Field trips as educational tools and experiences

¶ … High School Field Trips

Students want field trips for all the wrong reasons. You know that, and I know that. But you also know the right reasons for field trips. I am using this letter to remind you of them with the hope that you will keep funds for school trips in the school budget. Simply put, field trips are an important part of education because they connect real life with what the students study. They accomplish this by getting students away from textbooks, by showing them people in real life who use the knowledge they learned in the classroom, and by helping keep students' interest in the subject high.

Students sometimes feel that what they're learning in school is irrelevant. They see no point to learning history, or algebra, or English. However, when those students go on field trips, they see the application of these subjects in real life. At a museum, they may see concrete evidence of the history they have been studying and begin to see how one event relates to those that follow. Science students will see real application of scientific principals by visiting an airplane factory, a hospital, or even a plant that makes pet food. The value of art exhibits and concerts to art and music students is obvious: they need to see what the finest artists can do if they are to keep pushing themselves. Each of these experiences will expand the students' understanding of the subject they are studying.

Even when students know the information they're learning is relevant they may not know exactly how such knowledge fits into someone's work life. On a field trip they may see the engineers working to design a new wing, applying principles of mathematics and physics to solve practical problems. When music students attend a symphony performance, they can actually watch professional musicians as they use all the training they received in their education. A trip to any business will show many employees using their computers to communicate in all sorts of ways. They will see that the people who can write clearly are most likely to succeed in the business world. They won't see slackers in these settings. They'll see the results of mastering specific skills as well as the fact that the effort paid off for all the people they observe and meet.

But the most important contribution a field trip can make is to keep students' interest up. Students could come into your office and put you to sleep by reading from the textbooks they are supposed to read and learn from. No one is trying to suggest that the textbooks should be used for a large bonfire, but depending on textbooks to keep students interested is not a good plan. Field trips energize students' interest in several ways. First, because they take place in a more informal setting, they encourage conversation. While not all the conversation will be about the educational goals of the field trip, some of it will be. Since the students will be looking at or experiencing new things, the ideas generated are likely to be fresh and new. These ideas can be brought back to the classroom, improving the breadth and depth of discussions there. Second, the teacher has a chance to get to know the students better, in a more informal setting that allows for new and different kinds of interactions. This will also translate well to the classroom, because people will be more comfortable with each other and more willing to share ideas. Third, the students will see old information in a new context, and information they did not realize was related to what they have been studied. They will see these things in real time and concretely. For instance, a student might see a picture of Rodin's "The Thinker" in a book, read about balance and form, and agree: "Yeah, that's a great piece of sculpture." But seeing the statue in person, the student can carefully notice subtle things the artist did to show muscles, posture, or hair texture. More importantly, a picture is a two-dimensional representation of something that was intended to be seen in three dimensions. In the classroom, the student sees a picture of a sculpture. In the museum, the student can walk around the sculpture and examine it from every point-of-view. The difference in perspectives is important and cannot be achieved in any other way.