On this week’s podcast I talk with marine scientist and educator Lacie Ownbey of the Indianapolis Zoo. We talk mostly about a specific kind of learner engagement: one that is authentic – related to real-life science concepts. Engaging with content directly gives students, especially young ones, an emotional – or...
How can our informal education sites and programs include everyone? It’s a question we all wrestle with. Remember how last week’s guest, Elise McFarland, described teaching about California’s Spanish missions to young visitors who might have roots in Mexican, European, Native, African, Asian, and Catholic communities...
On this week’s podcast, I talk with Elise McFarland, an Interpretation and Education Manager for the California State Park system. In her far-ranging job, she’s responsible for several parks’ cultural resources and, of course, many levels and modes of interpretation. Like many informal educators – especially outdoor...
Since we’re aiming to create community among informal educators here, it seems only natural that we should start by defining our terms: What is an informal educator, exactly? To start with some eliminations, we all intuitively know that a formal educator is the one in the classroom: your Grade 3 lead teacher, high...