The Docent’s Code of Conduct
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Mission and Scope:
To interpret and conserve the earth's
biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science
focused on birds. Our programs work with citizen scientists,
government, and non-government agencies across North America and
beyond. We believe that bird enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels
can and do make a difference.
The Docent’s Mission and Scope:
Interacting with the visiting public
and scheduled groups to accurately convey the mission of the Lab and to
ensure that they have a good experience. Docents are a living
educational resource to audiences of diverse ages and experience who
share some interest in the Lab’s mission by the simple action of
visiting the Lab.
• Reliable
• Arrives on time or beforehand to an event for which they have volunteered, well prepared to be a resource for visitors.
• Accurate
• As an
educational resource, it is of utmost importance that the information
given by a docent is accurate. The first rule to providing accurate
answers is to know that it’s OK to say “I don’t know”, and to acquaint
yourself with the resources available to answer those questions.
• Respectful
• Visitors
respond best to docents who are respectful of their interests and
experience. This can be conveyed by docents through patience and
politeness when speaking and interacting with a visitor.
• Flexible
• Group sizes
can change, kids and adults sometimes behave inappropriately, equipment
can fail to work, birds may fail to appear: all of these situations can
be taken in stride by a docent that is flexible and well prepared for a
particular activity.
• Motivated
• Docents, by
definition, are volunteers. Your time and effort are the singular
thing that can change a visitor’s experience from average to sublime.
Your motivation to contribute time and effort for preparation and
execution of your docent duties forms the foundation of a successful
docent and directly contributes to the Lab’s mission. | 