Interpretation requires an interpreter, an audience, and something to interpret.
The Interactive Threesome – You, the Visitor and the Park
Perception. One thing we know for sure is that every one of us sees the world uniquely. Some park visitors may see waterfalls as sources of power, antlers as trophies, historic sites as impediments to commercial development, trees as lumber, etc. Not only that, none of us continues to see the world in the same way. As we grow older, have different experiences, become acquainted with people who have different values, are exposed to scientific and historical research findings, and travel more widely, our ways of looking at the world are changed.
Furthermore, the world itself is in the process of change. New wars are being fought, mountain tops are filling the valleys, heroes and heroines come and go, species become endangered, then sometimes extinguished. Some of the environment is cut down, pushed around, filled with noxious wastes. Fossil energy sources are depleted at a dizzying pace. New products flood the supermarkets where clerks pass your coded merchandise over a scanner which not only tells you how much you owe, but prints a list of what you’ve bought.
Park visitors and interpreters live in an environment saturated with media – television, movies, magazines, radio, recordings, newspapers – which are generally available to all. Old values are constantly undergoing change, revision. We’re not only living in a world which is frenetic, but in which the pace will accelerate as long as energy sources and materials are abundant.
In a park area we bring together a unique interpreter, a unique visitor, and a unique world all of which are in the process of change. How can meaningful interpretation occur in such a changeable context? It will probably help if certain principles are understood. Maybe the most important of these is a recognition of where each of the three elements
stand at the moment of interpretive contact. If effective interpretation is to occur, the interpreter must be aware of the in-common intersections of all three elements. This means that the interpreter must know himself/herself, the park visitor(s), and the park area itself.
Several assumptions about you as an interpreter must be made. Among these is that you’re qualified as a person who not only knows a great deal about the subjects to be interpreted, but that you have an insatiable curiosity which ensures a continual search for additional knowledge.
It’s also assumed that you have a love for all life, a regard for the incredibly complex ecology that gives special vitality to your particular park area, and for any historical objects, documents, and photographs which give insight into life as it once was, and therefore is.
Perhaps the most important assumption made about you is that you have a high regard for park visitors. You’re expected to care about them, respect their values, be concerned for their welfare and safety, want them to be better informed, inspired, stimulated because of who you are. If you don’t care about sharing yourself, and what you know, with park visitors, you’re in the wrong job.
Caring about park visitors implies that:
1. All park visitors are entitled to your help without discrimination or distinction as to race, color, creed; whether they are famous or humble, young or old, athletic or handicapped, male or female, thoughtful or thoughtless.
2. Even when you’re tired and people seem demanding and exasperating, you’ll be cheerful, patient, courteous.
3.
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