Museum Educator
South Street Seaport Museum
Organization Description:
South Street Seaport Museum seeks experienced, enthusiastic educators to teach programs on board
our docked vessels, in our galleries, on walking tours through Lower Manhattan.
South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City,
preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum
houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition
galleries and education spaces, working 19th-century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vesse
that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” seaportmuseum.org
Position Description:
As a South Street Seaport Museum educator, you will bring to K-12 and college students, teachers, and
educators from around the city and around the world a sense of the Seaport’s history and the Harbor’s
continued importance as an ecosystem and as an economic waterway. You will engage with all kinds of
learners of all backgrounds through inquiry-based, student-centered instruction, seeking to explore
context and create connection in every way. You will communicate with visiting teachers and chaperones,
your teammates, and other departments in a way that makes complex logistics look effortless and
enhances the experience for all.
Educational programs for visiting schools last 90 minutes and include topics such as New Amsterdam
history, life on board a tall ship, immigration, ocean liners, and estuary ecology. Most of our programs
are interdisciplinary in scope, with as much attention paid to how students are learning as to what they
are learning. See our website seaportmuseum.org/learn, for more information.
Reports to:
Educator and Visitor Experience Manager
Job Requirements & Responsibilities:
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
– Teaching programs to visiting school and camp groups as scheduled, including programs on
board our historic dockside vessels, in our galleries, and on walking tours.
– Conducting program in a safe, engaging and informative manner, with a focus on the learner, and
attention to pedagogy, social and emotional learning, and logistics as well as to content.
– Meeting the needs of diverse learners, including different age groups, amounts of
background knowledge and experience, ethnicities and cultures, learning styles, and
educational and physical requirements.
– Managing time, space, and logistics, smoothly moving groups of students and adults through
activities in public spaces.
– Working collaboratively and communicating effectively within the Education Department and with
other Museum departments.
– Communicating effectively with teachers regarding their class, content, and students.
– Setting up before and cleaning up after programs.
– Participating as a member of a professional learning community in ongoing group and individual
professional development, including regular co-observations and debrief sessions, to increase
your content knowledge and skill, as well as engaging in self-study to enrich background
knowledge in content areas and pedagogy.
– Learning how to teach the entire catalog of the museum’s education programs including any new
programs that may be developed, and being able to teach them all
Candidate Qualifications:
Professional Qualifications
– Experience teaching to school-age children (pre-k -12), preferably in a museum, classroom, or
outdoor setting. Though most of our programming is for grades 2-8, we do have many groups
that are older and younger.
– Bachelor’s Degree in a field related to education, history, or science, OR a Bachelor’s Degree
an unrelated field with extensive experience in a related field OR equivalent relevant experie
– Demonstrated interest in our particular content areas.
Desirable but not required:
– Second language proficiency
– Experience with Access/Disability/Special Needs audiences
– Teacher certification
– Early Childhood Experience
– Experience teaching science and math
– Theatrical experience
Personal Qualifications
– Applicants MUST be available Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 am to 3 pm, with availability at
least two additional weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm.
– The ability to communicate well and capture listener attention in outdoor public settings.
– Eagerness to learn new content and pedagogy.
– Understanding of and awareness of students and their learning.
– Professional and personable demeanor.
– Flexibility, positive outlook, and team focus.
– Reliability and excellent team communication skills.
– Ability to look at your work critically and reflectively, a desire to continually improve practice a
skills, and to thoughtfully and kindly observe the work of others.
Position Type:
Part-Time
Union Status:
Non-Union
FLSA Status:
Non-Exempt
Salary or Compensation:
$22/hr
Organization or Project Website:
https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/
Application Info:
Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to
successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be
made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.
Applicants must be able to:
– Spend several hours walking and/or standing in indoor and outdoor public spaces.
– Adapt to a changing environment while working outdoors in hot, cold, and/or inclement
weather (foul weather gear will be provided) as long as it is deemed safe to do so by a
superior.
– Job will require stooping, bending, and occasionally carrying weights of up to 30 pounds.
– Climb and descend ramps, stairs, and ladders.
Compensation/Benefits
Part-time/hourly positions, flexible hours. No full-time positions available. This is a non-exempt position
Salary: $22/hour
Note: Museum Educators are also encouraged to become Visitor Experience and Engagement
Associates, as well as Marine Educators, teaching programs aboard the historic schooner
Pioneer.
How to Apply
Email resume and cover letter with “MUSEUM EDUCATOR” in the subject line to:
educationjobs@seany.org.
Applications without an attached cover letter will not be considered. No phone
calls, please.
South Street Seaport Museum is an equal-opportunity employer. Non-traditional applicants and/or those
with suitable alternatives to the above criteria are encouraged to apply. The Seaport Museum strongly
encourages applications from members of groups underrepresented in careers related to museums; we
seek to foster a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as New York City
and our audience.