by Larry Servin
Thesaurus words for wonder: admiration, amazement, awe, astonishment, surprise.
Thesaurus words for spontaneous: unplanned, unstructured, spur-of-the-moment.
The author’s wife helps a child and his father make pinecone bird feeders.
In a review of Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods published in The Wall Street Journal, Mark Yost says that Mr. Louv wrote that “kids are aware of the global threats to the environment—but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading.” Mr. Yost’s review further states that our ultimate goal is to help children find “their spontaneous connection to the natural world—and thus the very reason that anyone comes to care for nature in the first place.”
The underlying assumption seems to be that spontaneous contacts in the wild (i.e., woods) are the only way to connect children with nature. Through making spontaneous physical connections with the natural world, children will automatically understand why they should care about nature.
As I considered the implication of these statements, my mind recalled the following vignettes.
Scene One
“Leave my mommy alone!” the young girl screamed. The hungry deer didn’t understand this command. After all, visitors to Deer Park bought the alfalfa crackers to feed the deer and the deer understood this relationship. The problem here was one measly cracker just wasn’t enough for this one deer. Stalking the woman who had offered the tasty morsel, this animal sought more. The child panicked as the creature pursued its presumed benefactor—the girl’s mother.
Scene Two
“They won’t come to me!” the girl cried in dismay. Baby chicks veered left and right around her hand in their pen.
“They’re scared,” I advised in a low voice. “All they see is a giant object (your hand) chasing them and they’re following their natural instinct to flee a predator. Put your hand out in front of you palm down. Now lower your hand to the cage bottom and keep it still.” The girl did this and the chicks approached. One chick hopped on the back of her hand. “Now slowly raise your hand and bring it toward you,” I said in a low voice. The girl’s eyes and smile broadened as she brought the chick closer to her. She turned and stretched out her hand so her mother could see the chick.
So What Is Interpretation, Anyway?
Interpretation is formally defined by the National Association for Interpretation as “a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource.” This definition is useful for professional interpreters in formal programs. The vignettes, however, seem to better fit one of Heidi Bailey’s insights regarding interpretation: “Visitors and guests are interpreters, too…. Our role is thus to help our guests unlock their own interpretive potential.” (See “Is Interpretation the Right Word for What We Do,” The Interpreter, November/December 2008.) This insight seems to connect with Mr. Yost’s review statements as well. Children become informal interpreters as they tell others about what happened during their spontaneous connections with nature.
Making the Connections
Sticking children in the middle of nature, however, will not automatically cause them to correctly interpret spontaneous connections. If they do not have the contextual understanding that interpreters can provide, children could inaccurately interpret what happened when telling other people about their experience. I submit that children’s connections with nature need to be both spontaneous and guided.
The two young ladies in the previous scenes interpreted their spontaneous connections based on existing feelings and knowledge. The girl in the first scene interpreted the animal’s behavior as threatening and her anxiety level increased in proportion. Unfortunately, park personnel weren’t there to put the animal’s actions into context. My wife Donna (also an interpreter) and I weren’t in position to provide her with an explanation, reassurance, and encouragement (spontaneous but not guided). I sometimes wonder how this girl viewed and discussed animals and nature as she grew up. How did she interpret her experience to others?
The girl in the second scene also expressed frustration due to not understanding animal behavior. This time, however, I was able to explain the chick’s behavior. I was also able to give the girl reassurance and encouragement to try again (spontaneous but guided). She made a second attempt and found the wonder that can occur from developing her own connection to the natural world. How did she interpret her experience to others?
As nature center volunteers, Donna and I envision ourselves as learning facilitators. We help children connect with nature by guiding them in making the connections. While they made pinecone bird feeders with their parents, we told the children which birds prefer the suet and the different kinds of seeds being used (guided). Donna told them about the results we got from hanging a similar feeder on our balcony. We encouraged the children to watch their feeders and discover if they would get the same results (spontaneous). How did these children interpret their experience to others?
At our site, we have parents help their children make animal masks and paper bag animals. The parents sometimes look bemused or befuddled by what their children conceive—pink raccoons and animals that look remarkably like dinosaurs (spontaneous). Yet, as they work together constructing the animals, children discover how their parents regard nature (guided). This bonding experience could be a catalyst in bringing the whole family to participate in our nature camps and formal interpretive programs. At times, even grandparents get involved in the process as well. How do these children interpret their experience to others?
These children and the girl in the second scene will share what they learned and felt with friends and family. They will discover and express reasons why anyone comes to care for nature. Their informal interpretation has the potential to create a new audience for our formal interpretive programs. I believe, if we can guide that sense of spontaneous wonder, interpreters can help young people enjoy time with nature—in or out of the woods.
Lawrence K. Servin is an NAI Certified Interpretive Guide in Streamwood, Illinois.
Children Can Be Interpreters, Too
by Larry Servin
Thesaurus words for wonder: admiration, amazement, awe, astonishment, surprise.
Thesaurus words for spontaneous: unplanned, unstructured, spur-of-the-moment.
The author’s wife helps a child and his father make pinecone bird feeders.
In a review of Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods published in The Wall Street Journal, Mark Yost says that Mr. Louv wrote that “kids are aware of the global threats to the environment—but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature, is fading.” Mr. Yost’s review further states that our ultimate goal is to help children find “their spontaneous connection to the natural world—and thus the very reason that anyone comes to care for nature in the first place.”
The underlying assumption seems to be that spontaneous contacts in the wild (i.e., woods) are the only way to connect children with nature. Through making spontaneous physical connections with the natural world, children will automatically understand why they should care about nature.
As I considered the implication of these statements, my mind recalled the following vignettes.
Scene One
“Leave my mommy alone!” the young girl screamed. The hungry deer didn’t understand this command. After all, visitors to Deer Park bought the alfalfa crackers to feed the deer and the deer understood this relationship. The problem here was one measly cracker just wasn’t enough for this one deer. Stalking the woman who had offered the tasty morsel, this animal sought more. The child panicked as the creature pursued its presumed benefactor—the girl’s mother.
Scene Two
“They won’t come to me!” the girl cried in dismay. Baby chicks veered left and right around her hand in their pen.
“They’re scared,” I advised in a low voice. “All they see is a giant object (your hand) chasing them and they’re following their natural instinct to flee a predator. Put your hand out in front of you palm down. Now lower your hand to the cage bottom and keep it still.” The girl did this and the chicks approached. One chick hopped on the back of her hand. “Now slowly raise your hand and bring it toward you,” I said in a low voice. The girl’s eyes and smile broadened as she brought the chick closer to her. She turned and stretched out her hand so her mother could see the chick.
So What Is Interpretation, Anyway?
Interpretation is formally defined by the National Association for Interpretation as “a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource.” This definition is useful for professional interpreters in formal programs. The vignettes, however, seem to better fit one of Heidi Bailey’s insights regarding interpretation: “Visitors and guests are interpreters, too…. Our role is thus to help our guests unlock their own interpretive potential.” (See “Is Interpretation the Right Word for What We Do,” The Interpreter, November/December 2008.) This insight seems to connect with Mr. Yost’s review statements as well. Children become informal interpreters as they tell others about what happened during their spontaneous connections with nature.
Making the Connections
Sticking children in the middle of nature, however, will not automatically cause them to correctly interpret spontaneous connections. If they do not have the contextual understanding that interpreters can provide, children could inaccurately interpret what happened when telling other people about their experience. I submit that children’s connections with nature need to be both spontaneous and guided.
The two young ladies in the previous scenes interpreted their spontaneous connections based on existing feelings and knowledge. The girl in the first scene interpreted the animal’s behavior as threatening and her anxiety level increased in proportion. Unfortunately, park personnel weren’t there to put the animal’s actions into context. My wife Donna (also an interpreter) and I weren’t in position to provide her with an explanation, reassurance, and encouragement (spontaneous but not guided). I sometimes wonder how this girl viewed and discussed animals and nature as she grew up. How did she interpret her experience to others?
The girl in the second scene also expressed frustration due to not understanding animal behavior. This time, however, I was able to explain the chick’s behavior. I was also able to give the girl reassurance and encouragement to try again (spontaneous but guided). She made a second attempt and found the wonder that can occur from developing her own connection to the natural world. How did she interpret her experience to others?
As nature center volunteers, Donna and I envision ourselves as learning facilitators. We help children connect with nature by guiding them in making the connections. While they made pinecone bird feeders with their parents, we told the children which birds prefer the suet and the different kinds of seeds being used (guided). Donna told them about the results we got from hanging a similar feeder on our balcony. We encouraged the children to watch their feeders and discover if they would get the same results (spontaneous). How did these children interpret their experience to others?
At our site, we have parents help their children make animal masks and paper bag animals. The parents sometimes look bemused or befuddled by what their children conceive—pink raccoons and animals that look remarkably like dinosaurs (spontaneous). Yet, as they work together constructing the animals, children discover how their parents regard nature (guided). This bonding experience could be a catalyst in bringing the whole family to participate in our nature camps and formal interpretive programs. At times, even grandparents get involved in the process as well. How do these children interpret their experience to others?
These children and the girl in the second scene will share what they learned and felt with friends and family. They will discover and express reasons why anyone comes to care for nature. Their informal interpretation has the potential to create a new audience for our formal interpretive programs. I believe, if we can guide that sense of spontaneous wonder, interpreters can help young people enjoy time with nature—in or out of the woods.
Lawrence K. Servin is an NAI Certified Interpretive Guide in Streamwood, Illinois.
Posted in Commentaries, Connecting Children to Nature
Tags: animal behavior, Deer Park, interpretation, interpretive programs, Last Child in the Woods, nature, parents, volunteers