What Does a National Museum Volunteer Do?
If you love to meet and interact with people and have keen interests in history, culture and heritage, why not volunteer with us as the National Museum’s Host or Facilitator?
Hosts
Hosts are important ambassadors of the National Museum. They are primarily involved in Front of House services like meeting and greeting Museum visitors at the galleries and visitor services counters, helping visitors feel welcome and oriented to the Museum, or in providing guided tours of the Museum’s various galleries and of the building. Hosts can also choose to assist in various areas during the Museum's festivals.
| Roles as Host: |
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| 1) |
Gallery Guides / Tour of the Museum Guides (regular basis) |
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Provide visitors with an enhanced experience of the Museum's Singapore History and Living Galleries by guiding them through it and the public spaces in the Museum |
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Create opportunities for visitors to learn and explore in the museum through the tours/ walks |
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| 2) |
Gallery Guides - Special Exhibitions (project basis) |
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Provide visitors with an enhanced experience of the Museum's special exhibitions(either from local collections or overseas) by guiding them through it and other Museum spaces |
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Create opportunities for visitors to learn and explore in the Museum through the tours |
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| 3) |
Front of House / Ushers (project basis) |
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Set up front of house and usher visitors to respective venues for programmes |
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Answer questions and provide information about the programmes and of the Museum's spaces and galleries |
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Greeters / Gallery Assistants (fixed period and/or project basis) |
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Interact with the visitors, including greeting and welcoming visitors, answering questions and providing information about the programmes and of the Museum's spaces and galleries |
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Provide technical and administrative assistance in galleries |
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| 5) |
Project Volunteers (project basis) |
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Provide assistance in various areas in the festivals |
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Roles may require specific skills due to the nature of festivals and level of involvement |
Facilitators
Facilitators are enthusiasts who like to be involved in more personal interaction with visitors or participants through the Museum’s public and school programmes and workshops. Facilitators can help to conduct workshops or assist trainers to ensure that participants have a fun and rewarding experience. Facilitators believe in the Museum’s mission in providing a creative environment for visitors to participate and engage in activities that will inspire and cultivate a lifelong passion for culture, heritage and the arts. In addition, Facilitators engage in interpreting the Museum's content and projects through research work.
| Roles as Facilitators: |
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| 1) |
Workshop / Programme Facilitator (regular basis) |
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Lead and educate participants for the programmes and encourage them to create, explore and interact during the activities |
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Manage and ensure that the programmes have achieve their goals |
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| 2) |
Workshop / Programme Assistants (regular basis / fixed period) |
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Assist the trainer/presenter or Workshop/ Programme Facilitator on the operations, execution and follow up of the programmes |
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| 3) |
Research Assistants (project basis) |
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Engage in research work for the Museum's galleries on heritage, history and culture segments |
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Engage in research work for the Museum's programmes to enhance the learning element and contents for the visitors |
What Skills and Experience Do I Need?
Our volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and age groups, but they are all united by a love of history, cultural heritage and the creative arts, coupled with a keen interest to learn and be a part of the team at the National Museum. Whilst some volunteers prefer to use their existing skills in their volunteer work, others prefer to take the opportunity to develop new skills through volunteer work in areas that they have an interest in, but have no prior relevant experience. There may be some projects or tasks that will require some degree of experience and these pre-requisites will be communicated to volunteers prior to their commitment.
For Training provided by the National Museum, please click here.
How Much Time Do I Need to Commit?
| Roles as Hosts: |
| 1) |
Gallery Guides - Singapore History & Living Galleries (regular basis) |
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Training (total estimated duration of six months) |
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Compulsory attendance of 1 training lecture per week for 2 months |
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Compulsory submission of a tour paper for assessment (for an hour’s guided tour) – one month’s duration for preparation and two weeks for assessment |
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Compulsory completion of assessment period, consisting of one 15 minutes trial tour and an actual one hour public tour – duration of 1 - 2 months |
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Duration of volunteer service period (total duration of one year) |
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Commit to a minimum of 2 tours per month for a year (English weekend Gallery Docents has a minimum of 1 tour per month for a year upon successful completion of training) |
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| 2) |
Gallery Guides - Special Exhibitions (project basis) |
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Training (total estimated duration of 2 days) |
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Compulsory attendance of 1 briefing lecture by the Museum's Curator (in-charge of the exhibition) |
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Compulsory orientation of the Museum spaces and guiding tips |
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Compulsory attendance of the gallery walkthrough by the curators of the exhibition (before the exhibition opens) |
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Independent research on the exhibition / Group research with other guides for the exhibition |
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| 3) |
Front of House / Greeters / Ushers / Gallery Assistants |
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(fixed period / project basis) |
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Training (total estimated duration of one hour to a day) |
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Commit to on the job briefing / pre-project briefing / one day of observation |
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Duration of volunteer service period (duration depends on project) |
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Commit to a minimum of 3 hours per month or per project |
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| 4) |
Project Volunteers - Festivals (project basis) |
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Training (depends on the duration and nature of the project) |
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Commit to the specific requirements and roles from special research projects |
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| Roles as Facilitators: |
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Workshop / Programme Facilitators (regular basis) |
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Training (total estimated duration of 6 weeks) |
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Compulsory attendance of educational workshop training two hours once every week (weekdays) |
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Duration of volunteer service period (total duration of one year) |
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Commit to a minimum of 24 hours of programmes for a year upon successful completion of training |
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| 2) |
Workshop / Programme Assistants (regular basis / fixed period) |
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Training (depends on duration of project) |
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Compulsory attendance of pre - workshop training/briefing for one day |
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Duration of volunteer service period (depends on duration of project) |
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Commit to a minimum of 3 hours per month or per project |
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| 3) |
Research Assistants (project basis) |
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No training is provided |
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Duration of volunteer service period (depends on duration of project) |
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Commit to the specific requirements from the project |
Volunteer Partners of the National Museum
Volunteers have traditionally been a vital part of the National Museum of Singapore’s existence and success, whose contributions have enabled us to provide services that add value to our core programmes. The volunteers who have been active with the National Museum are traditionally members of independent interest groups like the Friends of the Museums (Singapore) – comprising also of Japanese Docents and the Museum Volunteers and the Mandarin Docents, who provide guiding and volunteer services to other museums besides the National Museum.
Over the recent years, the strong volunteering network within the National Museum has also created opportunities for avid volunteers to initiate and form other interest groups like the Children’s Volunteers Group. These groups support the Museum’s volunteer training programme as well as provide an avenue for volunteers with like-minded interests seeking to expand their social network.
New members of the public who are interested to be a volunteer should contact the Museum's Volunteer Coordinator for information on the next Orientation Session.
