Nature Interpretation's Role in Environmental Sustainability
Hi everyone,
Wow, how time flies! I cannot believe that I am writing my last blog post for this semester. It has been a pleasure getting to know all of you over the course of this semester. I have enjoyed reading all your thoughts and opinions through each blog post.
I will admit when I enrolled in this course I did not fully understand what it meant to be a nature interpreter. Now that we have reached the final unit, I can confidentially say that not only am I well-informed on what nature interpretation is, I was able to discover who I am as a nature interpreter.
These weekly blog posts have provided me with the opportunity to take the time to reflect on who I am as a nature interpreter. Through these reflections I was able to come to a better understanding of what this title means to me. I have realized that my role of a nature interpreter consists of helping others better understand the significant part that the earth plays into their lives and ways that we can show our gratitude by looking after it. My main goal as a nature interpreter is to help people deepen their own relationships with nature and get them excited in doing so.
This course has taught me so much about nature interpretation and the responsibilities associated as such. From this, I have been able to construct my own personal ethics related to being a nature interpreter.
First, I would say my own personal ethics go hand in hand with being a nature interpreter. I value being fair, understanding, accepting, kind, respectful, welcoming, compassionate, considerate, and caring to all forms of life. These attributes are important in both my personal life and in my role as a nature interpreter.
Also, my personal ethic as a nature interpreter values inclusivity. As a nature interpreter, it is my responsibility to provide my audience with an enjoyable experience while being accommodating to everyone.
Earlier in the semester, when I first wrote about what type of nature interpreter I am, I talked about how I would prioritize incorporating a wide range of multiple intelligence activities that cater to the different learning styles (Beck et al., 2018). As the semester progressed, I learned how necessary it is to accommodate to the various learning styles and circumstances so my nature interpretation can be useful and accessible for everyone. The textbook mentions some characteristics of being an effective nature interpreter, such as being a good speaker and being able to adapt to the needs of their audience (Beck et al., 2018). I further considered strategies for implementing this. Some examples of ideas I have thought of included providing hands on activities for tactile learners, offering pamphlets and YouTube demonstration videos for visual learners and to incorporate Q&A sections during presentations for auditory learners.
Specifically, I found the group podcast was an educational experience for both myself and our viewers. I believe that participating in the group podcast assignment significantly helped me improve as a nature interpreter as I was able to execute my acquired skills and knowledge. As a tactile learner this project was a great educational tool for me. This assignment taught me so much about engaging in nature interpretation through hands on activity, that I believe I would not have been able to grasp as well had it been through just reading the textbook.
Although we faced a few challenges during the recording process, I am grateful to have been granted this amazing opportunity for learning and advancing my skills as a nature interpreter. I was able to practice and improve my public speaking, pronunciation and overall nature interpretation skills. Additionally, our group had to come up with ideas for keeping our audience interested, entertained and attentive. To keep the podcast upbeat and entertaining for our younger listeners, we implemented our creativity using jokes and music. We also made sure to write our script using simple language so that our listeners can easily follow along and understand, as suggested in the textbook (Beck et al., 2018).
I am glad to have had the privilege of being able to access the recording studio and utilize its tools for producing our group podcast. This granted opportunity was a new and fascinating way to help build on our levels of experience and capabilities.
As discussed previously in the semester, education and its resources are a privilege, which unfortunately are not accessible to everyone around the world. The textbook mentions that there are a variety of possible barriers that can prevent someone from being able to participate in nature interpretation (Beck et al., 2018). As a nature interpreter it is my responsibility to take these barriers into consideration so that I can come up with ways for anyone to fairly engage in nature interpretation.
Nature interpreters serve an honourable role in educating others and advocating for the environment and the living beings within it who are unable to advocate for themselves.
Overall, I truly enjoyed learning about every topic that this course offered me. I must say I feel quite prideful in my development as a nature interpreter over the course of the semester. I am grateful to have been able to have taken this course as I feel that it has helped me build my relationship with nature. Often, life gets in the way, and it is easy to lose touch with things that bring you joy and peace, and I believe that this course has been successful in strengthening my connection with nature. I will continue to implement all I have learned from this course in my daily life.
Wishing you all the best of luck with your future endeavours! Take care.
P. S. Please don't forget to take time to un-plug tomorrow at 8:30 PM for Earth Hour!!
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For A Better World. Sagamore Publishing.
Hi Cidalia,
Great post! Hearing about your growth and development as a nature interpreter over the semester was awesome! I believe your personal ethics as a nature interpreter, which values inclusivity, respect, and compassion, are essential attributes to possess in this field. It is great that you have also learned the importance of accommodating different learning styles and circumstances in your nature interpretation. The group podcast assignment seemed like a great opportunity for you to practice and improve your skills as a nature interpreter, and it is impressive that you were able to incorporate creativity and keep the content engaging for your audience. Lastly, It is also great to hear that this course has helped you strengthen your connection with nature and that you plan to continue implementing what you have learned daily. Overall, it sounds like you have had a fulfilling and informative experience in this course, and I wish you all the best in as your interpretation journey unfolds!
P.S. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos with the class! While each reader interprets them differently, I believe they did a great job of showing the audience the importance of taking the time to appreciate nature and the small details that make it so captivating - these photos serve as a visual representation of what the course aims to teach!
Wow, I connect with your post so much! Throughout this course, I kept being in awe because every time there was a unit where I thought I was going to struggle to relate to, I was proven wrong time and time again. This is because I did not realize that interpretation is everywhere and there was always something that I could connect with from the textbook readings or courselink notes.
I’ve read a few posts now that mention the connection between your personal values and how that carries into nature interpretation. So I wanted ot reflect a bit on some of mine as I did not go over this in my post. My values that would benefit me as a nature interpreter include compassion, patience, kindness, respect and initiative. These values would help me connect with my audience and facilitate a safe, learning environment but also ensure that I care for the shared space and intend to respect and protect it as well.
I love that you extended the course material and created some considerations to the delivery of information to be more receptive to different learning styles. As an interpreter, your audience is going to differ the majority of the time and it is your job to be able to still connect with your audience as you are responsible for catering to EVERYONE. Finally, I agree with you, the podcast was a real life example of how as an interpreter you have to tweak your delivery to cater to a younger audience through your language and creating a more engaging delivery. We also quickly realized that we needed to be quirky and come up with jokes and activities to captivate our younger audience.
















