A study of professional recommendations for curricular guidelines of environmental interpreters

Abstract

Environmental Interpretation has emerged as a specific profession involved with education the public in primarily formal recreation and park areas -- especially those areas administered by various levels of government. The relative newness of the profession and the dearth of order in the curricular preparation of environmental interpreters necessitated the investigation of variables that could be useful in establishing more explicit curricular guidelines. The objectives of the study were: (1) To determine the personal-professional profile of those engaged in the interpretation profession so that relevant practitioner characteristics could be identified and used, where applicable, in the design of a curriculum for environmental interpreters; (2) To determine the philosophies of environmental interpreters related to current relevant issues to help isolate and identify attitudes which could be useful in the design of a curriculum for environmental interpreters; (3) To determine the proficiencies desired and/or believed necessary for environmental interpreters which could be useful in the design of a curriculum for environmental interpreters; (4) To determine any systematic differences between those associated in the interpretation profession that may be related to such factors as geographical location, background training, specialty role, professional affiliations and the like which could be useful in the design of a curriculum for environmental interpreters; (5) To propose general curricular guidelines for the bachelor's degree to prepare environmental interpreters to enter the profession based upon analyses and evaluation of data from (1) through (4).