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
Hey thanks for your post!
I completely agree with your idea of everyone being encourages to learn through nature interpretation. In terms of entitlement to learn through nature interpretation I believe this is close to impossible. Although it would be amazing, I think it is a privilege to be able to live in a society where nature is everyone and so accessible. COVID-19, in my opinion was a perfect example of privileges being displayed. Urban residents who have excellent living conditions compared to those who do not were observed (Cole et al., 2021). Poor conditions included lack of space (caused a larger spread of the virus) and poor plumbing in some areas (Ahmad et al., 2020). I would love to hear your opinion on how it would be possible for everyone to be entitled to learning through nature interpretation. In terms of responsibilities, I think it is important that an interpreter is focused to ensure successful translation. The idea of blogs being a form of interpretation was refreshing to read as we often overlook the forms of communications we are using presently. I assume the untraditional approaches to nature interpretation will be seen more frequently in the future as the advancement in technology and society as a whole will result in some dramatic changes. Do you think urbanization has a role in nature interpretation? To conclude, the “so what” approach definitely makes an individual dive deeper into their thoughts and idea to create something like these blogs!
References
Ahmad, K., Erqou, S., Shah, N., Nazir, U., Morrison, A. R., Choudhary, G., & Wu, W. C. (2020). Association of poor housing conditions with COVID-19 incidence and mortality across US counties. PloS one, 15(11), e0241327.
Cole, H. V., Anguelovski, I., Baró, F., García-Lamarca, M., Kotsila, P., Pérez del Pulgar, C., ... & Triguero-Mas, M. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic: power and privilege, gentrification, and urban environmental justice in the global north. Cities & health, 5(sup1), S71-S75.



















