The Field Trip Explainer Program and the High School Explainer Program have two intertwined purposes: first, to enhance the experiences of our visitors; and secondly, to provide training in communication, inquiry-based learning, and leadership, and to deepen the science knowledge of the Explainers themselves. The training enables the Explainers to do their jobs and serve the visitors well, and provides them with valuable knowledge and skills that they can use in their education or careers beyond the Exploratorium.
Field Trip Explainers, who are young adult educators, primarily provide support for visiting school groups on weekday mornings. High School Explainers work with visitors and participate in museum operations afternoons, weekends, and summers. Both groups answer questions, give demonstrations, and model ways of interacting with exhibits.
Exploratorium founder Frank Oppenheimer’s goal of making the museum comfortable for nonscientists is directly linked to goals of the Explainer programs. Frank wanted enthusiastic guides who could encourage visitors to play with the exhibits and discover their own questions and answers. Explainers are able to authentically model learning in the museum, as they are constantly engaged in learning themselves.
When the Exploratorium opened with its handful of exhibits, there was one high school student to help visitors figure them out. By 2009, the museum’s fortieth year, about 500 Field Trip Explainers and 3,000 High School Explainers had been helping visitors interact with exhibits in satisfying ways, and our Explainer programs had become models for museums and science centers worldwide.
