The School Trip – it is an event most children look forward to all
term, whether it is an educational visit to a historical monument, a day out at
a Wetlands Centre, a visit to the theatre or a weekend away at an adventure camp.
For the children, it’s a chance to get away from the school grounds, from their
parents, and from their routine. An afternoon outside of the classroom feels
like a hard-won prize at the end of a long term.
But school trips are more than a reward. Whilst important academic
learning is done in class, it can hardly be compared to the wealth of real life
experiences, simply because the two things are so very different. Life is full
of challenges and opportunities that cannot be understood in theory the same
way they can in practice. Whatever the nature of the outing, it is bound to
teach them some very important skills and knowledge that they will carry with
them for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether that is through
adventure activities, sports, or written on the exhibits at a museum.
There is a new culture in parents and in schools – perhaps simply in
society – that demands we be fully conscious of all the risks involved in every
choice we make, especially for our children. This can lead to some serious
molly coddling, with overprotective parents panicking about children catching
something whilst playing in the dirt and fretful teachers banning playground
games over scraped knees and elbows. Some people are concerned school trips put
children at too much risk of harm. This kind of worry comes hand in hand with
concerns over absorption in technology and obsession with phones, computers and
games. Sometimes it seems like people argue against one as much as they argue
against the other, and yet they are so very contradictory. If children cannot
play outside in the real world in fear of the risks, but should not sit inside
watching television or going online either, we’re left with a very limited
spectrum of activities for them to enjoy and take part in.
The truth is, the benefits outweigh the risks for almost all of the
modern worries, but this is particularly true for educational outings. The
opportunity for children to experience a vast range of situations and
challenges they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to is key to their personal
development. Educators on trips are often experts in their field, providing
more in-depth knowledge for the children on the trip than could be conveyed in
the classroom. Learning and interacting in groups provides a chance to build a
community between them and their peers, to learn interpersonal skills and teamwork,
respect and trust, and these strengths translate to the classroom, the
playground, and beyond into the world. Teachers have noted that children who
struggle in the classroom with speaking up frequently come into their own on
educational trips, developing confidence, resilience and self-esteem that
bolster performance in every area in school.
Psychologically, this is not the only benefit either. The routine of
learning in a classroom week after week can cause lessons to blur into one
another in the mind, making the retention of information more difficult. If
you’re anything like me, you can probably think back and remember a single
holiday or outing from your childhood far better than any of the school weeks
surrounding it. Individual events like this create what are known as ‘Episodic
Memories’ – autobiographical collections of experiences that can be explicitly
recalled. Times, places, knowledge, and associated emotions are stored better
in the mind during these events, and so time away spent learning in a manner
and environment different from normal routine means children will remember more
of what they learned than on any other day.
Aside from bonding with their peers and better learning, school
trips can really open children’s eyes to the world around them. Visiting places
they would never usually go, particularly for those children who aren’t
fortunate enough to travel often outside of school, can provide a whole new
perspective on the world. Activities they may have never tried can become
lifelong interests. Places they visit can lead to future professions –
hospitals, local businesses, University science centers. These visits can teach
children more than information, helping them understand why the knowledge is important and how it pertains to real life.
They will learn better behaviour too – responsibility and respect not just in
the presence of an established figure of authority, but to the public, their
peers and communities, and the environment.
The benefits of these trips are vast and the risks – particularly
with our modern culture of rules and regulations at every turn – are
containable and very carefully assessed by the schools. Of course, there is
always a danger of injury. It can’t be denied – accidents happen. But they can
happen anywhere, at any time, and it is important to keep this danger in
perspective. If you ever find yourself weighing up whether to permit your child
onto a school trip, remember this – giving in to your worries about the risks
is denying them an opportunity to discover a future hobby or career, to expand
their mind and realise their potential.
Educational days out are real adventures for children, and the
memories will last a lifetime. I have treasured memories of my field trips.
Some of them were disappointing, of course – the highlight of one visit to
Waltham Abbey as a child was feeding my worksheets to the goats there – but
some turned out to be undeniably important. I still explicitly remember what to
do in the event of a house fire – and to check my smoke alarms regularly – all
because of a few fun activities and a short lecture given by the local Fire
Department on a school visit when I was nine years old. Others were simply
awe-inspiring: a lecture at University College London on the concept of Virgin
Galactic when spaceflight was only an inkling of a realistic idea, a visit to a
Victorian London surgery where the tour guide demonstrated to us how a doctor
in 1866 would have performed an amputation on a gangrenous leg, and on one life-changing
Senior trip, a theatre acting class on Broadway in New York City. There can be
no denying that these adventures helped define me as the person I grew up to
be. They were as important as any factor in my school years.
School trips provide children with a reason to believe that the
pursuit of knowledge is fun, worthwhile, and above all else – endless.
Education does not begin and end in the classroom, nor should it, and these outings
help children to see that the world around them is trying to teach them things
every day, if they are only willing to open their eyes and take it in.
This post by Lauren Bowman.
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