How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?

Chagit Tishler; Orit Ben Zvi Assaraf; Michael N Fried

doi:10.29333/ijese/8335

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Chagit Tishler ¹, Orit Ben Zvi Assaraf ² ^* , Michael N Fried ¹

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¹ David Yellin College Jerusalem, ISRAEL² Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, ISRAEL^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

As educational institutions, zoos provide an informal, free-choice learning environment. To understand the complex processes of learning in the zoo we must therefore take into account the visiting family’s culture. The study presented here, conducted in the Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem, investigates how visitors from different cultural backgrounds experience the zoo and interpret its intended messages. We found that, ultimately, the zoo is perceived similarly by the Arab and Jewish visitors as an educational institution, although what they come there to learn is different. Moreover, with regards to the message of conservation, neither population sees it as a major, prominent message. Despite the overall similarity in our participants’ response to the zoo as an enjoyable, cultural educational institute, there were some differences in the experiences of Jewish vs. the Arab visitors, reflected primarily in their animal preferences, and also in the types of messages that they suggest the zoo is conveying to them.

Keywords

cultural backgrounds
zoo messages

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2020, Article No: e2216

https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

Publication date: 13 Jun 2020

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How to cite this article

APA

Tishler, C., Ben Zvi Assaraf, O., & Fried, M. N. (2020). How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 16(3), e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

Vancouver

Tishler C, Ben Zvi Assaraf O, Fried MN. How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2020;16(3):e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

AMA

Tishler C, Ben Zvi Assaraf O, Fried MN. How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?. INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED. 2020;16(3), e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

Chicago

Tishler, Chagit, Orit Ben Zvi Assaraf, and Michael N Fried. "How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education 2020 16 no. 3 (2020): e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

Harvard

Tishler, C., Ben Zvi Assaraf, O., and Fried, M. N. (2020). How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 16(3), e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335

MLA

Tishler, Chagit et al. "How Do Visitors from Different Cultural Backgrounds Perceive the Messages Conveyed to Them by Their Local Zoo?". Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, vol. 16, no. 3, 2020, e2216. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/8335