Protected area educational programs in the Anthropocene have become opportunities to engage visitors in ethical and ecological learning that can counteract rapid losses of biological and cultural diversity. However, gaps in terms of the diversity of landscapes, world regions, and disciplines that are considered when guiding or educating visitors in protected areas persist. As interfaces between ecologists and protected area visitors, interpretive trail signs offer unique opportunities to increase ecological understanding and promote ethical environmental practices that can help bridge those gaps. In this work, we examine the ethical values and pedagogical approaches on interpretive trail signs in protected areas of a remote region of South America between December 2018 and January 2019. These signs offer opportunities to increase ecological understanding, prevent diversity loss, and promote ethics in ecological contexts. We analyzed: (1) the extent to which the signs’ language invited interaction and independent thinking between visitors and ecosystems, and (2) whether or not signs that encourage independent actions and/or thinking contain language that suggests a hierarchy between protected area staff and visitors—particularly through the use of commands. After these questions, we analyzed whether or not the signage promoted ethical behavior, increased ecological knowledge, or both.
Results/Conclusions
In studied areas, we found that educational interpretive trail signs primarily provided information but did not directly encourage further visitor interaction. This finding resembles the “banking” model of education that was criticized by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire because it considers students passive receivers of information rather than active participants in the learning process. This pedagogical approach could disincentivize the audience’s active thinking roles, which can alienate learners from study material. In contrast to signs that merely transmit information or commands, signs that encourages visitors to engage ethically with the environment and pose questions represent an important opportunity to improve ecological education among target demographics, specifically children and non-college adult visitors of protected areas. These signs can help audiences connect theory (active thinking) with practice (ethics). To improve this connection, we explore alternative pedagogical approaches such as schoolyard ecology developed by Peter Feinsinger, the Field Environmental Philosophy (FEP) cycle, and Philosophy with Children (PWC). These approaches engage visitors in actions and reflections that integrate ecology, ethics, and culture. We recommend some reformulations of trail signs to emphasize methodological approaches that combine active ecological education with ethics in order to build bridges among ecologists, communities, and ecosystems by encouraging informed, ethical action.