What does a docent do?
The Lee Richardson Zoo Docents are a group of dedicated individuals from diverse backgrounds who volunteer their time to help the zoo’s Education Division spread its message of conservation. Docents share a love of animals and nature, and a desire to promote the Lee Richardson Zoo. The function of the Docent organization is education. Docents give animal programs to schools, scouts, service organizations, senior citizens, youth groups and others. Docents also host Earth Day festivities, discovery carts (featuring interesting animal biofacts) on the zoo grounds, and staff the Finnup Center interactive exhibits on summer weekends. The Lee Richardson Zoo Docents are excited to share the zoo and their love of animals with visitors of all ages. Here at the zoo, we believe that introducing children to animals and the environment at an early age will promote a lifetime of caring for both. Our active, dynamic organization invites you to bring your enthusiasm and JOIN US! Our training classes p
A docent is an educator, most often in the setting of a museum or institution. The term comes from the Latin docere, to teach. Docents can also work at universities, although the title has different meanings depending on which nation the university is located in. Docents often volunteer their expertise and labor, and are an important part of outreach programs for the public designed to educate, intrigue, and assist. Within a university setting, a docent acts as a type of guest lecturer. A docent would not be on the regular staff of the university, and would be compensated per lecture offered, generally. This type of docent usually has the same qualifications that a full time professor does. Different universities use docents slightly differently, and in universities with libraries and museums, it is not uncommon to find a docent acting in the capacity of guide, rather than lecturer. Within the context of a museum, institution, or organization, a docent is an important part of the staff
New docents attend one-year-long provisional docent training sessions that introduce the McMichael’s permanent collection and basic touring techniques. While weekday docents train every third Monday, weekend docents attend sessions every third Saturday. Docents-in-training are also asked to follow tours conducted by experienced docents and/or gallery educators. Personal research on the topics covered in the training sessions is recommended. The active-docents’ training sessions focus on art criticism, art history, aesthetics and art making related to the works of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, and of First Nations and Inuit artists. Teaching and touring techniques are also discussed.
