A docent is a volunteer tour guide at a museum. They perform many different tasks as needed in the museum galleries and work closely with the professional museum education staff.
Leading Tours
Docents lead tours for school and adult groups, give gallery talks or focus tours, or supervise craft and activity stations.
Outreach Programs
Docents also represent the museum within the community by conducting outreach programs to local schools or other organizations.
Training
Docents receive a great amount of training so they are familiar with the material they will be presenting. New docents follow veteran presenters to learn the material and different ways to present information.
Evaluations and Recognition
Most museums do yearly evaluations of docents. They are required to attend training sessions to keep up to date on new material and methodology. Docents are often recognized at annual banquets and award ceremonies.
Benefits
Many museums give their docents free museum memberships, as long as they volunteer a certain number of hours each year.
