My visit to the Louisville Zoo was a bittersweet one - I was so excited to see this zoo, but knew it would be my final one on the road trip. The journey had been long, but completely worth it all the same.
The Louisville Zoo opened in the 1960s and its education programming began around 1975. This was when a few dedicated zoo volunteers began to do education programs such as outreach. Since then the department has grown and expanded, now with around 23 employees in the summer, 10 in winter, and still a devoted base of docents. Even with their multiple areas devoted to education, including a large central education building, the education department viewed the zoo as their true classroom. The Louisville Zoo was very expansive, even sporting a tram that would transport patrons around the park, and I could see exactly how it functioned as a living educational experience.
The education department offered many different programs for children, families, and adults, including early childhood programming and adult lecture series. However, its work with schools seemed to be especially strong. The zoo worked directly with the state department of education in order to understand the big picture in what children were learning and what was needed in teacher training. They also worked directly with religious schools in the area. Their School at the Zoo program, aimed at seventh grade students, ran five days a week and aligned with core components of state education. Overall they worked to serve over 100,000 students in Louisville school systems.
They also worked hard to serve their overall surrounding community. Louisville Zoo is the only zoo in the entire state of Kentucky and is a resource for a very large area. The zoo was excited to offer a safe and secure environment for families, especially during events such as their Halloween celebration.
The Louisville Zoo's education department also used a very analytical approach towards their programming. Programming incorporated evaluation forms which participants would fill out, and these were used in analysis of existing programs. Evaluation forms and audience analysis were also used when developing new programs. Any new programming went through many rigorous steps in order to be implemented, such as technical logistics, audience overview, and budgeting. Their budgeting was strict and well-thought out, and was incorporated into all analysis and program overviews. While having big ideas regarding zoo education was important, it was interesting to see this flip side and how zoos could handle educating while still adhering to strict guidelines and 'left brain' analytics.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Columbus Zoo
The Columbus Zoo was regarded as a kind of rock-star zoo among my peers when I discussed where I was going this summer - it was famous, after all, and was home to the legendary Jack Hanna. The zoo had a rock-star presence as well, and by that I mean it was larger than life. I'm almost certain it was the largest zoo I visited and I just couldn't manage to walk through the entire thing even though I wanted to see every part.
Thankfully the education building was close to the entrance and I went there first. The education department at the Columbus Zoo started in the early 80's with Jack Hanna and a few other educators. Then only three years ago, it became split between Promotions, which handles Jack Hanna's programs such as the animal encounters village, and Education, which handles many 'education proper' programs such as summer camps and an early childhood program called Zoo Tots.
The programs the education department offered tried to cater very close to what audiences wanted and they were often developing new programs when they saw a need, such as with local homeschoolers. In addition, the education department's reach went much farther than just zoo grounds. The Columbus Zoo recently entered a partnership with an African Safari Park called The Wilds, which is an hour and a half outside of Columbus. The education department oversees educational programming at this site, including a summer camp for teens. They also help host a Zoo School that is run through a local career center. The school brings in local high school juniors and seniors who are able to complete thesis-level conservation research. These students spend half a day on Zoo School campus and receive four high school class credits in general science, biology, chemistry, and statistics (may I just say I wish I'd had access to something like this in high school!). Overall many of their educational programs also focused on outreach and on locations outside of the zoo. This is mostly because the Columbus Zoo is actually outside of the city of Columbus and can be difficult to access for many residents, including those without cars. The education program stepped up to reach out to these residents and provides many educational opportunities outside of the zoo, including school programs. In addition, because the zoo received some financial support from the county for capital projects (overall, the zoo is a private non-profit), they wanted to be sure to serve the community and best use their tax dollars.
During my interview, I discussed with an education employee how for some zoos, the term 'educational' may not be the best fit for all they try to do. Many members of the public see the word education as meaning a school program or a lecture and may not think that the show they saw would be deemed an educational experience. Perhaps there is a lexical gap in what to properly call some education departments, as one may need a term which incorporates interpretation and the importance of entertainment into the overall experience. Many people come to the zoo as a family event or for entertainment and end up learning along the way, but is education the best term for every way they may learn within a zoo?
Thankfully the education building was close to the entrance and I went there first. The education department at the Columbus Zoo started in the early 80's with Jack Hanna and a few other educators. Then only three years ago, it became split between Promotions, which handles Jack Hanna's programs such as the animal encounters village, and Education, which handles many 'education proper' programs such as summer camps and an early childhood program called Zoo Tots.
A binturong starred in the Animals on Safari show.
During my interview, I discussed with an education employee how for some zoos, the term 'educational' may not be the best fit for all they try to do. Many members of the public see the word education as meaning a school program or a lecture and may not think that the show they saw would be deemed an educational experience. Perhaps there is a lexical gap in what to properly call some education departments, as one may need a term which incorporates interpretation and the importance of entertainment into the overall experience. Many people come to the zoo as a family event or for entertainment and end up learning along the way, but is education the best term for every way they may learn within a zoo?
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Indianapolis Zoo
Getting to the Indianapolis Zoo made me start to realize the concentration of zoos in the Midwest. Gone were the two days with eight hours of driving each between zoos, suddenly I was traveling from one to the next with barely a day in between, and soon it would take me only four hours to get from one zoo to the next. This became more apparent when learning more about the Indianapolis, or Indy, Zoo - it had to deal with a lot of competition from the many zoos in the area, including some that I would later visit. One of the ways it approached this was by being a very customer-driven zoo which focused on serving its visitors and providing for what people wanted from their zoo.
This rung very true within their education department. The Indy Zoo focuses much of their programming on what is desired and what has been most popular. Part of this is because they are an entirely private zoo, with no funding from the government on any level, so the programs that create income are also prioritized. This includes some of their star programs, such as an extensive overnight program and a dolphin-in-water encounter. These programs, as well as smaller ones such as their Elephant Bathings and Art Adventures, reached huge numbers of people from all age groups. But their education department went far beyond the normal set of programs and was actually very integrated throughout the zoo. Their education department oversaw all "keeper" chats (in fact, they were usually the ones doing the chatting while keepers or trainers interacted with the animal), helped design educational programming and interactive sections for all new exhibits, and were in charge of interpretation at the zoo's shark touch tank. It seemed that all visitor interaction and interpretation on site, no matter if it was a teen volunteer interpreting at a Discovery Cart or a keeper chat with the tigers, was managed by the education department, even in areas that would normally be handled by area-specific or animal care employees. This more holistic view led to an education department which knew exactly what was being taught in all areas of the zoo, in ways from signage to direct interpretation, and seemed to be able to follow the visitor's journey easily and understand what they were learning at every step of the way.
The zoo, like many that I visited, was in somewhat of a transitionary period. They were in the process of restructuring their educational programming, which included steps such as doing away with their education animals after the collection itself was seen as no longer relevant (most of them went to other zoos, and some retired to their caretakers). They were deciding how new programming would be developed and how that would work with their new exhibits.
But there was still a central idea that followed through this transition and shaped all that they did. If people don't love the animals, they won't care. The Indy Zoo worked tirelessly and catered to visitor's desires with one overarching idea in mind: inspire them to genuinely love an animal. Any way that people could interact and bond with this animal was seen as legitimate, and many different methods of doing so were included. They constantly evaluated their audience to see what was working and took all evaluation into account. Overall, they used a holistic educational approach throughout the zoo which I could feel even as an observer.
As a side note, Indianapolis will not have an accompanying video blog because the footage for it has been unfortunately lost due to a memory card mishap. It was beautiful to see however, and you'll just have to view it for yourself.
This rung very true within their education department. The Indy Zoo focuses much of their programming on what is desired and what has been most popular. Part of this is because they are an entirely private zoo, with no funding from the government on any level, so the programs that create income are also prioritized. This includes some of their star programs, such as an extensive overnight program and a dolphin-in-water encounter. These programs, as well as smaller ones such as their Elephant Bathings and Art Adventures, reached huge numbers of people from all age groups. But their education department went far beyond the normal set of programs and was actually very integrated throughout the zoo. Their education department oversaw all "keeper" chats (in fact, they were usually the ones doing the chatting while keepers or trainers interacted with the animal), helped design educational programming and interactive sections for all new exhibits, and were in charge of interpretation at the zoo's shark touch tank. It seemed that all visitor interaction and interpretation on site, no matter if it was a teen volunteer interpreting at a Discovery Cart or a keeper chat with the tigers, was managed by the education department, even in areas that would normally be handled by area-specific or animal care employees. This more holistic view led to an education department which knew exactly what was being taught in all areas of the zoo, in ways from signage to direct interpretation, and seemed to be able to follow the visitor's journey easily and understand what they were learning at every step of the way.
One of the curious monkeys who I saw on my way to the Tiger Keeper Chat.
But there was still a central idea that followed through this transition and shaped all that they did. If people don't love the animals, they won't care. The Indy Zoo worked tirelessly and catered to visitor's desires with one overarching idea in mind: inspire them to genuinely love an animal. Any way that people could interact and bond with this animal was seen as legitimate, and many different methods of doing so were included. They constantly evaluated their audience to see what was working and took all evaluation into account. Overall, they used a holistic educational approach throughout the zoo which I could feel even as an observer.
As a side note, Indianapolis will not have an accompanying video blog because the footage for it has been unfortunately lost due to a memory card mishap. It was beautiful to see however, and you'll just have to view it for yourself.
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