Who Doesn’t Like Field Trips?
Lately there has been much talk about budget cuts. The local school district put a “suggestion box” on their website. They responded by looking into the suggestions and sorting them into “suggestions taken,” “suggestions not taken,” and “suggestions being researched.” Among the more interesting “suggestions not taken” was cutting field trips. The district responded by saying that field trips have already limited over the last few years. The district still allows field trips, but they reserve the restrict when they see fit. This brings up a hot topic.
Who doesn’t like field trips? Or more accurately, who doesn’t think field trips are educational? I would to share my own thoughts.
I am a huge fan of field trips! The ability to get out of the school building and actually see the world, there’s nothing better. Even with all the headaches that come with supervising students, I love them.
I fondly remember many field trips throughout my own education that I absolutely loved. Case in point: 5th grade trip to the landfill after studying recycling and composting. Smelly, but very interesting visit. We were even in a landfill commercial. Another case: 8th grade trip to the court house. We toured the building, looked into many court rooms, and sat in on traffic court and small claims court. No one can truly understand the inner workings of court without seeing it first hand. And I’m sure my teacher would prefer we take a field trip than learn it first hand because we were being charged with a crime.
As a teacher, I loved field trips. I loved the prospect of preparing for field trip and taking the munchkins (aka 16 year olds) out for a drive. Every year I took the senior economic class to the World Affairs conference hosted by the Rotary Club and our local college. The conference focus changed yearly, but it always involved a large worldwide topic. They would bring in at least 3 expert speakers and then break students into groups to discuss some topic questions. As much as student complained about having to listening to people talk, talk themselves, and then write a reflection paper about it. But here’s the fun part… they talked about the conference for at least a week afterward.
The music teacher set up a day trip to Chicago to see a musical and go to the art institute. So students who wanted to go paid ~$40 to see a Broadway musical, see the big city, and check out some world famous art. Does it get any better? And I, being one half of the theatre arts teaching team was always invited to chaperon. The first year, after an interesting navigation issue, we arrived in the “big city” to see the sights. Many of our students had never been to a city bigger than Indianapolis, so this was a great new experience. I got to teach students about the wonders of the big city and the correct way to walk in said big city. Then we got to learn how to maneuver in a very confusing big city parking garage. The students even got to experience the seedy underbelly of the city when they wandered into a very smelly alley. Then we went to see Wicked! An amazing musical! And I got to see it on a school day. How was this not an educational field trip?
So someone please tell me, who doesn’t like educational field trips? They are a wonderful way for students to to explore and expand on the topics/themes/units they are learning in class. I have problems with “just for fun” field trips (ex. going to bowl with no reason) but usually teachers are very selective in their planning. At least I am and I most of the teachers I have worked with were also.
While we can review the field trip policy, I take offense to cutting them completely from the budget. They can be a worthwhile experience and should be included in every class. Today I start my campaign: Keep Field Trips in Schools!!!! Who doesn’t like field trips? Definitely not me!
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