As a nature interpreter, it is my job to bring knowledge about the environment to anyone willing to listen and to guide others in establishing or reinvigorating their own relationship with the environment. This role puts me in a position to inform, but it also puts me in a position to cause potential damage to the environment and people’s understanding of it should I not do my job well. Therefore, it is incredibly important that I am careful in what I say and how I attempt to share my interpretations with others, taking into account not only my own ethics, but those of the people around me, while also trying to avoid letting my own biases seep into what I’m saying. While I am able to bring my passion for the environment to others, I shouldn’t necessarily be trying to sway their opinions in one way or another, but instead I should simply guide them towards forming their own opinions once they have all the information they need.
In terms of examining my personal ethics as a nature interpreter, I have been reflecting on the educational journey I have experienced this semester. Over the course of my life, I have taught and been taught many things, but rarely did I consider how my interpretation of these topics was swayed by other people nor how I impacted other people’s interpretations. Reading over my blogs from the past nine weeks, I can witness my own journey into gaining an understanding and appreciation of how interpretation can impact teaching. In my blog post from Unit One, I detailed how my relationship with nature began as one of peaceful appreciation and evolved into a desire to protect and conserve the environment I love so much. This has not changed, and I think my ethics as an interpreter are based in these values. As an interpreter, my moral intention is still the conservation of natural landscapes, and in giving other people the knowledge and opportunity to appreciate the environment in their own way. Not necessarily in the same way I do but along the teachings of the “gift of beauty” and the other associated gifts that were listed in Chapter 5 of our course textbook. My ethics do not lie in convincing or changing peoples’ minds necessarily, but in broadening the scope of their views and guiding them towards making informed opinions inspired by their own ethics and values.
One belief I hold about education and interpretation is that you are never done learning. I think it is important for all of us, no matter how substantial our education, to approach different topics with an open mind and to not feel closed off by our own previous knowledge. By understanding that there is always more that we don’t know, we can allow ourselves to be better learners, and I think also better interpreters. No interpreter or interpretation is infallible, and it is important for us as interpreters to be able to grow and adapt and be willing to change our interpretations based on new information or audience responses. Just because you know something to be one way doesn’t mean that your audience can’t teach you new things, be it about the topic at hand or more broad things like delivery methods or emotional responses to the material. This course has especially been an eye-opener to me about how little I knew regarding environmental interpretation and teachings. I was especially intrigued when reading about artistic approaches to environmental education in Jan van Boeckel’s article “At the heart of art and earth: An exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education.” I hadn’t thought much about the many different methods of teaching environmental topics, and I especially think that I would have benefited from some more artistic approaches over the many years of my schooling. Readings like this are prime examples of how there is always more to learn and different ways to interpret something. It is so important for us as interpreters not to sequester ourselves into a narrow-minded way of thinking and teaching and learning, but to always be open to new ideas and opportunities.
As a nature interpreter, I believe I have a responsibility to provide a voice for the environment. What I mean by this is that the environment and the natural landscapes around us cannot speak for themselves. And while there is so much research happening all the time about the environment and the global climate, this research can be hard for people not involved in science to understand. This is where I come in, so that I can attempt to inform people without letting them get caught up in technical aspects and complicated jargon. In addition to informing people about the scientific side of things, the role of an interpreter goes much further. It is my job to also take into account history, cultural norms and values, and mine and my audiences’ values when acting as an interpreter. By doing this, I can provide an informative and thought-provoking interpretation of the environment to my audience that allows them to gain new knowledge about it and formulate their own opinions and ideas.
Now, the question is what is the best way for me as a nature interpreter to accomplish everything I have just laid out for you? The answer to this—like everything I have discussed above—is one that is individual for every interpreter, and I think also every situation. For me, personally, I really like an artistic approach to nature interpretation. An example of this is in the group assignment we have all been working on, my group chose to formulate our lesson as a story for audiences to listen to. Our story was a narrative complete with dynamic characters and exciting events, but also provided different viewpoints surrounding its topic and taught some valuable lessons about history and environmental conservation, and even a few moral lessons about bravery and stewardship. I really enjoyed this approach to interpretation and hope to continue using artistic methods throughout my career as an interpreter.
On a final note of reflection, I think this course has been a valuable learning experience for me as both student and teacher. I didn’t quite understand the significance of interpretation at the beginning of the semester but now view it as a very important aspect of education. I hope to take these lessons I have learned and to apply them in different areas of my life for many years to come. Thanks for reading.
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., and Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage. Sagamore-Venture Publishing.
Van Boeckel, J. (2015). At the heart of art and earth: An exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 21(5), 801-802. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.959474