Museum Docentry
A museum docent is an individual who serves as a guide or educator for an institution, often on a voluntary basis. Sometimes museum docents are also researchers who use the facilities at their museum to further their studies.
Docents have to undergo intense educational training programs both to learn about the history and significance of the collection of their museum as well as learning communicative and interpretive skills. They are given a list of required reading to supplement the information they receive during training and spend a period of time shadowing an experienced docent before they conduct tours or educational sessions on their own.
The average salary of a museum docent in the United States is about $27,000 per year. According to MIT's Living Wage calculator, the living wage for a single adult with no dependents living in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County is just over $20,000.
Docents have to undergo intense educational training programs both to learn about the history and significance of the collection of their museum as well as learning communicative and interpretive skills. They are given a list of required reading to supplement the information they receive during training and spend a period of time shadowing an experienced docent before they conduct tours or educational sessions on their own.
The average salary of a museum docent in the United States is about $27,000 per year. According to MIT's Living Wage calculator, the living wage for a single adult with no dependents living in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County is just over $20,000.