美国国家公园的解说与教育服务研究——以西奥多·罗斯福国家公园为例

Interpretation and Education in the U.S. National Park:A Case Study of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park

解说与教育服务是美国国家公园与游客之间的重要联系方式,是美国国家公园管理内容的重要组成部分。伴随美国国家公园的成长和发展,解说与教育服务也日臻完善。文章通过大量资料和中外相关文献的梳理,对美国国家公园解说与教育服务的意义、内容做了进一步剖析和阐述;将其发展历程分为4个阶段:萌芽阶段、实施阶段、建设阶段和完善阶段。以西奥多·罗斯福国家公园的具体解说与教育项目为例,透视出美国国家公园解说与教育服务的坚强后盾:专业的规划机构、严格的人员要求、健全的解说与教育项目和公园各种系列的定期评估。纵观美国国家公园解说与教育服务的成功发展,其专业的规划机构和国家公园管理局的支持缺一不可。在我国推行国家公园体制建设之际,解读美国国家公园的解说与教育服务,其诸多方面可为我国国家公园体制的建立与推行提供启示。

Interpretive and educational programs are important methods of communication between U.S. National Parks and their visitors. Interpretation and education are vital to the management policies of U.S. National Parks. With the growth and development of U.S. National Parks, interpretation and education are improving. By analyzing a large amount of information about interpretation and education within U.S. National Parks, we reached conclusions about their content and significance. The interpretation and education service in U.S. National Parks is based on the educational function,providing a profound and meaningful learning and entertainment experience for visitors. Most content is aimed at encouraging the public to protect the resources of U.S. National Parks. The service＇s main contents include the planning agencies of interpretation and education, the contents and manner of interpretation and education service. Based on a summary of the relevant literature, we tried to divide its development process into 4 stages, in accordance with the measurements for the implementation of interpretation and education services within U.S. National Parks. The stages were classified as follows：the rising stage the implementation stage, the construction stage and the stage of perfection. In addition to this, the case of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park was analyzed. This involved the analysis of the interpretation and education at the visitor center and the interpretation and education of other locations and educational programs in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The visitor center provides film, exhibition, visitor services, books for sale and online consultation. There are other locations where visitors can visit but are not offered interpretation and education services by staff.These primary non-personal services contain exhibits, wayside exhibits, signs and notices, prints, video,website and digital media. Furthermore, most educational programs that the Theodore Roosevelt National Park offers are aimed at youngsters. The main educational programs include a distance curriculum, family programming and junior ranger. The results show that interpretation and education has a strong background： professional planning agencies, strict personnel requirements, effective interpretive and educational programs and regular evaluation of parks are all emphasized. Professional planning agencies provide a variety of interpretation and visitor experience planning. These include comprehensive interpretation planning for each National Park, accessible interpretation and education planning for the physically challenged, and educational programs for youngsters. In order to standardize the management of staff, NPS（National Parks Service） requires staff to meet professional standards. For instance, district interpreters need to continue working towards achieving competency,including achievement of available Advanced Certificates. Effective interpretive and educational programs include personal service, non- personal service and educational programs. NPS pays great attention to regular evaluation, including front- end evaluation, formative evaluation and summative evaluation. From the success of interpretative and educational programs we can see that professional institutions and the support of NPS are very important. At the beginning of building the National Parks system in China, the interpretation and education within U.S. National Parks sets a good example,which can give us inspiration and guidance.