This blog post was written by Morgan Abercrombie an intern in ASM’s education office. Originally from San Diego, CA, she came to the desert to attend the University of Arizona. She graduates this summer with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. Her experience at ASM inspired her: Morgan would like to pursue a career in museum education.
I have always loved museums. They fascinated me. The history that could be contained in one building was always amazing to me. Yet coming into the museum as a new interpreter [ASM’s term for a school program guide], I was very overwhelmed. I have had no previous experience teaching in an anthropological setting. My background was in teaching at zoos about animals, but never in a museum about Native cultures. How was I going to teach about people? I was excited at the prospects of learning about new cultures but was worried as to if I would be able to create a program that could truly tell the story of the traditions of southwestern Native American pottery.
My first step was to learn all that I could about southwestern pottery. This was one large task.
100 pots: 2000 years of Southwestern Native American history at Arizona State Museum
Walking into the Pottery Project exhibit I was amazed by how beautiful and diverse the pottery is. Every pot has its own story. Every style of pottery has its own name. The amount of information was overwhelming. I had many sleepless nights tossing and turning thinking about it all.
Slowly the information began to sink in. But how would we design a 50-minute program to include so much information? It was going to be one big feat. What should we talk about? What type of activates should we do? What would the transitions be? What was the key message that we wanted the students to take away from the experience? I worked with another seasoned interpreter and step-by-step we put the tour together.
We decided that the focus of the program would be on the continuity of Native American pottery making traditions: how pottery is an ancient craft that lives on strongly in the Southwest today. Distilling down 2,000 years of Native pottery traditions into one main message supported by engaging hands-on activities took some time. With some thought, lots of patience, headaches (many headaches), and help from the staff at the museum, we finally put it all together. Now came the fun part, trying it out with students.
Our first attempt at the program was a bit rough. The tour ran long and as an interpreter I was all over the place. I felt as if I had a big sign on my head reading “Hi! I’m the new girl. Can you tell I’m lost?” Thankfully, though, the class seemed to have a good time. It didn’t appear that they had any idea that we had never run the program before. I guess all those acting classes I took when younger finally paid off. I was good at acting like an interpreter, but I still had to work on actually being an interpreter.
Time has continued to be our biggest struggle with the program. There is just so much information to try to incorporate into 50 minutes. We have a lot to cover: four hands-on activities (identification and chronology, steps in making a pot, archaeology sorting, pottery picture puzzles), a short film, and Q & A time. 
Every time we present the tour it is a bit different than the time before and yet we still have not worked out the timing. Thankfully all the teachers and chaperones have been wonderful and understanding of our sometimes rocky program.
With the end of the semester drawing to close and my time at the museum coming to an end, I feel as if we have only begun to really dive into all there is to share about southwestern pottery. My greatest hope is that I have been able to truly enrich the knowledge of the K-12 students and help them to have a better understanding of the long history of southwestern pottery. It’s more than art; it’s a cultural tradition that continues today.
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It’s good to hear about programs like the southwestern pottery exhibit and tour. It seems as though people today often aren’t interested in our history and in the amazing things that our ancestors did. People often hold the point of view that the humans who preceded us were somehow primitive, stupid, or less capable than we are today. Tours like the one you’re giving help change that perception.
Donald
Museum educator just seems so cool to me. When I was kid, I always thought why does those people know so much information at the tip of their fingers. Great job!
One of the many activities for grandparents and their grandchildren that I get to enjoy is occasionally helping on field trips, including a few to various museums. How interesting to read “the rest of the story” about how these tours are planned. Thank you for an interesting article.
We would need such competences like yours in Mauritius. We, unfortunately, do not have a big museum culture in the country.
i am from montreal (QC) and now i whant to take a trip down south…cheers
this program very interesting, i do ut on my school
The museum field trips were always firm favorites for me. I’m glad to see programs such as yours still running, bring those benefits to a whole new generation of trippers
Distilling down 2,000 years of Native pottery traditions into one main message supported by engaging hands-on activities took some time.
It is a very interesting program. Practical training for students give them a lot of experience.
Practical training is the best way to get ready for the real work.
I had been in several museums before but I’ve not been in one with such beautiful ancient pottery art. Well done, great pictures.
This Program seems pretty cool. Wish They had something like this at my school. Maybe I will share this article with them.
Morgan, I can imagine how tough was it to learn about history and pottery and adjusting to the museum environment even if you love it. I myself is fascinated with museums, ancient artifacts and different cultures. Keep up the good work! Judith
I like Pottery Project exhibit picture.It is a very great program. Practical training for students give them a lot of experience,and know the history.John
Practical training is the best way to get ready for the real work.
I think this is wonderful, so much of our history has become lost and pottery has been destroyed. Seeing this exhibit is just awesome. This is an important part of our history as humans.
I love this topic because With the end of the semester drawing to close and my time at the museum coming to an end luke adams
Some of my best memories are on school trips to places like this. It is so important for kids to experience this. Such adventures incite passions within kids and this might just the future we are creating today. Thank you.
Ronald
So happy, you can do many interesting things.
excelent reflections about the school
Great training for these students! They are talking part with a great experienced in Museum. Good post, Cheers
It’s good to hear about programs like the southwestern pottery exhibit and tour. It seems as though people today often aren’t interested in our history and in the amazing things that our ancestors did. People often hold the point of view that the humans who preceded us were somehow primitive, stupid, or less capable than we are today. Tours like the one you’re giving help change that perception