Students Need Field Trips More Than Ever
The number of field trips taken by K-12 classes dropped off precipitously during COVID. Even after normalcy returned to schools, the number of such outings remained low. In 2023, Wilkening Consulting and the American Alliance of Museums ran a survey of 340 museum directors in the United States, and 40 percent of the respondents said they were still seeing fewer visits from K-12 teachers and students compared to before the lockdowns,
Why should this concern teachers and parents? Because field trips provide an exceptional and indispensable educational opportunity. In addition to breaking up the routine and enlivening students who've become enervated from sitting at a desk all day, field trips afford students the chance to learn experientially instead of just from books and videos.
Too often, educators limit the scope of education to textbooks, lectures, chalkboards, and written exercises. While this type of learning is very important, it's not the only type of learning a student needs in order to fully and healthily develop mind and body. European pedagogy traditionally distinguished between two types of learning or knowing: 'wissenschaft' and 'kenntnis.' Wissenschaft is the type of knowledge we typically associate with school: bookish, abstract, theoretical, intellectual, and measurable. Kenntnis, on the other hand, describes another kind of learning: intuitive, first-hand, experiential, and sensory. Students know about the Revolutionary War through wissenschaft. But they know about their parents' love for them or the contours of their backyard through kenntnis. Both types of learning are important. Yet the American educational model tends to overemphasize wissenschaft. There's a profound difference between a student reading about the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly and a student actually going on a field trip, collecting caterpillars, observing their chrysalises, and witnessing the transformation into a butterfly firsthand. The latter engages the senses, imagination, curiosity, and emotions more deeply.
Field trips—with their sensory-based and immersive environment—are an important way to introduce more kenntnis and balance out a youngster's education. Research has amply demonstrated this.
In the report, Erickson, the lead author of the study and professor at BYU, explained that 'It's possible to expose students to a broader world and have culturally enriching curriculum without sacrificing academic outcomes. ... We anticipated that field trips wouldn't harm test scores. However, we started seeing academic improvements and realized that students who participated in these field trips were doing better in class.'
Another author of the study, Greene, observed in
Related Stories
9/25/2024
3/28/2024
Field trips can be the key that unlocks a previously unrecognized passion in a student. They can open new worlds to be explored and discovered. The right experience could even change a student's life. The eighth grader who visits an aquarium for the first time might go on to become a marine biologist. The fifth grader who's thrilled by a symphony orchestra performance might start to take her violin lessons more seriously and later choose to major in music. In short, an immersive experience like a field trip can awaken the mind and ignite the heart in a way that book learning alone cannot.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Flags half-staff to honor Massachusetts airman killed during World War II
BOSTON (WWLP) – Governor Maura Healey has ordered all U.S. and Massachusetts flags to be lowered to half-staff on Saturday. The order was issued to honor Staff Sergeant Loring E. Lord of Somerville, who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces 642d Bombardment Squadron, 409th Bombardment Group, 9th Bombardment Division, 9th Air Force, during World War II. Lord was a gunner aboard an A-26B 'Invader', when his aircraft was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire during a bombardment mission to Germany in March 1945. WWII bomber crash left 11 dead and 'non-recoverable.' 4 are finally coming home Those aboard the aircraft were buried in a cemetery in Germany. The remains were later discovered in 2018 and taken to a laboratory for analysis and identification. Lord's remains were identified in September 2024, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Loring was born in Somerville in 1916 and enlisted in the Army Air Forces during World War II. His remains were returned to Massachusetts on May 29th. Funeral services will be held on Saturday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett. American flags and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts flags are ordered to be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Saturday in his honor. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: A reason to keep honoring
Jun. 6—Thursday was the anniversary of D-Day, a pivotal moment in World War II that turned the tide of the European conflict toward the favor of the allies. Friday was another opportunity to not only remember one of the most pivotal battles of the war, but to honor the soldiers who hit the beaches that day along the Normandy coast and those that gave their lives. It was display of bravery that will be etched in the annals of history and requires us, as on-lookers, to acknowledge each year that bloody assault on June 6, 1944. The reality is that for many soldiers still alive who served during World War II this may well be the last D-Day they see. The world is losing our World War II veterans, an inevitability for us all in the march of time. While it's important that we honor all of those — men and women — who served, fought and died in defense of our nation while they live with us today, it will remain on us to continue to remember these people after their time on this planet has come to an end. They have done what many of us would not or could not do. They've marched into the worst conditions and came out the other side, while still others never saw past that day. This is a sacrifice of life and the least we can do is remember that sacrifice going forward. We owe it to these brave souls to remember not just their deeds, but their names. We are able to enjoy freedom in France, England, here at home and around the globe because men women of valor stood up and said "I'll go." When the soldiers of World War II — as in any conflict — are all gone, we will look back and know with pride that we are who we are because of them and that comes with no less a burden today as it was in the entirety of this nation. That's why, as time moves on, days like the D-Day anniversary become increasingly important because these men and women need to know our gratitude while they are still here with us. And if they are not, then those days stand as stark reminders that the freedom and rights we enjoy today are based on the soldiers who stood up to evil.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Guilford Woods protected by Piedmont Land Conservancy
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The last-standing underdeveloped woods in Greensboro will be saved. Guilford Woods is packed with rich history from the Revolutionary War to the Underground Railroad and is an oasis of ecology. Guilford Woods is where the revolutionary soldiers once walked,and the freedom seekers hid. It's a home to many ecologies. Through the Piedmont Land Conservancy and Guilford College's partnership, the area will be officially protected. To Jim Hood, a retired English professor from Guilford College and a former interim president of Guilford College, Guilford Woods is a special place. 'I spent a lot of time walking around here and learning the names of the plants and animals that lived here,' Hood said. He said in a rapidly developing suburban area, Guilford Woods is the last remaining forest that is untouched, and that is important. 'These trees clean the air. This forest cleans the water for Greensboro,' Hood said. The memories, meaning, and legacy are rooted in nature. Hood highlighted the witness tree, which is approximately 350 years old. It's a silent witness to the operation of the Underground Railroad. 'Freedom seekers hiding out in these woods on their ways to Indiana or other parts of the north to get away from the evils of slavery,' he said. Guilford College and the Piedmont Land Conservancy have teamed up to preserve 120 acres of the most valuable areas of the woods. Now, Guilford Woods can continue to be used as an outdoor classroom and financially benefit the college. 'It's a way for the college to withdraw some money from an asset that was increasing in value not in a tangible kind of way, but this makes it more tangible,' he said. For Kevin Redding, the executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy, retracing the steps of the revolutionary soldiers made preserving the land a cause worth fighting for. 'Hundreds of years old forest. It has the history component to it. It has the educational component to it. It has a public available recreation part of it. It has everything we would wish in a conservation property,' Redding said. The Piedmont Land Conservancy plans on raising $8.5 million through private donations. In total, they will be preserving about 245 acres of land in the area, including Price Park. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
