Abstract
Cultural Historical Activity Theory served as the analytical framework for the study of a professional development event for a zoo’s education department, specifically designed to build understandings of “Affective Transformation,” an element pertinent to the organization’s strategic plan. Three key products—an Affective Transformation model, scaffolding schematic, and definition, “providing emotional experiences for visitors which increase caring for animals and nature that may lead to zoo-related nature-protective behaviors”—emerged as a result of ongoing deliberation among professional development community members over two days. Participants, including both management- and non-management-level staff, as well as an expert facilitator, contributed complementary expertise to the process. The discussions, therefore, crossed both vertical and horizontal layers of authority. Moreover, leadership was distributed across these levels in the development of these products. Members used pre-existing resources, as well as tools created in the course of the professional development event. Interactions among participants and resources were instrumental in Affective Transformation product development. Examination of one zoo’s construction of understanding of affective goals, therefore, may offer insights to other organizations with similar aspirations.
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Acknowledgments
This article has been adapted from a portion of the first author’s doctoral dissertation. The Affective Transformation Model and Scaffolding Schematic depicted in this article were previously introduced at the 2007 Conference of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The authors wish to thank the Zoo staff members and the Professional Development facilitator for their participation in the study, Louise Bradshaw for offering a valuable critique of a prior draft of this article, and Doris Ash for constructive comments and an insightful review. This work was supported by the Center for Inquiry in Science Teaching and Learning (CISTL). CISTL was supported by the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLT) program under award number ESI-0227619. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Kelly, LA.D., Kassing, S. Complementary expertise in a zoo educator professional development event contributes to the construction of understandings of affective transformation. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 8, 571–586 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9496-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-013-9496-5