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Transformative Tour Guiding:Training Tour Guides tobe Critically ReflectivePractitionersMichael F. Christie & Peter A. MasonPublished online: 29 Mar 2010.

To cite this article: Michael F. Christie & Peter A. Mason (2003) Transformative TourGuiding: Training Tour Guides to be Critically Reflective Practitioners, Journal ofEcotourism, 2:1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1080/14724040308668130

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Transformative Tour Guiding: Training TourGuides to be Critically ReflectivePractitioners

Michael F. ChristieCentrum för Pedagogisk Utveckling, Chalmers Technical University,41296Gothenberg, Sweden

Peter A. MasonTourism and Leisure Department, Luton Business School, University of Luton,Luton, UK

Interpretation is an indispensable tool for achieving the goals of ecotourism (Weiler &Ham, 2001). Tour guiding is an educational activity that is part of the process of inter-pretation (Knudson et al., 1995; Pond, 1993). In the past, tour guides were usuallyuntrained, but guide training is now common in most developed countries (McArthur,1996). Tour guide training is an adult education activity, but much training is compe-tency-based with an emphasis on knowledge transmission and skill acquisition. Thisarticle suggests that good training should lead to change, not only in terms of knowl-edge and skills, but also in attitudes and behaviour. It argues that good guide trainingshould alter how guides think and act, and suggests that if trainee guides learn how tocritique their own knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, they will be able to offer theirclients(tourists)something more than a superficialintroduction to a new environment,country or culture. Current guide-training practices in selected countries are reviewedand discussed. A case study of tour guide training in Kakadu National Park, Australiais presented and used as the basis for a proposed model of training, termed‘transformative tour guiding’, which could improve the quality of ecotour guiding, aswell as help sustain tourism sites.

IntroductionMass travel and tourism can be very important in transforming the identity of

people in tourist destinations (Urry, 1990). Where the cultural differencesbetween visitors and members of local communities are particularly marked,then the transformation (on at least one side) is more likely to occur (Harrison,1997).

On the positive side, tourism can change the way people (both tourists andlocal residents in destinations) think and act. Tourists from a developed countryvisiting a developing country, for example, may be exposed to political andsocial conditions that they have never dreamed of and can learn to appreciatewhat they have and become more willing to assist those who plainly have somuch less. The so-called host population, those whose culture, country or land-scape is the object of tourism, can also be changed for the better. Part of thischange may be a greater awareness that other people do things differently andthat illiteracy or oppression – to use Freire’s (1972) terms – do not have to beaccepted as one’s lot in life.

However, a tourism destination, or a host population, that attractstourists can

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be unintentionally exploited. This is especially the case where tourism is an activ-ity undertaken by people from wealthy countries visiting people and places inpoor countries. In this situation the potential for negative effects is high and thesecan outweigh the brief economic benefits that tourism brings to the site(Krippendorf, 1987; Lea, 1988; Mowforth & Munt, 1997; O’Grady, 1980; Smith,1989). There is now significant evidence to suggest that increasing numbers oftourists may change the nature of the location until it is no longer a popular desti-nation and therefore no longer profitable for tour operators (Hong, 1985; Mason& Mowforth, 1996; O’Grady, 1980).

Although ecotourism developed initially as a primarily nature-based alterna-tive to mass tourism (Ceballos-Lascurain, 1987), more recently it has also beenconcerned with attempts to minimise the negative consequences of the interac-tion between tourists and local communities (Fennell, 1999; Wearing & Neil,1999; Weiler & Davis, 1993). As Weiler and Davis (1993: 91) state, nature-basedtourism attempts to be ‘destination friendly with respect to both the environmentand the host population’.

Tour guides can have a key role in this process of ensuring that tourism ismore destination friendly, in that they act as a conduit between the tourist andthe place/localcommunity visited (Pond, 1993). As Pond claims, the tour guide’srole is to interpret the place and the local community to the tourist. Weiler andHam (2001) indicate that this process of interpretation is particularly significantin ecotourism. They argued that ‘interpretation is at the heart and soul of whatecotourism is and what ecotour guides can and should be doing’ (Weiler & Ham,2001: 549). However, in attempts to achieve alternatives to mass tourism, such asecotourism, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of the tour guide(Weiler & Davis, 1993; Weiler & Ham, 2001). Hence, only limited research hasbeen conducted into the role of the tour guide in the context of nature-based tour-ism/ecotourism (see Weiler & Crabtree, 1998; Weiler & Davis, 1993). The train-ing and qualifications of such tour guides is of major concern if they are to beeffective interpreters (Weiler & Ham, 2001). Nevertheless, there is even lesspublished research on the training of nature-based tour guides.

In this paper, it is suggested that the training of those who guide tourists islargely about knowledge and skills acquisition. Although training in these areasis important, it tends to ignore that tourism is a transformative experience whichcan have the effects briefly outlined above. In support of the notion that tourismis transformative, a more reflective approach to tourist guide training,‘transformative tour guiding’, which involves values education, the develop-ment of cultural sensitivity and the skills of critical self-assessment, is presented,with a discussion of likely consequences.

The Role of the Tour GuideIt has been suggested that a modern tour guide has five roles: leader, educator,

public relations representative, host and conduit (Pond, 1993). Pond indicatesthat these five may appear as separate roles, but they are in practice ‘interwovenand synergistic’ (1993: 76). Pond also argues that the roles of tour guide and adultinstructor are very similar. She suggests an adult educator has four key roles: aprogrammer who sets up the conditions to facilitate learning, a guide, a content

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resource and an institutional representative. The guide’s role as educator hasbeen regarded by some as the most important (see Holloway,1981;Pond, 1993).

Nevertheless, tour guides may be the most maligned people in the world oftravel. They are blamed for the problems of travel, such as bad weather and traf-fic jams. On the other hand, they are also called the shepherds of the industry, asthey attempt to herd tourists around safely and try to ensure that they returnwith fond memories of their holiday (Ang, 1990). Ang stresses the importance ofguides when she says:

they exist not merely as a mouthpiece, mindlessly rattling information or asa merciless shopping sales person … The job calls for commitment, enthusi-asm and integrity as ‘ the entire experience of the tourist lies in their hands(1990: 171).

Early tour guides were usually unpaid, but were highly motivated andwanted to share the feelings and values they held with others (McArthur, 1996).Many of these amateur guides, operating in such diverse areas as the Alps, Egyptand Palestine in the early 19th century were, it could be argued, early types ofecotourist. As McArthur (1996) claims, these amateur guides wanted to promotea conservationethic in order to ensure what they had first experienced was main-tained in the same state.

The main interaction involved in tour guiding is between the visitor and theguide. The guide’s role in this interaction is as follows: telling (provision of infor-mation); selling (interactive communication that explains and clarifies); partici-pating (being a part of activity); and delegating (giving responsibility to somefuture behaviour) (Howard, 1997).

The tour guide also has an important role as a buffer between the visitor andthe site visited (Ang, 1990). The role of the tour guide in this situation can beviewed as assisting in the interpretation of the site for the visitor. However, it isthe major role of the tour guide in attempting to inform and educate visitors, thatrequires any discussion of guiding to be set within the context of the process ofinterpretation (Knudson et al., 1995; Pond, 1993; Prentice, 1995). The role of thetour guide in interpretation is discussed in the next section.

Interpretation and the Role of the Tour GuideIn what is widely regarded as the first major text expounding a philosophy of

interpretation, Tilden (1957) suggested that it is an educational process thatemploys objects, illustrative media and the use of first-hand experience. The aimof interpretation is to reveal meaning and relationships (Tilden, 1957). A varietyof ‘objects’, such as urban monuments, works of art and flora and fauna, as wellas media, including print and photographs, can be used to achieve this (Pond,1993).

A recent attempt to define interpretation (Prentice, 1995) indicate that, in addi-tion to the educational aim, the process can be place-specific and is an attempt tomodify the attitudes and behaviour of visitors. As Prentice suggests, interpreta-tion is:

a process of communicating to people the significance of a place so that theycan enjoy it more, understand its importance and develop a positive

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attitude to conservation. Interpretation is used to enhance the enjoyment ofplace, to convey symbolic meaning and to facilitate attitudinal or behav-ioural change (Prentice, 1995: 55).

Interpretation can therefore be seen as part of the process of making placesaccessible to a public audience and providing visitors with insights into places(Stewart et al., 1998). The more specific aims of an interpretation programme are:

to stimulate, facilitate and extend people’s understanding of place so thatempathy towards conservation, heritage, culture and landscape isdeveloped (Stewart et al., 1998: 257).

These two quotations clearly indicate that interpretation is not solely aboutthe transmission of knowledge. The quotations stress that interpretationinvolves the developing of attitudes and they link this process to the concept ofconservation. The conservation message is frequently cited as a significantelement of the ecotourism experience (Ceballos-Lascurain, 1987; Wearing &Neil, 1999). Messages such as ‘the importance of conserving the rain forest’ canclearly be taught in a classroom context, but having visitors in a real rain forestprovides the opportunity for a more sensory experience. Therefore, interpreta-tion in the field may ensure that this educational process is more effective. AsWeiler and Ham (2001) suggest, to achieve the aims of ecotourism, interpretationis important in that it is the key to establishing the link between visitors and desti-nations visited, not just in terms of the physical experience, for example of land orwater, but of the ‘intellectual, emotional and even spiritual connection’ (2001:549). The tour guide is commonly the educational agent involved in this interpre-tation process in the field.

It has been argued that visitors can respond to interpretation in two majorways: ‘mindless’ or ‘mindful’ (Moscardo, 1996; Moscardo & Pearce, 1986). A‘mindless’ state is characterised by mental passivityand behaviour, while ‘mind-ful’ means a state marked by active mental processing (Moscardo, 1996). Langer(1989) indicates that mindfulness is the active creating of categories. Therefore, tobe mindful is to appreciate the possibilities of the way the world works, ratherthan be trapped by existing labels and preconceptions. Moscardo (1996) arguesthe importance of promoting ‘mindful’ tourism through interpretationprogrammes. Education is at the heart of ecotourism and interpretation isfrequently the method by which the education message is delivered. It can beargued that creating ‘mindful’ tourists is a major aim of ecotourism and henceecotour guides are important in the process of attempting to make tourists‘mindful’.

However, although guided ecotourism experiences are likely to take placewhere visitors are in contact with natural or cultural heritage, the experiencelasts for only a short period of time. Questions are therefore likely to arise aboutthe effectiveness of interpretation in ecotourism contexts. Only a limited amountof research has been conducted into the effectiveness of interpretation in anytourism context. Stewart et al. (1998) indicate that, for the few existing evaluationstudies of interpretation, effectiveness is usually determined by how muchfactual information visitors can recall. Such studies, however, provide little idea

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of how people use interpretation to help them understand places they are visit-ing (Stewart et al., 1998).

As Orams (1994, 1995) suggests, interpretation programmes are usuallydesigned not just to inform, but to change visitors’ behaviour. However, he indi-cates that there is little evidence that interpretation programmes will necessarilylead to a change in visitors’ behaviour (Orams, 1994). He suggests the need toconduct evaluation to ascertain any changes in behaviour and advocates the useof ‘cognitive dissonance’ as a way to get visitors to modify their behaviour(Orams, 1995). In Festinger’s (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance, the centralconcepts are ‘dissonance, consonance and irrelevance’. Festinger suggests thatthe existence of dissonance is psychologically uncomfortable, and hence this willmotivate a person to reduce it and attempt to achieve consonance. Orams (1994)argues that cognitive dissonance can be used in interpretative programmes innature-based contexts to challenge people’s belief systems. Such programmeswould attempt to throw people off balance and put questions in their minds.Orams suggests that the eliciting of emotional responses from visitors, as part ofa strategy involving cognitive dissonance, may be the way to counter the prob-lems inherent in educating tourists.

Of particular importance in this paper is the recognition that interpretation isan educational process (Prentice, 1995; Tilden, 1957). As has been suggestedabove, tour guides have a major role in delivering interpretation programmes.Hence, guides will require the skills to be educators. Such skills can be developedand improved through training programmes. The next section discusses theprovision of education and training courses for guides.

The Training of Tour GuidesHoward (1997)suggests that despite its long history, tour guiding has no theo-

retical base and that consequently there is a need to create benchmarks and bestpractice principles. To achieve the required standards to be a tour guide, appro-priate training is required (Pond, 1973). Ang (1990) supports this view when sheargues that guiding should be a more professional activity, and claims that train-ing is vital. Cherem (1977) argues for the best possible training for all in guiding.He stresses the importance of the skills of delivery over actual knowledge whenhe claims all guides are interpreters first, and subject specialists second. Hence,Cherem argues for courses in interpretive methods, as well as field courses,research and theory.

Pond (1993) suggests that guides need the following qualities: broad-basedknowledge about the area they are guiding within, enthusiasm, commitment tolife-long learning, empathy and sensitivity for people, flexibility, pride in serv-ing others and the ‘ability to interpret by painting mental pictures’ (1993: 93). Sheargues that some of these qualities could be developed through training.Knudson et al. (1995) also discussed basic qualities of a guide when examininghow to be an effective speaker. They suggest these are amiability, enthusiasm,confidence, delivery and organisation. While Knudson et al. (1995) acknowledgesome of these qualities are not subject to an educational input, they indicate thatit is vital that interpreters are trained. Good interpreters usually develop slowly

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through careful study, the gaining of much experience and continued training(Knudson et al., 1995).

However, Pond (1993) suggests that there are great variations in guiding stan-dards and qualifications across the world. For example, in the mid-1990s therewere at least 130 universities in North America providing a professional educa-tion for interpreters at undergraduate and post-graduate level (Knudson et al.,1995). Academic programmes in interpretation in the USA tend to be broad inscope (Knudson et al., 1995). There may be a focus on natural sciences and onresource management and conservation. There may also be the development ofpublic-speaking skills and communications theory. Undergraduate courses tendto give a broad view of the philosophy, principles and methods of interpretationand environmental education, while at the post-graduate level there is moreconcern with theory, research, design and management (Knudson et al., 1995).

In the UK, guides are required to attend courses, complete coursework andtake examinations. By law, qualified guides are to wear the highly respected‘Blue Badge’ (Pond, 1993). In London, obtaining the Blue Badge takes approxi-mately 28 weeks (320 hours) of study and all guides must pass both oraland writ-ten examinations. Guides in Vienna, Austria are also required to take and passexams (Pond, 1993). They need to be fluent in at least two languages, have goodhealth and a basic knowledge of the city. Potential guides are required to takecourses in art, music, drama, politics, history, geography, Austrian history andadditionally, speaking techniques. A course takes three years to complete andexams take place in all subjects, a foreign language and the particular language inwhich guides will take tours (Pond, 1993).

In Canada attempts have been made to produce a nation-wide set of standardsfor guide training (Pond, 1993). The organisation attempting this is supported byTourism Canada, the official government body for tourism. In the early 1980s,the Yukon State (Government of Yukon, 1982) proposed a model of guide train-ing which was concerned mainly with developing knowledge and understand-ing. This model also had a particularemphasis on skill development, with a focuson leadership skills. The proposed model also made reference to guide ethics andresponsibilities (Government of Yukon, 1982).

In Australia and New Zealand, the majority of courses for guides tend to beskills-based and as such are part of the Vocational Education and Training (VET)sector, rather than being based in universities (Christie & Young, 1994). InAustralia, the National Training Authority oversees the accreditation of coursesand the production of core modules. The nationally accredited course for tourguides is called Certificate 2 in Tour Guiding. VET providers use nationalmodules as the basis for their own customised courses (Christie & Young, 1994).

The Australian Certificate in Tour Guiding has many advantages. It offersprospective tour guides a modularised course that can be undertaken in stages, anationally accredited award on completion and much lower fees than apply inhigher education. But there are also shortcomings. A major concern with suchcompetency-based training programmes is the lack of a philosophical and theo-retical base (Foley, 1995). This can lead to an over-emphasis on developing thoseskills that can be easily measured by some form of competency-based assess-ment, while ignoring the development of qualities that are more difficult tomeasure, including the capacity for critical, analytical thought, the ability to

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communicate in cross-cultural situations and the techniques to help touristsexpand their tourist experience so that it benefits them and the site they visit.

Australia is one of the most ecotourism-oriented countries and in themid-1990s it introduced a National Ecotourism Strategy. By the late 1990s, therewas also an embryonic National Ecotourism Accreditation Programme (NEAP)(Weiler & Ham, 2001). Under NEAP, a National Ecotour Guide CertificationProgramme (NEGCP) was launched in late 2000 (Weiler & Ham, 2001). Once thisscheme has been fully implemented, a minimum percentage of a tour operator’sguides will need to be NEGCP registered. This appears to be a positive moveforward in guide training. However, it is still the very early stages of NEGCP inAustralia and there is no national requirement, as yet, for ecotour guides to belicensed or qualified to work as a guide (Weiler & Ham, 2001). In addition, thecertification criteria for NEGCP, once implemented, will be largely linked tocompetency standards (Weiler & Ham, 2001) and the programme is unlikely toplace emphasis on the development of trainee guide’s critical analytical faculties,that are important qualities, but, as suggested above, difficult to assess. Ofconcern also, is that from late 2000, due to changes in the political persuasion ofthe government, the National Ecotourism Strategy was ‘apparently no longerofficial policy of Australia’s federal government’ (Fennell et al., 2001: 467).

As the NEGCP is still at a very early stage, many trainee ecotour guides inAustralia will continue to be trained within VET programmes. VET programmeswork particularly well training people in practical skills – skills that a trainee candemonstrate rather than describe. Tourist guides in Australia are expected tocomplete a module in health and safety, including elementary first aid. Such askill can be tested at the completion of a course and this is one of the strengths ofcompetency-based training (Gonzi, 1992). An assessor in this system is generallyless interested in how a trainee arrived at a competency than in the level of theskill demonstrated on graduation (Christie & Spiers, 1998). Trainees who alreadyhave skills when they begin training, or are particularly quick at picking themup, can be fast-tracked through a programme. While this system works well withskills-based programmes it would appear to be not as appropriate for trainingprogrammes where less tangible qualities are inculcated. This point can be bestmade by reference to an actual course. The setting for the course is the KakaduNational Park, a World Heritage area in the Northern Territory, Australia and itis discussed in the following case study.

Case Study: Tour Guiding in Kakadu National ParkThe Kakadu National Park is home to a large range of fish, reptiles, amphibi-

ans, mammals, butterflies and birds (Brennan, 1991). Apart from the naturalbeauty of the Park and its unusual and dangerous wildlife (crocodiles arecommon), visitors are drawn by the fact that Aboriginal culture is still strong inthis part of Australia. This combination of landscape, wildlife and aboriginalsites has contributed to the Park gaining World Heritage status. This in turn hasmeant an increase in visitor numbers and the expansion of ecotourism in thearea.

Within the Park are over 5000 sites of Aboriginal rock art dating back at least8000 years and Kakadu is one of the most important sites globally for rock art

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(Ryan, 1998). A number of these rock art sites have become tourist attractions.Ryan (1998) emphasises the important role that Aboriginal people have in tour-ism in the Kakadu National Park. He indicates that such involvement has bene-fited both the Aboriginal groups themselves, and also tourism itself:

The ability of Aborigine’s to share, learn and where necessary re-discovertraditional values within a context of environmental conservation isperhaps one of the success stories of … the Park (Ryan, 1998: 137).

However, for the Aboriginal people living in and close to Kakadu, the rock artand the Park’s natural features mean that it is a living entity (Ryan, 1998). Thisprovides a challenge for those whose responsibility it is to provide interpreta-tion. Trainee tourist guides for Kakadu National Park can undertake theNational Certificate 2 in Tour Guiding, or a Certificate 3 in Tour Driver Guiding.Training takes place at Jabiru, a town in the heart of the Park. All students receivepractical training in the use and maintenance of four-wheel-drive vehicles, firstaid, health and safety, and other skills. These specific skills fit well in a compe-tency-based training package and the course does have a strong compe-tency-based dimension.

However, the training course also aims to develop the cultural awareness ofparticipants (Christie & Spiers, 1998) and the ability to interpret Aboriginalhistory and lifestyle are recognised as important aspects of training for KakaduNational Park guides. As Christie and Spiers (1998) indicate, it is relatively easyto assess the skills-based part of the course. If a trainee guide can change a tyre ina competency-based test, it is possible to say with some confidence that in the‘real’ situation the guide will be able to do this and hence s/he can be deemedcompetent in tyre changing. However, it is in relation to assessing culturalawareness that there is far less certainty (Christie & Spiers, 1998). Christie andSpiers were concerned that a course participant may give the impression thats/he is culturally aware through a competency-based test, but could, in fact, bedoing little more than mouthing cross-cultural platitudes.

In the mid-1990s,approximately 40% of those involved in guiding/interpreta-tion in the Kakadu National Park were actually Aboriginal (Ryan, 1998). Most ofthese Aboriginal rangers had also undertaken the Certificate 3 in Tour DriverGuiding (Christie & Spiers, 1998). These guides were thus both skilled and, itmay be assumed, culturally aware and this situation would appear to offset thepossibility that guides would be unable to act as effective cross-cultural commu-nicators. However, 60% of the guides in the 1997–8 cohort were non-Aboriginal(Christie & Spiers, 1998), and it is likely the intake for later guide training courseswas made up of not just Aboriginal people from communities with tourist facili-ties, but also non-Aboriginal people. Christie and Spiers (1998) argue that thishas led to concerns about the course in terms of the following: the training of a‘mixed group’ of participants in relation to the cultural environment; methods ofassessment for this group; and whether guides who might be hostile to Aborigi-nal culture would be able to interpret that culture competently.

In relation to another geographical context, Ridenour (1995) stressed the needfor guides who are culturally sensitive as well as being skilled and also knowl-edgeable about a specific destination. He relates the story of two friends visitingthe Canyon de Chelly in the USA, an area once inhabited by significant numbers

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of Navajo Indians. One of the two friends makes an unguided walk and returnslater with a broken piece of pottery. Her colleague, somewhat knowledgeable ofNative American traditions, is annoyed and scolds her friend for picking up theshard. This provokes the response: ‘What is wrong with me taking it, since Ivalue it?’. The other friend counters with a question: ‘Would you feel happy ifsomebody took a silver spoon that had belonged to your grandmother from yourhouse, simply because they valued it?’ Later in the day, with this situation stillunresolved, the two friends take a walk led by a Navajo guide. During the walkthe two learn about Native American spiritual beliefs and values. The one whotook the shard is so taken by this new perspective that she admits what she hasdone and asks if she should return the shard. The guide responds: ‘No leave itwith me. I will cleanse it and pray over it before returning it to the earth. You maypray that the spirits return to it’ (Ridenour, 1995: xiii).

This section of the article has raised the following question: how appropriate isa competency-based training programme for teaching and testing the ability oftrainee guides to provide a culturally sensitive interpretation of an ecotourismdestination? In response to this question, it is suggested that ecotour guiding incross-cultural situations requires sensitivity as well as erudition and this is bettertaught and tested in a more holistic programme. A model for such a trainingprogramme is presented and discussed below.

A Model for Transformative Tour Guide TrainingCompetency-based guide training courses rarely ask the bigger, philosophi-

cal questions that go to the heart of what has been referred to in this paper astransformative tourism. It is suggested that any educative experience (and thetourism experience fits into this category) results in some form of change. Such achange might be slight – the acquisition of some new facts or a new insight intothe way other people live. On the other hand the change could be considerable – arejection of certain stereotypes and attitudes or a new way of viewing the world –as in the story related by Ridenour (1995) cited above. If change, however minus-cule, is inevitable, should ecotourism guides be trained to be aware of thechanges they may deliberately or inadvertently effect? It is argued in this articlethat the ecotour guide has a role to play in transformative tourism.

The definition of transformative tourism is more specific than the onepresented and discussed so far. It can be defined as ‘the practice of organisedtourism that leads to a positive change in attitudes and values among those whoparticipate in the tourist experience’. The good tour guide offers his clients theopportunity of seeing the world differently (Knudson et al., 1995; Pond, 1993),hence ecotourism guide training must prepare guides for this role. This is not tosuggest that a guide should badger or indoctrinate clients. In the model proposedhere, any change, to be effective, must be voluntary. Hence, it is up to the clientsto act on their new insight and so transform themselves.

There are a number of assumptions in the preceding paragraph. It is assumed,for instance, that the good guide will not simply entertain (see Cohen, 1985) butalso facilitate learning. These two things are not viewed as mutually exclusive.Learning can be fun just as fun can be instructive. Many of us have experiencedthe horror guide who appeals to the lowest common denominator in a tourist

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group by regaling it with sexist, racist or distasteful jokes about the people orplaces they are visiting. At the opposite end of the spectrum there is thewell-meaning guide, besotted by the target country or culture, who patronisesclients by an over-enthusiastic explanation that assumes ignorance of, or antago-nism towards, that country or culture. Both extremes are bad for the touristindustry and ecotour guides should be trained to avoid them. Within thatassumption lies another; the assumption that good guiding should help preserveand enhance the natural and cultural site that has attracted the ecotourists in thefirst place. In the context of this article the most important assumption is that theright sort of training can help prepare guides who can satisfy their customers’basic needs (see Maslow, 1943)while at the same time offering them the opportu-nity to change the way they think and act. Hence they may become ‘mindful’tourists (Moscardo, 1996), who develop a better understanding about, and posi-tive attitudes to, a location (Prentice, 1995; Stewart et al., 1998). In this way theywill also be achieving important aims of ecotourism through an educationalprocess that not only provides knowledge and informs tourists but also developstheir empathy for a site/host population and promotes a conservation ethic.

A training programme that concentrates on skill development alone fails totake into account the complex nature of such guiding. Graduates of manycompetency-based programmes may have all the organisational skills needed tomove people physically but too often may lack the skill to move them intellectu-ally and emotionally. What is proposed here is a programme that gives guides athorough knowledge of their subject (or the means to attain it), practical guidingskills and the capacity to transform themselves and the people they guide. Such atransformation should always be for the better and therein lies a dangerousassumption. Who decides what is better? How does one decide this? Whatfollows in this article is an attempt to provide a better alternative to trainingguides than what has gone before.

It would be difficult to find disagreement with the notion that awell-informed, contextualised explanation of a tourist site is better than an igno-rant, prejudiced one. Likewise, an explanation of another country or culture thatmodifies a tourist’s ethnocentric attitudes and behaviour would also be, it issuggested, a change for the better. An explanation that is clear, varied andappeals to all the senses of the client is better than a rote-learned spiel. Similarly, atourist experience that is organised and presented in such a way that it helpssustain the natural and cultural ‘object’ visited is better than one that hastens itsdestruction.

The notion of transformative tourism proposed here and a training systemthat prepares guides for it, draws heavily on the writings of the following adulteducators and theorists: Boud et al. (1985), Brookfield (1986, 1990, 1995), Cranton(1989, 1992), Dewey (1911, 1933, 1938), Jarvis (1983, 1987), Knowles (1975, 1980,1984, 1990), Lindeman (1926) and Mezirow (1990). The notion of transformativetourism is linked most closely with Brookfield’s (1995) modification ofMezirow’s (1990) theory. However, all these writers have contributed to theconcept of transformative learning. Dewey insisted that people learn best fromexperience but that such learning is only effective when it is acted on. In thissense, tourism provides a perfect opportunity for learning because people expe-

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rience as well as read about the places they visit and can act on their new knowl-edge immediately.

Tourists can do this in a self-directed way and many backpackers and travel-lers take this approach. There are, however, others who, for various reasons, seekthe services of a guide to interpret for them the site that they intend to visit. Indoing so they hand over responsibility to the tour guide, assuming that the infor-mation they will receive and the actions they will perform will be monitored byan expert. Both sets of tourists learn but the ones who pay for a guide can expectto avoid the sort of cultural gaffes the unwitting backpacker makes and hope-fully have less impact on sensitive environments.

Knowles (1984) focused on the importance of discovering the needs of theadult learner (in this case the tourist) and catering for those needs. Hence itshould be clear that tour guides need to be aware of the needs of their group andthis is frequently cited as an important aspect of guiding (Howard, 1997; Pond,1993). While the principle is sound, the good guide needs to do more than this ifhe or she is to practise transformative tourism. The guide who simply tried tocater for the needs of all clients would find him/herself tugged in several oppos-ing directions, not all of them desirable, since tourists have a variety of needs andinterests and it is not always possible to meet them all. Fortunately, visitors whotake tours usually understand this and hand over responsibility for the tour tothe expert. What tends to happen is the tour guide (or often the tour operatoracting through the guide) decides ‘what is best’ for their customers and sets up anexperience that it is assumed will be the most ‘interesting’ for the majority ofcustomers. However, financial considerationsand ease of operation are often thedeciding factors in this process (Arsenault et al., 1998). Guides and agents,however, who receive the type of training recommended here can add value tothe standard tour by finding ways of accommodating individual differencesamong their clients. The guide who learns a spiel by rote and delivers such aninterpretation of the site without reflecting on its appropriateness is unlikely toentertain or educate clients.

The educator’s role according to Brookfield (1990), Freire (1972, 1974),Mezirow (1990) and is to raise a learner’s consciousness, to question the politicalstatus quo and devise a means of changing and improving the learner’s circum-stances. Such writers argue for the importance of helping learners realise thatthey view the world in a particular way and that their thinking and actions areoften circumscribed by their world view. Hence, the adult educator’s role is toprovide their learners with the tools for ‘hunting assumptions’ (Brookfield, 1986:297; Mezirow, 1990: 354), in other words the means of judging whether theirassumptions are valid or invalid. As Brookfield and Mezirow argue, adulteducators should also provide learners with the motivation to change invalidassumptions and the behaviour that stems from them. It is this process thatMezirow calls ‘transformative learning’ and as proposed here should be incorpo-rated in the training of ecotourist guides. In keeping with Freire’s (1972) ideas it isimportant, that both teachers and learners involve themselves in this process(Bell et al., 1990).

Thus, the proposal presented here requires modifying the competency-basednature of tourist guide training. In addition to studying a skills-based curricu-lum, guides would learn a number of techniques that promote critical reflection

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of their own values and assumptions. Brookfield (1990) argues that all educationis bound up with the values of those who teach and learn. He insists that wecannot separate ourselves from our values, even in a classroom.Those values arebased on assumptions that he refers to as paradigmatic, causal and prescriptive.In the first of Brookfield’s categories we assume that the world works in a certainway. We say ‘this is how the world is’. In the second we say ‘things are like thisbecause of such and such’ and in the last we say ‘this is how things should be’. Werarely think about our assumptions unless required to do so. Challenges to ourassumptions can occur when we have unexpected insights into the world ofothers through travelling or reading; when we are knocked a little off balance bya ‘powerful’ person with different values and assumptions; or when we encoun-ter a disorienting dilemma that forces us to accept that the assumptions we holdare not necessarily valid.

It is in such moments when our assumptions are challenged that we aresurprised to find that other people assume different things about the way theworld is, or should be, and have different reasons for explaining these beliefs andvalues. In the context of ecotourism, Orams (1994) suggested that such anapproach, ‘to knock tourists off-balance’ i.e. to challenge their attitudes andhopefully modify their behaviour (employing the ideas from Festinger’s (1957)theory of cognitive dissonance) could be a way to ensure educational interpreta-tion is effective. If ecotourist guides can be convinced of the significance of valueseducation, and apply the approaches suggested by Brookfield (1986), Freire(1972), Mezirow (1990) and Orams (1995), then there is a chance that they willbetter critics of their own practice and better interpreters of the sites they visit. Inthis way they should better serve the aims of ecotourism.

Hence, transformative tourism is based on the belief that no action is valuefree. The tourist company and the guide who declare themselves to be apolitical,unbiased and a-cultural are deluding themselves. The declaration is in itselfvalue laden. Better to recognise the ubiquity of values, ‘hunt the assumptions’(Brookfield, 1986:297;Mezirow, 1990:354)on which the particular touristexperi-ence is based and critically assess it for validity. This will normally take place in aculturally circumscribed context, but even that admission is an advance on theposition that assumes those guided and those visited share the same world view.Rather than deny the existence of entrenched values and assumptions amongprospective tour guides, the course recommended here would focus part of thecurriculum on it.

It should be noted that the process advocated here is a challenging and attimes threatening one. Before introducing it, teachers must be sure they haveundergone the process themselves, and continue to employ it in their teaching. Inaddition, adult educators must ensure that critical reflection occurs in a support-ive and non-judgemental atmosphere and that change is always an option ratherthan an imposition.

There are a number of activities that promote the process of critical reflectionoutlined above and lie at the heart of the proposed transformativeguide-trainingprogramme. To fully explain them would require a separate article. It is enoughto list them here and refer the reader to texts that explain their purpose andimplementation in specific situations. Cranton (1992) provides a straightforwardsummary of many of these techniques. However, the use of:

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� journal writing� life histories� case studies� critical incidents� idea writing� small group discussion� role playing

could assist learners to confront their own assumptions and decide whether ornot they are valid. Nevertheless, learners will not necessarily be grateful forhaving their inconsistent and invalid assumptions highlighted. Quite often thefirst reaction will be anger and denial. Over time, it is suggested, some of theinsights gained in this learning process will settle in the individual’s conscious-ness and gradually lead to positive change.

In the model proposed here, good guides are trained not only to ‘hunt outassumptions’ (Brookfield, 1986: 297; Mezirow, 1990: 354) underlying their ownlifestyle but also to detect the assumptions upon which tours to specific sites arebased. Obviously, a newly employed tourist guide will not risk the sack bycriticising his or her employer’s schedule. However, if the ecotour guide is capa-ble of critical reflective thought, this will inform any interpretation of that site.There is another advantage: if the guide has been trained to keep a journal or notedown critical incidents, reflection on them should help improve futurepresentations.

The habit of critical reflection will also enable the guide to clarify the aims andobjectives of particular tours within a context of broader tourist aims and objec-tives. This assumes that one can define appropriate aims and objectives forparticular tourist experiences. One of the best ways for a regional or nationaltourist body to do this would be through research based on the experiences andevaluations of individual tourist guides and their clients. Critically reflectiveguides would be able to provide excellent data from their journals, critical inci-dents and tour evaluations. Such data would help a researcher make generalconclusions and recommendations over time and place.

It is difficult to conceive of any tourist guiding that is value free. Values inter-pose themselves into the way guides interpret a site, in the way they relate to thelocal population and the way they interact with companies they use to supplyaccommodation, food and transport at the tourism site. If this is accepted, then itmakes sense to train tourist guides to recognise values in themselves, their inter-pretation, their clients and the sites they visit. This is not a skill that can be easilytaught or tested in a competency-based programme. In a more holisticprogramme it can be introduced, practised and internalised.

The true test of the ‘transformative’ tourist guide will be his or her profes-sional practice. The most appropriate examiners will be the employers, theclients, the people who are visited and the self-reflective guide. It is importantthat companies, training institutions and guides recognise the pervasive natureof values and assumptions and in becoming conscious of them analyse theirimpact on the people and places they visit. One crucial criteria for judging thevalidity of the values and assumptions upon which they operate is whether ornot the people and site they visit benefit from the visit. If such an evaluation

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generates debate within the industry and training milieu and leads to agreedupon standards, then the tourist industry will be the richer for it. Richer in thesense that it becomes self regulating, more attentive to the needs of both itscustomers and the sites that are visited and more interesting and intelligent in itsinterpretation of those sites.

ConclusionTour guiding is part of the process of interpretation. Although tour guides

were usually untrained in the past, guide training is now common in most devel-oped countries (McArthur, 1996). Tour guides are adults and hence training is anadult education activity. Training tends to be competency-based with an empha-sis on knowledge transmission and skill acquisition. This has benefits, particu-larly for commercial tour operators who hire qualified guides. The possession ofsome form of qualification such as the Australian Certificate in Tour Guiding,gained in a competency-based programme, can offer some guarantee to a touristcompany that the guide has the sort of competencies they require. It also benefitsthe trainee guides themselves, since they can fast-track their training by gainingrecognition of prior learning or leap-frogging segments of the course in whichthey are already competent.

However, as this article has argued, there can be limitations to this type oftraining. Hence, tour guiding is not just about getting people to a tourist destina-tion and giving them facts and figures about it. Tourists want more from anecotour guide than an introduction to a site and attention to their physical needs.They are increasingly keen to view the site in its social and cultural context andrely on the guide for an informed and subtle presentation of key issues relating tothis. This article has proposed a new model of guide training which will involvenot just the acquisition of guiding skills, but also an understanding of how adultslearn, an appreciation of differing values and a way of accommodating andpossibly offering tourists a chance to change their own values. This could beparticularly important if the current tourist values threaten the ‘object’ ofecotourism itself.

It is hoped that such a model will improve the quality of tour guiding and notjust in relation to ecotour guiding. As many ecotour guides tend to be freelanceand are unlikely to confine their activities to ecotourism, if the proposedtransformative tourism training programme is adopted, it is hoped that itsphilosophy and principles will be applied, over time, across a wide range ofguided tourism experiences. If this occurs then the major ideas and aims ofecotourism will reach a larger, more varied audience and its key premise ofconserving the worlds ‘special places’ may be more achievable

CorrespondenceAny correspondence should be directed to Dr Peter Mason, Head of Tourism

and Leisure Department, Luton Business School, University of Luton, Luton LU13JU, UK (Peter.Mason@luton.ac.uk).

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