| This study examines job perceptions and approaches employed by interpretive personnel at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, a unit of the National Park Service. The study examines the evolution of the field of interpretation with the Park Service, looks at three different views of the nature of interpretation: pedagogy, provocation, and performance, and suggests that interpretive programs which utilize elements of all three, which can be defined as "praxis", is an ideal approach.;All of the interpreters agreed with the official Park Service definition and goal for interpretation, which are grounded in pedagogy and provocation. Most of the interviewees, when asked directly about the praxis issue, agreed that a blended approach was the best for interpretive programs. All of the interpretive programs reflected the approaches that the individuals claimed to use.;This study attempts to answer three questions: (1) what is the National Park Service's official stand on the role of interpretation, (2) how do the interpreters at the site view themselves and what they do, and (3) how are these views reflected in the programs presented to the public? Analysis of Park Service documents from the national, regional, and site levels was used to answer the first question. Interpretive professionals, as well as site and regional managers, were asked open-ended questions about their views on interpretation. Site observations were employed to study the interpreters' public programs and comparisons were made between which approaches each interpreter said they used and which the researcher perceived to be employed. |
