The
Idea Box: Optional Activities for Training Sessions
or Self-Development--Linking Tangible Resources and
Intangible Meanings
--Break into groups and take a tangible item and link
as many intangibles as possible (items may include office
supplies, household goods, clothing, natural/cultural
items from a park, etc).
--Use video clips of Schindler’s List to demonstrate
the linking of tangible items to their intangible meanings
(segment shows Schindler looking at scene of destruction
during the holocaust…everything is in black and white.
He sees a little girl in a red coat. Camera follows
her into a building, where she hides under a bed. Next
clip comes from later in the film, while Schindler is
at a concentration camp, and he sees a wagon of corpses,
and the red coat is amongst the piles.)
--Use video clip of Dead Poet’s Society to demonstrate
link of tangibles to intangibles. Robin Williams’s character
takes students out into entry hall, looking at trophy
case. As students look at a trophy, teacher whispers
a word in each student’s ear.
--Use Titanic to demonstrate link of tangible
to intangible. Shipwreck is the tangible, and the love
story, which humanizes the desperate tale, is the intangible.
--Develop a Handout to explain Module101 principles
--Demonstrate an interpretive program which contains
excellent examples of tangibles, intangibles and universal
concepts. Program can be delivered either live or on
video
--One-on-one interview: Each person pairs up with another
student, and they have a discussion, which they will
use to make a presentation to the class. Everyone is
asked to share something that has special meaning to
him or her. Instructor writes the object and the meaning
on a flipchart, and uses this information to illustrate
tangible/intangible links.
--Instead of presenting a strong conclusion for the
session, have students in groups develop and share their
own conclusions which should demonstrate their understanding
of how all Park employees contribute to the process
of interpretation.
--Use these two definitions of interpretation:
TWO DEFINITIONS
OF INTERPRETATION:
"The
act or result of interpreting; explanation, meaning,
translation, exposition, etc. The expression of a
person's conception of a work of art, subject, etc.
through acting, playing, writing, criticizing, etc."
Webster's
Dictionary
"An
educational activity which aims to reveal meanings
and relationships through the use of original objects,
by firsthand experience, and by illustrative media,
rather than simply to communicate factual information."
Freeman
Tilden
--Use these two "Concepts of Interpretation"
from Freeman Tilden:
For
personal contemplation he offers:
Interpretation
is the revelation of a larger truth that
lies behind
any statement.
For
contact with the public he states:
Interpretation
should capitalize mere curiosity for the
