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.