This past week, I traveled to Las Vegas for a National
Association of Interpretation (NAI) training.
This training took place over a four-day period and included many
exercises and activities centered around interpretation as well as an open book
test and formal presentation. Overall,
it was a great training and one I would definitely recommend to anyone who
interacts with the public formally and/or informally to foster a sense of understanding
and appreciation for a resource (educators, trail guides, naturalists, museum
workers, rangers, etc.)
As someone who has a degree in formal education and has
only learned about interpretation informally through others, it was hard for me
to wrap my head around “interpretation” at first. In formal education, you have a set of
standards that guide your instruction and knowledge gain is your ultimate goal.
Interpretation, simply put, forges
connections between the audience and the resource (whatever you might be
presenting on). Interpretation is an
interactive and entertaining two-way communication process that builds connections
and sparks discussions and possible action.
Your ultimate goal isn’t necessarily knowledge gain (although that
certainly can be an outcome) but more importantly leaving your audience
empowered and motivated to learn more or do something because they feel a
personal connection.
At Nevada Outdoor School, many of our programs are
education-based such as our classroom lessons and field trip experiences. We work with each grade’s educational content
standards (Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards) and develop
lessons/field trips that relate to those standards and better help students
understand those concepts. We evaluate
these programs on their effectiveness to increase concept knowledge. However, at Nevada Outdoor School, our
mission goes beyond education. NOS
inspires exploration of the natural world, responsible stewardship of our
habitat and dedication to community. We
strive to connect people to the natural world through better understanding of
natural systems with the goal of increasing stewardship and care for community. Our goal isn’t just that a second grader can
tell us what a watershed is, but more importantly can explain how they personally
interact with their watershed on a daily basis, why clean water is important to
them and how their actions can positively and negatively impact their local environment. For this to happen, we must go beyond formal
education and more into the world of interpretation.
I believe this process of using formal education and interpretation
is an important part to NOS’s education programs. We want our kids to leave programs with a
better understanding of concepts, but also with an inspired and empowered sense
of caring and appreciation for the natural world!
Happy Trails!
-Jive
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