences for children and families
Today we’re chatting about how the Carl Nielsen museum engages students in classical music. At the museum, they’ve been teaching from an Open Questioning Mindset (OQM) and using Philosophical Dialogue for a few years now.
OQM is both a teaching method and a mindset developed by Peter Worley to engage students in different topics, concepts, and stories. The method offers different tools and techniques for asking open and engaging questions, and to quickly create an environment where children feel safe and comfortable speaking their minds.
Slow listening is a natural extension to the philosophical questioning environment and allows children to deeply connect with Nielsen's music . In two new programmes developed for schools the Carl Nielsen Museum combines all three to engage students with classical music.
Listen to discover more about the Carl Nielsen Museum, philosophical questioning techniques and slow listening. 
Episode Links:Episode web page + transcript:
Cecilie Horup Skøtt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilie-horup-sk%C3%B8tt-b60a93ab/
Carl Nielsen Museum website: https://museumodense.dk/carl-nielsen-museet/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarlNielsenMuseet
Open Questioning Mindset and philosophy with children: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/
YouTube links for the music:
Symphony no. 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agPrhTFqD0o
Nielsen’s paraphrase on Nearer, My God, to Thee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5FUNK2wZms
Tågen Letter, played during Music Dynamite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_-wkidKX54
Maskerade, Keraus, played during Music Dynamite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TFfRwq-lrM
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Today, I'm excited to chat with Kylie Neagle about fostering curiosity and critical thinking on self-guided field trips for teachers and students.
Kylie Neagle is the Education Coordinator at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide . 
With a small team and limited resources, catering to diverse student needs can be challenging. Volunteer Gallery Guides, though invaluable, cannot always provide guided tours.
At the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide (AGSA), this prompted a shift towards empowering teachers to lead self-guided tours, emphasising inquiry and engagement rather than content delivery. The aim is to discourage teachers from relying on booklets during gallery visits. When students solely focus on facts or information from wall texts, they miss out on the chance to discover artworks that genuinely pique their interest.
And this is where the Curiosity Cards come into play. These fantastic cards are a set of 52 tools designed to enhance art engagement among students. Perfect for self-guided gallery visits, they ease the pressure on teachers and empower students to articulate their thinking.
They promote 'long looking' and also foster critical thinking, creativity and confidence in discussing art, enriching the whole learning experience.
Episode Links:Episode webpage + transcript: https://thinkingmuseum.com/2024/05/15/fostering-curiosity-on-self-guided-field-trips/
Curiosity Cards
https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/education/resources-educators/resources-educators-themed/curiosity-cards/ 
Other AGSA Resources
https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/education/resources-educators/ 
AGSA Education Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/agsa.education/ 
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Join the Slow Looking Club Community
Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown
Download my free resources: 
How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum
Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking
Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place
If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!

In this episode, we take a closer look at museum visitor teams with Dickon Moore, Visitor Experience Manager at Wellcome Collection in London. Discover how these teams master the art of informal engagement, creating meaningful interactions that enhance visitors' museum experiences.
Key Points:
Understanding the importance of informal engagement in fostering meaningful interactions.How the role of visitor teams has changed over time from a more security-focused role to their current role as facilitators of engagement.Insights into the strategies and techniques employed by museum visitor teams, for informal, spontaneous interactions and structured engagements.Why visitor teams are uniquely placed to engage with museum visitorsHow museum visitor teams expertly navigate interactions with strangers, based on curiosity and open questioning.Learn about the three areas of impact: how visitors might think differently, feel differently, or act differently after engaging with museum content or staff.Discover how museum visitor teams are supported during challenging interactions, including skills development, duty manager support, de-escalation techniques, and reflective practice sessions.
Episode 127 LinksWellcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/
Dickon Moore on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/dickonmoore
Transcript available here:
The Art Engager Links:Sign up for my Curated newsletter - a fortnightly dose of cultural inspiration
Join the Slow Looking Club Community
Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown
Download my free resources: 
How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum
Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking
Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place
If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!

Today, in a special BONUS episode for Slow Art Day, I’m talking to Harma van Uffelen.
Harma works as a curator of education for the Van Gogh Museum where they have just created a brand new slow looking programme and a slow looking experience for the Matthew Wong exhibition. 
Listen in to hear:
How the programme started and why they chose the Matthew Wong exhibitionTechniques for engaging participants, including a deep dive into one of Wong's artworksConsiderations in programme design: ensuring comfort, choosing artworks, and managing durationDesigning a slow looking programme in a busy museum (hint: it can be done!)"In Silence with Matthew Wong": silent slow looking experience with one artworkReflections on the pilot programme and future plans
If you’ve ever thought about designing and facilitating slow looking programmes in your museum, you will learn a lot from this episode!
Episode Links:Matthew Wong, The Realm of Appearances, 2018, 
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/news-and-press/press-image-bank/images-matthew-wong/the-realm-of-appearances
Matthew Wong exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/visit/whats-on/exhibitions/matthew-wong-vincent-van-gogh
Slow Looking Programme at the Van Gogh Museum
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/nl/bezoek/agenda-en-activiteiten/rondleidingen/matthew-wong-vincent-van-gogh
Open up with Vincent
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/organisation/inclusion-and-accessibility-policy/open-up-with-vincent#collaborations
Harma van Uffelen on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harma-van-uffelen-4b50b721/
H.vanUffelen@vangoghmuseum.nl
The Art Engager Links:Sign up for my Curated newsletter - a fortnightly dose of cultural inspiration
Join the Slow Looking Club Community
Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown
Download my free resources: 
How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum

Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking

Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!

In today's episode: what is rapport, why is it important and how can we build it in our museum and gallery programmes? 
I recently wrote an article for the Journal of Museum Education inspired by the coaching training I did in 2022.
In ' Fostering a coaching mindset: applying coaching competencies to enhance museum educator practice and visitor experience' I explored how museum educators can benefit from using coaching skills to enhance their teaching and improve the visitor experience.
One of the competencies I talked about in this article is building rapport. 
Rapport is quite a subtle or nuanced concept. It’s also not something that comes up  in everyday conversation. So what is rapport, why is it important for us as educators? I'll also be sharing 5 ways to build rapport in your museum and gallery programmes.
Links
Journal of Museum Education article: 'Fostering a coaching mindset: applying coaching competencies to enhance museum educator practice and visitor experience' https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10598650.2023.2283400
Episode 44 The 4 Elements of a Great Introduction
The Art Engager Links:
Sign up for my Curated newsletter - a fortnightly dose of cultural inspiration

Join the Slow Looking Club Community

Support the show here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Download my free resources: 

How to look at art (slowly)- 30+ different ways to look at art or objects in the museum

Slow Art Guide - six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking

Ultimate Thinking Routine List - 120 thinking routines in one place

If you have any suggestions, questions or feedback, get in touch with the show!