미술관은 더 이상 특정한 계층이나 소장가들을 위한 공간이 아니라 일반 대중들의 문화적·지적 욕구를 충족하기 위한 교육기관으로 탈바꿈하고 있다. 특히 미술관은 미 술가의 창조적인 사고와 새로운 시각과의 만남을 통해 사람들의 끊임없는 재교육의 기회를 제공하는 공간이 되고 있다. 따라서 미술관이 관람객들에게 어떤 미적 체험의 교육을 제공하도록 할 것인가에 대한 논의가 필요하다. 많은 미술관에서 운영 중인 도슨트 프로그램은 도슨트의 일방적 설명으로 이루어지고 있어 관람객과의 상호작용 을 통해 작품 감상이해를 돕는데 한계가 있다. 교육적 공간으로서의 미술관이 되기 위해서 도슨트는 관람객이 작품과의 소통이 이루어질 수 있도록 도와주는 것이 필요하다.
The art museum, as an educational institution, plays a role in the interpretation of various art practices and in seeking a new meaning and concept of art museums today. Current, one-sided explanations and guidance do not lead to an active interpretation by visitors. The purpose of this study is to attempt to analyze and observe closely into docent and into the visitor's learning experience in an art museum. This is a process-oriented study focusing on the discourse process itself during interaction. This study investigates how visitors pay attention to the exhibits, how they get involved as participants, and their learning processes. Being one of the docents for the program, the researcher observed visitors’ and docent's discourse with active interaction. The audio discourses of docent and visitors were recorded and analyzed to gain insight into the interactive learning experience between visitors and docent. The results revealed that adult museum visitors interact with docent and each other through the questions posed by the docent. We found through the content of this discourse, that questions, which engages visitors, help them identify with works of art by grouping the characteristics of the visitors' and docent’s discourse. In addition, we identified the strategies of the docent program by analyzing and observing the art museum visitors’ and docent's discourse. Docent's dialogic questions led to visitor's rich interpretation about art and art-inquiry with the artworks. This study suggests that docents are facilitators of learning experience in an art museum. Guided participation with a docent, who facilitate the visitors' interpretation of art to be meaningful, makes a special experience. Art museum education can push further by fostering participation through questions, based on the proposed strategies and program.