The State of Interpretation in Scotland

What is interpretation?

Interpretation is simply a way of imparting messages to visitors in a memorable way. Some describeit as information with explanation. Interpretation aims to improve understanding and enjoyment through provoking interest, relating to experience and revealing something new.

Taking stock

The world is changing around us with increasing recreational access, developing ecotourism and conservation priorities. The Scottish Parliament and forthcoming National Parks add to these changes. Likewise, the world of interpretation in Scotland is growing and developing with practitioners continually being exposed to new technologies, new training courses and new techniques to achieve higher standards of excellence.

This is a fitting time to assess the current state of interpretation in Scotland.

A group of interpretive professionals commissioned a consultant, Nuala Lonie, to produce a report on Interpretation in Scotland in the 1990’s. 62 practitioners and 17 policy-makers were interviewed or responded to a detailed questionnaire. The report considered the profile of Interpretation, particularly with policy makers, the professionalism of those involved, the actual practice the use of evaluation and finally the existence of networks. What follows is an executive summary of this report.

Report Findings

1) The profile of interpretation

Core functions

These are generally agreed to be:

Skills involved

The wide range of skills involved means practitioners come to interpretation from a variety of professions. New skills and techniques are continually being incorporated. Consequently no one practitioner is likely to have worked in every specialism, or possess all these skills. The broad mix of skills means interpreters often view themselves as generalists.

Policy-makers

Policy-makers tend to see interpretation as one skill within a broader competence, such as environmental education, visitor management, marketing or tourism development, rather than a specialism in its own right. They may lack awareness of the wide range of specialist skills practitioners need. Policy-makers see a need to evaluate interpretive provision and believe this should be through questioning visitor experience rather than relying on the opinion of professionals. Policy-makers largely share the same concerns as practitioners – however they may not attach the same priority to dealing with them. Both policy-makers and practitioners want interpretation with a Scottish dimension.

Tourism

Interpretation is perceived as having a major role in the tourism industry. From the top 20 paid and free visitor attractions in Scotland (1997) it can be seen that the numbers of visitors to attractions where interpretation can play a key role is significant:

Castles: 3 million
Museums: 3.5 million
Visitor Centres: 3 million
Zoos/Aquaria: 1 million
Gardens: 1.3 million
Galleries: 1.5 million

Improving interpretation will enhance the visitor experience and result in longer stays, more retail expenditure and more word of mouth referrals.

Interpretation is particularly important in developing sustainable tourism.

Economy

It is difficult to assess the importance of interpretation to organisations and industry as it is rarely accounted for separately. This may lead to underestimating the extent to which interpretation is used and subsequently undervaluing its economic contribution. Evaluation is needed to confirm professionals’ belief that interpretation can have direct and indirect economic benefits.

2) Professionalism and education

Many practitioners are concerned about the standard of training for interpretation and currently attach more importance to work experience. Practitioners feel inadequately trained in some aspects of their work, such as project management, with isolation and lone working contributing to the problem. Many have difficulty keeping up with new technology and current thinking and find little opportunity for mid-career training to improve this situation. Education, training and professional development are all believed to strengthen interpretation as a profession and contribute to a reliable quality of output. However, only those practitioners involved in education seemed aware of the courses available. Organisations rarely view interpretation as a separate training need.

The three key areas of training identified were degree courses, ongoing skills training and specialist areas such as new technology. New courses are being developed although this is not felt to be in conjunction with existing ones. Validation of all courses would be an advantage, with the need to establish links with universities. Presently museums, tourist guides, and countryside rangers do recognise certain qualifications as professionally relevant.

Several respondents fear that standardisation of qualifications might lead to uniformity of outlook, style and creativity – perhaps also excluding future ‘good’ practitioners from arriving in the profession by a non-standard route. Over-specialisation was also thought to act against the career opportunities of practitioners. There is an emerging demand for special skills in community involvement which means new community development skills will be needed if practitioners are to enter this field.

Little support has been shown for a Scottish professional body and some feel this may make members isolated and parochial. Some considered the potential for professional accreditation although no conclusion was reached. Most respondents perceive a professional journal would be useful although some think that this may not be practical in Scotland. There is a UK wide journal produced by the Association for Heritage Interpretation (formerly SIBH). Additionally, certain specialist areas, such as museums, already have their own regular published journal.

There is a degree of uncertainty about adopting a code of professional ethics which perhaps reflects disagreement within the profession about the nature of interpretation. There is a need to open this issue to debate.

3) Actual practice

Most respondents agree that interpretive provision in Scotland is of variable quality.

Practitioners think there is inadequate planning, despite the administrative structures that already exist for co-ordinating this. There is a need for more specific guidance at national and regional levels to direct interpretation on the ground.

At project level, practitioners think that visitors are often presented with too many facts and that too much weight is given to design and media considerations at the expense of content and message.

Practitioners feel that the way computers are used in interpretation is particularly unsatisfactory, with policy-makers also having mixed views about the usefulness of computers.

The majority of organisations advocate good practice in interpretation in some way by reviewing standards elsewhere, promoting awards and disseminating information. About half have internal guidelines for interpretation projects.There still appears to be a lack of support and understanding by some senior staff of the principles upon which interpretation is based, even though interpretation is nw incorporated within many organisations policies.

With rare exceptions, virtually no formal evaluation of existing interpretation has ever taken place. Policy-makers singled out evaluation as a key area for action and more emphasis on this seems likely in the future.

4) Networking and communication

Most practitioners tend to maintain their own personal networks so a basic structure already exists across Scotland. However, existing networks tend not to cross sectoral boundaries. Many practitioners are already members of professional organisations or special interest groups with links to interpretation. There were requests for books and resources on interpretation, access to impartial advice and an accessible directory of specialist skills, but not necessarily a resource centre.

A Scottish network of practitioners would be strongly supported, although this must maintain links with the international and UK scenes to avoid becoming isolated and parochial. Any meetings must be easy for practitioners to attend particularly with their concerns over lack of time.

The form of contact most favoured is a conference. However, an annual conference was only favoured by those who did not presently attend one organised by their own specialist field. Respondents thought a conference should be: practical and offer training, informal and a good get-together, inspirational and supportive.

At the time of the study there appeared to be little enthusiasm for communication by electronic means, possibly reflecting the interviewees awareness that face to face contact is by far the best and most effective way of communication. However as access to computers and e-mail becomes more commonplace this view may change.

Pointers for the Future

Practitioners seek:

Policy-makers seek :

A limited number of copies of the full report are available from Duncan Bryden (Tel 01463 244435 or Email du.bryden@hient.co.uk).

The 14 individuals and organisations below made a financial contribution to ensure this seminal piece of work was carried out and published. The process was initiated by Michael Glen of Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants

Aaron Lawton Associates
James Carter, Consultant
Forestry Commission
GLA Design Limited
Grampian Enterprise
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Historic Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland
Scottish Countryside Rangers Association
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Museums Council
Scottish Natural Heritage
Touchstone
Tourism and Environment Initiative

What has Happened so far?

A small steering group drawn from those who originally commissioned the report has now formed the basis of a Scottish Interpretation Network with the aim of addressing the key issues.

Additionally, a number of national agencies and non-government organisations have now formalised arrangements for joint working. Taking the title Interpret Scotland the remit of this group is:

A journal called Interpret Scotland is underway with the first issue appearing in January 2000.

Interpret Scotland is seen as complementary to the development of a network for practitioners, and is welcomed by all associated with the report. Together, they can work towards raising standards and awareness about the role and the delivery of interpretation in Scotland.

To achieve the aspirations highlighted in the report the interpretive community as a whole, including major funding bodies needs to act ... NOW

Are YOU interested in becoming an active supporter of the Scottish Interpretation Network?

If you have the energy, commitment and time to help us make the Network a success please get in touch

This summary is being sent to a wide a range of groups and individuals with an interest in interpretation, such as yourselves – please pass it around. We want to gain your support and gauge your views about the future of interpretation in Scotland. If you have an interest in interpretation please feel free to get involved.

If you want to know more about SIN, or wish to comment on the report please contact Bill Taylor (Tel 01463 712221 or Email BILL.TAYLOR@snh.gov.uk.)