(Temporary/Seasonal) Marine Educator at the South Street Seaport Museum

Job Title: Marine Educator

Job Status: Temporary/Seasonal

Location: New York, NY

Salary: $20-22/hr

South Street Seaport Museum seeks experienced, enthusiastic educators to teach educational programs on board our historic schooner and tugboat, and onboard our docked vessels.

South Street Seaport Museum, a fifty-four-year-old cultural institution located in downtown Manhattan, tells the story of how New York’s great natural harbor gave rise to the metropolis we know today.

The Museum engages visitors through interactive experiences with its fleet of historic ships, historic buildings and galleries, 19th-century letterpress shops, and large collection of artifacts. The Museum provides visitors the opportunity to appreciate the contributions of the Port of New York to the city, state, nation, and world, and to understand the current role of New York Harbor as a natural resource and a gateway to the world. See our website at seaportmuseum.org.

Job Summary:

As a South Street Seaport Museum Marine Educator, you will co-lead, alongside a lead educator, experiential programs onboard schooner Pioneer and tugboat W.O. Decker. You’ll bring a sense of the Seaport’s history and the harbor’s continued importance as an ecosystem and as an economic waterway to K-12 and college students, teachers and educators, and public and family groups from around the city and around the world. 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.

The schooner Pioneer sails with school groups, primarily for 2-hour sails, from May – October. Students on board engage in a variety of activities, from active sail-raising to trawling for marine life to learning basic navigation, as well as investigating science and history content. 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/group-programs-on-the-water for more information.

The role of Marine Educator includes but is not limited to:

  • Teaching programs on board to visiting school and camp groups as scheduled, plus staff development and family sails, in a safe, engaging and informative manner, with a focus on the learner, and attention to pedagogy and logistics as well as to content.
  • Meeting the needs of diverse learners, including different age groups, different amounts of background knowledge and experience, different ethnicities and cultures, different learning styles, and different educational and physical requirements.
  • Managing time, space, and logistics, smoothly moving groups of students and adults through activities.
  • Working collaboratively and communicating effectively with fellow educators, ship’s crew, and other departments to plan and conduct activities.
  • Communicating effectively with teachers regarding their class, content, and students.
  • Setting up before and cleaning up after programs.
  • Assisting with maintenance of science equipment and marine animal collection.
  • Assisting with vessel operations as needed.
  • 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.

Professional Qualifications:

  • Experience teaching to school-age children, preferably in a museum, classroom, or outdoor setting, or similar experience, preferably with grades 3-8.
  • Experience with sailing or shipboard work; tall ship or schooner experience preferred.
  • Bachelor’s Degree in a field related to education, history, or science, OR a Bachelor’s Degree in an unrelated field with extensive experience in a related field OR equivalent relevant experience
  • Demonstrated interest in our particular content areas.
  • Desirable but not required:
  • Second language proficiency
  • Experience with Access/Disability/Special Needs audiences
  • Theatrical experience

Personal Qualifications:

  • Applicants MUST be available Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9am to 5pm, May 1st through June 23rd, and for approximately 6 training shifts in April.
  • An outgoing personality with the ability to communicate well in 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 and desire to continually improve practice and skills, and to thoughtfully and kindly observe the work of others.
  • NOTE: At times museum on-board educators may play safety sensitive roles aboard our vessels. Federal regulations require any crewmember with safety sensitive roles to be enrolled in a random drug testing program. After an initial pre-employment drug screening, on-board educators may be selected at random for screening for drugs (including marijuana) as prescribed by the United States Coast Guard, while they are employed by the Museum.

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.

  • Ability to spend several hours walking and/or standing in indoor and outdoor public spaces.
  • Must be able to climb ladders and work outdoors in hot and/or inclement weather.
  • Must be able to work comfortably standing on a moving vessel
  • Job will require stooping, bending, and occasionally carrying weights of up to 25 pounds

Seasonal position, April – October. Part-time/hourly positions, no full-time positions available. This is a non-exempt position.

Salary: $20/hour during training (4 dockside & 2 on-the-water sessions), increasing to $22/hour once approved to co-lead

Note: Marine Educators are also encouraged to become Visitor Experience Assistant, sharing galleries, ships, and exhibitions with the visiting public. Tips: Provide a summary of the role, what success in the position looks like, and how this role fits into the organization overall.