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Conservation Education in (AZA) Zoos and Aquariums

by Bruce L. Carr, Ph.D.
Director, Conservation Education
American Zoo and Aquarium Association

Shortcut in conservation education timeline:
Part 1: The Past -- Simple Beginnings
Part 2: The Present -- A Time of Change
Part 3: The Future -- Ideals to Ideas
Part 4: Bold Plans for the Future

Part 1: The Past -- Simple Beginnings

Reasons for Zoo and Aquarium Education

Zoo and aquarium education started for practical reasons. Teachers wanted to use the zoo or aquarium as an community classroom and requested educational activities such as tours or classes. The general visitor arrived curious and wanted questions about particular animals answered by the people who took care of the animals and knew them best. Many visitors would not seek an employee to ask their questions or go to the library later; so the zoo visit became a golden opportunity for focused teaching. Without good interpretation visitors drew their own conclusions or left confused. Neither benefited our institutions or their missions.

The importance of education was recognized early. In 1963 Heini Hediger lamented the "shameful and regrettable fact that most zoological gardens are still not as yet well organized as they should be for educational work with schools and with the people who are looking for spare time activities." (Man and Animal in the Zoo. Delacorte Press. New York. 1969.p. 69).

Fort Education

As our institutions matured, education became a part of the mission. Often the institution would hire a teacher or that keeper who liked to talk to visitors. Through the 1970’s most zoo or aquarium educators focused on providing tours and programs for school children, mostly elementary students. Most programs were free, many taught by volunteers. The educational techniques and facilities often mimicked those used in schools. Thus grew "Fort Education"—that classroom where zoo and aquarium educators taught school children. Frequently educators wrote or reviewed exhibit graphics. The typical educator was relatively isolated from whole-zoo operations and administration.

The world was changing, and there was evidence of positive public education about conservation. In the 1960s the term ecology was a new, mysterious word to most citizens. In 30 years the term conservation has been expanded beyond a resource management definition and now includes concern with retaining the planet’s biodiversity. In the mid 1970’s legal protection was established for certain declining species, intended to counter the effects of trade (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species-CITES, 1975) or loss of habitat (U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973).

In the last 20 years AZA zoos and aquariums have actively pursued single-species conservation through genetic and demographic management of species in their living collections. The list for single-species recovery is long and growing--the bald eagle, the red wolf, the Aruba Island rattlesnake, the partula snail. These are positive steps and provide good stories. Today many people are familiar with the concept of endangered species and the idea that intensive breeding efforts combined with habitat conservation have saved some species.

Conservation Education Becomes Urgent

Today the need for effective conservation education is much more pressing. The desire to understand animals has been joined by the need to conserve their populations and ecosystems. Over the last few decades we linked explosive growth of human populations with changes in the abundance of other species. Zoos and aquariums rapidly expanded their conservation and research programs. Our visitors’ understanding of animals’ needs and of human impacts on animal populations became critical, because the future of these animals depends on people—the educators’ species.

The task of conserving through education goes beyond the accuracy of the message, targeting the right audience or the most modern pedagogy. A current theory of education called constructivism asserts that individuals learn by constructing their own reality. In other words they choose. The educator targets informed choices, both decisions and actions, as measures of success. Few humans end up as scientists, but they will have the right to vote. They will also have the right and the opportunity to reproduce. They will buy products, seek comfort, want water and air. Ultimately, they will teach their children what they believe, with or without us.

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Part 2: The Present -- A Time of Change

Today conservation education has matured into a recognized specialty that benefits from specialized expertise and diverse technologies. Nothing illustrates the potential for conservation education as fully as the range and effectiveness of educational efforts across all AZA institutions. The experience must be effectively interpreted to maximize the visitor’s experience.

The key idea for the present day is sweeping change. Although no single institution is doing everything, many institutions are expanding the scope of education and utilizing educators in new ways outside the classroom. Today zoo and aquarium educators use a dazzling array of methods to deliver our educational messages to all possible audiences.

Conservation Messages

Conservation messages are shifting from endangerment and captive breeding to the importance of saving habitat. Zoos and aquariums are looking toward more commitment to in situ conservation, and the educational message should reflect this important shift. Endangerment is a message already received.

Facilities

Zoo facilities have changed as well. Hands-on laboratories, interactive technology, computer simulations, teleconferencing centers, discovery rooms and immersion exhibits all contribute to improving the visitors’ experience and understanding. Classrooms are being developed to reflect habitat, biogeographic, expedition or other themes that enhance learning objectives. More zoos are using auditoriums and interactive exhibits to extend their educational reach. More zoos are building libraries and teacher resource centers to improve access to and quality of educational materials and information.

Programs

School programs continue to grow and improve. Students and teachers remain a core audience served by classes, tours, outreach programs and special curricular materials. Formal education is becoming more specialized. Aquariums and zoos have responded by forming special partnerships with schools or school districts. Zoo and aquarium educators work with school personnel to align curriculum to the local and state curriculum goals, work on the development of magnet school programs, develop outreach programs that take our special teaching resources to the school and, of course, welcome school groups in great numbers to our institutions.

Teacher training, teachers’ advisory committees, teacher training workshops and teacher membership organizations invite these important partners to help guide and improve our educational programs.

Non-school programs serve every imaginable group. Special camps, overnights, community events and classes operate for preschool children, families, scouts, churches, teens, adults, singles and seniors. Because audiences are changing rapidly, educators are learning to design programs to be inclusive. Program development must be accessible to audiences with varied cultural perspectives as well as diverse physical, mental or emotional capabilities. Many of these programs generate revenue.

Scheduled programs only touch a fraction of our total visitors. Visitor programs such as docent carts should receive increased attention. Live interpreters, often volunteers, engage and educate our general visitor. Effective volunteer management and training expands the benefits of good program development.

Program Funding

Program growth means innovative approaches to funding. Many programs pay their own way through fees to the individual or group. Popular programs like summer camps and overnights generate surplus income that can support other programs or expenses. Hiring a volunteer coordinator to recruit and train volunteers returns many hours of live interpretation. Internships or graduate programs can add highly trained and highly motivated staff temporarily for program work or research. Federal and state grants support some zoo and aquarium programs. Contracts with school districts can include cost-sharing of instructors or materials. A few institutions have made notable progress in a short time by fundraising specifically for education. These projects are often organized around renovation of existing facilities or construction of a new education center. Education is a powerful element that attracts donors to animal exhibits as well.

Exhibits

In some institutions educators are essential members of exhibit development teams. The educator’s analytical approach can help mold the volumes of information into effective conservation messages. Educators’ expertise at audience definition and assessment, defining audiences, selecting methods of exhibit interpretation, careful crafting of conservation messages and evaluation of the exhibit throughout development improve both the exhibit under development and our knowledge about the exhibit development process.

Resources and Networking

Successful models and materials are abundant. Effective sharing of successful ideas and technologies will produce an immediate leap forward. AZA facilitates this sharing in many ways. New educators can utilize professional training provided by the AZA Board of Regents. AZA conferences provide further opportunities to share ideas and develop professional contacts within the zoo and aquarium community. Educators should attend meetings of the Conservation Education Committee, the standing committee charged with improvement of our educational efforts. Colleagues can set up informal networks for sharing information and resources.

The newly established AZA Resource Center is currently cataloguing a wide array model practices and institutional research, including educational resources. As it grows, the Resource Center will become an invaluable resource for all AZA members.

The Department of Conservation Education at the AZA Executive Office provides general support for all phases of the association’s program. Current staff include a Director, an Assistant Director, a Resource Center Curator, a Conferences Manager and a Training Administrator.

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Part 3: The Future -- Ideals to Ideas

It is certain that change will not only continue, but accelerate. Our population is aging. Ethnic perspectives are becoming more diverse. The family unit is changing: fewer children, more single parents, more working parents. Although declining rates of population growth are hopeful signs, the number of people on earth will continue to climb for some time.

Zoos and aquariums intend to play an ever-expanding role in conservation through education. Our job as zoo and aquarium educators is broader than originally conceived. Conservation requires this expanding perspective, but educators are divided and confounded by what we should do. To be effective we must be united about our intentions.

Professional Activities

We need to elevate our own expectations toward professional standards, infrastructure and networking. Trends in education outside the zoo and aquarium industry should be monitored, reported and incorporated into planning within the industry. Proven methods such as evaluation will improve our ability to educate effectively through programs and exhibits. Publication and reporting at conferences will capture these gains for the entire community. Professional training programs will help set and communicate standards of professional operation. Tested and accepted standards should be encoded as part of AZA Accreditation Standards.

Networks and Partnerships

Networking is essential to the building process. Institutions network locally with schools, colleges and civic support groups. California, Florida, Ohio and Texas have state zoo associations. Fruitful partnerships with other associations such as International Zoo Educators (IZE) and the World Zoo Organization (WZO) will advance the creation of a global network for conservation through education.

Several current AZA initiatives emphasize building partnerships so that successful approaches can be shared. AZA conservation committees are each appointing an education liaison. Each liaison’s job is to create exciting educational programs related to their taxon or region, often working in situ. Often conservation success in situ depends upon effective education. Liaison’s to SSPs (Species Survival Plans) deal with the genetic and demographic management of single species. Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs) and Conservation Action Partnerships (CAPs) on a taxon-wide or geographic basis, respectively, and depend on international partners to define specific projects of local importance. Whatever the application, the spirit is one of inclusion.

Audience

Individual programs will be targeted at specific audiences, but our overall program must include everyone. In the same way that under-represented founding parents of our breeding programs receive additional attention and unusual opportunities in single-species propagation, under-served audiences must be identified, invited and reached. Keep preaching to the choir, but grow the choir, too.

Message

One tough issue today is the message. The current message about endangered species has been delivered and understood. But many zoos and aquariums stop short of clear messages about the educators’ species, and for good reasons. Messages about humans can be divisive and confounding. The list of "don’t" is impressive. Don’t alienate people with traditional belief sets. Don’t deliver messages that are relentlessly negative. Don’t provoke confrontations. It seems that education about human impacts upon animal populations can be done badly.

But education about people and their roles in the world’s ecosystems can also be done well. Zoos and aquariums must keep the safe and effective message about endangered species and captive breeding, but also grow beyond them. Progress in conservation depends on advancing the public’s understanding of science issues and human roles. The success of the human species affects all other species, currently driving cases of both rarity and overabundance. Currently the predominant messages from zoos and aquariums emphasize habitat destruction, pollution, overhunting and introduced species--all important but all secondary causes.

Very few zoos and aquariums teach rarity (endangerment) and overabundance as opposite sides of the same coin. The overabundance includes animals and plants called weeds, domestic animals, companion animals, pests and vermin. All are subject to some form of human management. All are abundant because humans modify the environment to be favorable to their survival and reproduction.

Methods

Growing beyond limited education also means examining our methods. Again, broader thought must take the lead. Everyone is an educator. All venues at our institutions can be educational. Exhibits create the strongest impressions for the majority of visitors to zoos and aquariums. What messages do they take away? What actions do these ideas foster? How can graphic and interpretive presentations improve the experience by debunking myths and enhancing understanding? What place do other techniques such as theater have on our grounds? Where is the line between informative and sensational? How can we promote our institutions to a broader audience so that our educational reach can be extended?

Modern communications technologies greatly enhance access to other professionals and a much wider audience, which allows sharing among international partners and audiences. Distance learning can complement local outreach efforts and deliver zoo or aquariums messages outside their gates.

Within AZA the work has begun on many fronts.

• A Graphics Advisory Group within the Conservation Education Committee strives to improve the effectiveness of our interpretive message.
• A Theater Interest Group examines delivering educational messages through dramatic performances.
• A Children’s Zoo Interest Group focuses on our primary public contact areas.

AZA is also working with a marketing firm to develop a character to represent AZA zoos and aquariums to the broader public. This "spokescritter" will engage children and parents and help develop their understanding of the conservation missions of zoos and aquariums.

The Librarians Interest Group works to improve ready access to special collections and resources.

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Part 4: Bold Plans for the Future

High ideals and good intentions abound. Translating these intentions into effective conservation through education requires plans. AZA has been active in planning recently. Planning documents include:

• The AZA Long Range Plan 1996-2001
• The Conservation Education Committee Mission Statement
• The Conservation Education Committee Strategic Plan 1998-2001

AZA has embarked on a plan to elevate the effectiveness of conservation education for the Association and its members. The AZA’s Conservation Education Committee (CEC) responded with a bold mission statement, adopted in September 1, 1997.

The Mission of the CEC is:

To accelerate learning about positive conservation action through collaborative efforts of AZA member institutions.

In 1998 the CEC created a three-year strategic plan. The Plan spells out specific mechanisms for accomplishing the goals of the AZA Strategic Plan, 1996-2001 and fulfilling the CEC Mission Statement. The Plan’s eight objectives are to:

• Monitor and report educational trends and directions and assess needs;
• Guide Resource Center development (education section only);
• Improve communications technology;
• Evaluate our educational impact;
• Integrate Conservation and Education within AZA;
• Increase educational professionalism in AZA;
• Establish and promote professional partnerships outside AZA; and
• Collaborate with AZA staff.

Conclusion

These ideals and ideas are not new. Many of the techniques have been proven. This plan does represent a sweeping commitment to increase professionalism and effectiveness of AZA’s educational efforts. It is a clear statement of what we intend to do. It is ambitious, but appropriate to the need. In this form the plan represents a hope and a promise. It also represents an invitation. This is the time to leap forward.

Source Listing

Carr, Bruce L. "Conservation Education in Zoos and Aquariums." Published by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Silver Spring, MD. Available online at http://www.aza.org/

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