Personal Interpretation Starts with the Interpreter: How Do Outcome Priorities Change Over Time among Interpretive Staff?

Abstract

Personal interpretation is a key management tool to help visitors discover, value, and enjoy parks. Goals and objectives for personal interpretation should be consistent among staff to ensure that planning and delivery are effective in achieving targeted outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess how the outcome priorities for, and resources used by, front-line interpreters (employees who deliver personal interpretation programs) changed over the course of one season. Staff goals are also influenced by agency goals and agency support. We were interested in how park agency legislation and management goals were aligned with front-line staff goals and how the agency supported (or did not support) staff in achieving those outcomes. Front-line interpreters from Alberta Parks completed in-person questionnaires during May 2018 (time 1), describing their priorities for interpretive outcomes, perceived trends, resources used, opportunities, barriers, and demographics. Following the delivery of personal interpretation in 11 provincial parks across Alberta during the May to September 2018 park visitation season, the same interpreters completed a follow-up survey between October 2018 and January 2019 (time 2) to understand if and why those responses changed. Respondents were asked to rate their priorities for six main outcomes of personal interpretation. The top outcomes at time 1 were visitor enjoyment, connections to place, and learning. At time 2, learning and enjoyment priorities declined; attitudes, behavioral change, connections to place, and positive memories did not change as desired outcomes. When asked which of the six outcomes were most important, respondents indicated connections to place, positive memories, and enjoyment most often (but there were no changes from time 1 to time 2). As for resources used in guiding content and strategic decisions in delivering personal interpretation programs, the importance of park legislation and park finances declined; the importance of the other resources did not change. When asked what organizational factors helped them be successful (or unsuccessful), staff relied overwhelmingly on their immediate team, including their supervisors and fellow interpreters. However, responses from time 2 suggested that respondents felt in need of more training, more time to prepare new and innovative programs, and more support from upper-level managers and their agency. This research can help inform park practitioner efforts to understand how interpretive priorities change over time and what resources are important for interpreters. Park agency managers can use these results to hire, train, and nurture front-line interpreters, with a goal of improving the impact of personal interpretation programs.

Direction for interpretive programming from Alberta Provincial Park management plans

“…In addition, in guiding decisions about content and strategies in interpretive programs, interpreters ranked management plans lower in importance than getting information from supervisors, fellow interpreters, and their own previous experiences (Blye et al 2021).…”

“…It is surprising that management plans rarely mentioned the goals of "connection to place" and "making positive memories" since they directly link to the purpose of protecting places for future generations (Province of Alberta 2000) and these goals are gaining attention from researchers (Hwang et al 2005;Morgan 2009;Kohl 2020). Indeed, interpreters in Alberta's provincial parks ranked "enjoyment," "connection to place," and "making positive memories" higher than "learning," "increasing positive attitudes," and "behavior change" (Blye et al 2021). Since newer plans are more likely to mention "connection to place" as a goal, and because interpreters rank this goal relatively highly (Blye et al 2021), this trend will likely continue as new plans are drafted.…”

“…Indeed, interpreters in Alberta's provincial parks ranked "enjoyment," "connection to place," and "making positive memories" higher than "learning," "increasing positive attitudes," and "behavior change" (Blye et al 2021). Since newer plans are more likely to mention "connection to place" as a goal, and because interpreters rank this goal relatively highly (Blye et al 2021), this trend will likely continue as new plans are drafted.…”

“…Guided by Eagles et al (2014), we focused on the following information from park management plans: interpretive goals, topics, strategies, and target audiences. Of the many outcomes visitors desire from interpretation, we chose six of those most commonly researched Stern and Powell 2020a;Blye et al 2021;Cook et al 2021) and described in management plans. They are: "enjoyment," "learning," "increasing positive attitudes," "behavior change," "connection to place," and "making positive memories."…”

Alignment of Goals for Personal Interpretation Among Staff Groups in a Park Agency

“…Whether the focus is on personal or non-personal interpretation (Hvenegaard & Shultis, 2016), the most researched goals of interpretation for visitors are learning, attitude change, satisfaction or enjoyment, engagement with interpretation, behavioral intentions, and behavior (Stern & Powell, 2021). Other common goals include connections to place and positive memories (Blye et al, 2022).…”