Unit 10: Personal Ethics as an Interpreter
As this course comes to an end, I’ve found that with all of the concepts and material we have explored, I have developed my own personal ethics, beliefs, responsibilities, and approaches as I develop as a nature interpreter.
One strong belief that I bring to interpretation is that everyone should be entitled and encouraged to learn through nature interpretation. We as humans all share the same home, and to understand and appreciate our surroundings and the species we share it with, should be woven into human nature. I believe that through nature interpretation, we can strive to achieve this mindset. In order to do this, however, we as interpreters must consider the accessibility of our service. An important concept that was presented early in the course was the process of unpacking our invisible knapsacks. This involves recognizing the privileges you have by identifying what unearned assets or advantages you may have that others may not (Gallavan, 2005). Only once you have actively acknowledged these privileges as an interpreter, you may begin to understand how you can structure your program or service in a way that is accessible to all. Creating an inclusive and accessible program for all revolves around tackling barriers. Many individuals may find that socioeconomic barriers prevent them from experiencing interpretive programs. To truly be accessible, it is important to ensure that the service is free, or low in cost, in an area where many can access it if it is possible, or provide transportation to those wanting to attend (Beck et al., 2018). Another factor to consider is ethnicity and cultural barriers. Many of these issues arise from a general feeling of exclusion, whether it is a language barrier or lack of representation (Beck et al., 2018). It is crucial that interpreters reach out to minority groups to express a welcoming environment, as well as increase the diversity of staff.
As a nature interpreter, it is important to understand what your responsibilities are, so that you may be successful in translating your knowledge and passions to your audience. One key responsibility I identified with is to focus on enriching the experiences of your audience. This is one of the most important goals of interpretation and it can be met by using the myriad of techniques that we have explored throughout this course. It is important that interpreters strive to do this so that we can incite a sense of place in our audience by helping them to recognize the special characteristics of a place, potentially by providing historical and cultural significance (Beck et al., 2018).
As an environmental science major, I also find that it is my responsibility to improve the methods of communication from individuals with a science background to the general public. In the midst of climate change and issues of land and habitat degradation, it is now more important than ever to bridge the gap between what is known and what is done in the environmental science community. Nature interpretation involving environmental education and citizen science initiatives can aid in bridging this knowledge gap by improving community understanding and evoking compassion on these pressing issues (Merenlender et al., 2016).
There are many approaches and forms that nature interpretation can take. Within this class, we’ve experienced blog posting and podcasting and we learned about so many more. As an individual, the most suitable approaches are likely more hands-on than what we were able to experience in a distance education format. Providing hands-on experiences to an audience such as hikes or tours are especially appealing to me because it allows you to utilize the 5 senses to elicit an enriching experience for guests. In addition to this, you can enhance the experience and reach as many people as possible by using a media-driven approach. In fact, it is very often that interpreters will reach out beyond the first-hand experience via social media, blogs, newsletters etc., in order to reach even more people than the original experience involved (Beck et al., 2018). Though this may not be a traditional approach in the sense of nature interpretation, it is the way of the world now and if anything, opens even more doors for nature interpretation. Using social media not only allows you to reach a larger audience, but it can also incite a connection to those demographics that are often overlooked, including young adults or teens (Beck et al., 2018). By utilizing different media to gain interest and attention, rather than steering away from it we can broaden our audience demographic (Beck et al., 2018).
Throughout this course, I found that the “so what?” prompt helped me to connect what I had learned about nature interpretation and how this work can be so important when it is applied in the real world. In a world where there are seemingly overwhelming environmental concerns, it feels impossible at times to be able to voice these issues and translate knowledge and understanding to as many people as we can. I have learned throughout this course that nature interpretation in its many forms is a way to not only build awareness but appreciation through connecting with your audience. Interpretation is effective in connecting and providing benefits to an audience including education, recreation, and ultimately inspiration (Beck et al., 2018). Ultimately, I think the overarching answer to “so what?” lies within ourselves and the communities we make up. We have discovered within this course that traditional peoples and indigenous communities have found ways to connect to their lands and weave this mindset into their ways of life, whether it is through traditional folk music that reflects the sounds of nature (Gray et al., 2001), art or traditions. I believe that we can all learn something from this, and find our own ways to connect to nature. I believe after taking this course and discovering what nature interpretation has to offer, we all have the opportunity to become closer to our environment as humans and develop an appreciation and passion for conservation. Through interpretation, we may all be inspired to find our sense of place on earth and become motivated to make it a better place (Beck et al., 2018).
References
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For a better world. Sagamore Venture.
Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their “invisible knapsacks.” Multicultural Education, 13(1). Ares.
Gray, P. M., Krause, B., Atema, J., Payne, R., Krumhansl, C., & Baptista, L. (2001). Music of nature and the nature of music. Science, 291(5501). Ares.
Merenlender, A. M., Crall, A. W., Drill, S., Prysby, M., & Ballard, H. (2016). Evaluating environmental education, citizen science, and stewardship through naturalist programs. Conservation Biology, 30(6), 1255–1265. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12737
Hello,
Great post!
You make some great points regarding privilege and unpacking our invisible knapsacks. I think many of our ethics, beliefs, and reasonability’s are developed when we are young and when we do not truly understand the aspect of privilege. I think it would be beneficial to incorporate this more into the education system so that individuals are developing a better understanding of privilege when they are young to allow for their own personal ethics to develop to a greater standard. Being aware of the advantages or disadvantage of others around you should be used as a tool to better incorporate programs tailored to all.
It is an important aspect to improve communication methods. Often communication methods are directed at a certain crowd which again plays a role with privilege. Creating ways to incorporate every individual and bring rise to important environmental issue is crucial. Environmental issues can sometimes be ignored by the government who are looking at improving the economy rather than protecting the environment. What we need to do it communicate better with the community to bring rise to the importance the environment holds. This goes to show you what types of ethics our government elected officials really have.
Blogging and podcasting have become a large part of my life this last semester and has opened my eyes to the wonders they can bring. If the media is directed at the right crowd and does not use incorrect information, it is one of the best ways to inform communities. Especially those who cannot access environmental settings. Beck et al. (2018) tells us that sometimes the media mispresents the facts and provides the public with bias information to make an organization look good. This is why when I complete assignment, I am always cautious with my citations and worry about using secondary or tertiary sources because I really do not know if I can trust them.
I love that you mentioned the “so what” part of the course. This course was so drastically different from others in university that I felt I learnt considerably more compared to other courses. It has shown us why all this matters. We are such advanced species that we need to create these types of questions to keep us going. To keep us wondering. The what’s next. It’s never ending and there’s always something to learn.
Aaron
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.























