https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5140-1515
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ABSTRACT
The competencies and techniques used by employees, especially those who act as guides, are one of the most important vehicles for the transference of visitors’ cultural understanding and memorable experiences. The aim of the study was to identify which guides’ competencies can enhance generic learning outcomes of museum visitors. The data were collected from 594 people who visited art and history museums in Toronto (Canada). The results showed that learning outcomes depend on three groups of guide's competencies: handling the group within the museum environment, communication skills, and knowledge and pedagogy. Also, the findings revealed that the guide's competencies that encourage interaction and active participation of visitors were common predictors for all generic learning outcomes. The research findings can serve as guidelines for museums when recruiting or training guides. Also, it can direct museums how to develop their strategy if they want to improve visitors’ experiences when engaging with museums’ exhibitions, art, and objects.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Stylianou-Lambert, Boukas, and Christodoulou-Yerali, “Museums and Cultural Sustainability.”
2 Falk and Dierking, Learning from Museums, 137.
3 Manolika and Baltzis, “Curiosity's Pleasure?.”
4 Brida, Dalle, and Scuderi, “Learning at the Museum.”
5 Andre, Tracy, and Volman, “Museums as Avenues of Learning for Children.”
6 Dudzinska-Przesmitzki and Grenier, “Nonformal and Informal Adult Learning in Museums.”
7 Akpomuje, “Learning in Museums and Art Galleries in Nigeria.”
8 Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. “Guide Noun.”
9 Bollo, Measuring Museum Impacts.
10 Ciavatta and Ramos, “A Era das Diretrizes.”
11 Schep, van Boxtel, and Noordegraaf, “Competent Museum Guides.”
12 Uyen Tran and King, “The Professionalization of Museum Educators.”
13 Hwang and Lee, “Relationships among Senior Tourists’ Perceptions of Tour Guides.”
14 Weiler and Black, “The Changing Face of the Tour Guide.”
15 Pop and Borza, “Quality in Museums.”
16 Merrilees, Miller, and Yakimova, “The Role of Staff Engagement.”
17 Schep, van Boxtel, and Noordegraaf, “Competent Museum Guides.”
18 Gibbs, Sani, and Thompson, Lifelong Learning in Museums.
19 Hair et al., Multivariate Data Analysis.
20 Demetriou, Ozer, and Essau, “Self-Report Questionnaires.”
21 Dodorico McDonald, “Measuring Personality Constructs.”
22 Wolters and Won, “Validity and the Use of Self-report Questionnaires.”
23 Kiuru et al., “Positive Teacher and Peer Relations.”
24 Rubino et al., “Integrating a Location-Based Mobile Game in the Museum Visit”; Leščešen et al., “The Importance of Teaching Equipment.”
25 Hsu et al., “A Curriculum-Based Virtual and Physical Mobile Learning Model.”
26 Virtanen and Tynjala, “Factors Explaining the Learning of Generic Skills.”
27 Foreman-Peck and Travers, “What is Distinctive About Museum Pedagogy and How Can Museums Best Support Learning in Schools?”
28 Falk et al., “Travel and Learning”; Medić et al., “Leisure Time and Museums.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Dunja Demirović Bajrami
Dunja Demirović Bajrami is a Research Associate at the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia, and a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service, South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation. Her research interests are: cultural tourism, sustainable tourism, and impact of tourism on visitors. In 2019 she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Ted Rogers School of Management (Toronto, Canada). During her studies, she had study visits in Vienna (Austria), Prague (Czech Republic), and Krakow (Poland).
Nikola Vuksanović
Nikola Vuksanović is a Professor at the Faculty of Management in Sremski Karlovci, Serbia. He defended PhD thesis titled ‘Gastronomic dimension of the quality of the tourist product and its impact on the attitudes of visitors of the city centers of Serbia’. The narrow fields of his research are: Basics of gastronomy, Management in gastronomy, Food control and distribution and Food safety in catering. Since 2018, he has been a judge with B license of the World Association of Chefs’ Societies.
Marko D. Petrović
Marko D. Petrović is a Senior Research Associate at the Geographical Institute "Jovan Cvijić" of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade (Serbia) and a visiting professor at the South Ural State University, Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service, Chelyabinsk (Russia). He has contributed as a visiting scholar to the University of Wisconsin–Madison (USA). His research is centered upon tourism’s impact assessment, community-based economy planning, and spatial aspects of tourism. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA, and guest editor of Sustainability.
Tatiana N. Tretiakova
Tatiana N. Tretiakova is a Professor of Tourism and Education at the South Ural State University (SUSU), Russia. After graduating, she worked in cultural institutions, studying the historical and cultural heritage of the Ural region of Russia. The area of her scientific interests is higher education in the sphere of tourism and services. Since 2006, she has been the head of the Department of Tourism and Socio-cultural Services at SUSU. She is a leading Professor in the field of tourism education as well as historical and cultural heritage of the Ural region.