Making the Most of Community Resources and Field Trips

1. Making the Most of Community Resources and Field Trips “Field trips offer an excellent bridge between the work of the school and the work of the world outside”

2. Planning a field trip includes these steps: • Preliminary planning by the teacher • Preplanning with others going on the trip • Taking the field trip itself • Post-field trip follow up activities

3. For preliminary planning by the teacher, Brown (1969) proposes the following: • Make preliminary contacts, a tour on final arrangements with the place to be visited. • Make final arrangements with the school principal about the details of the trip: time, schedule, transportation arrangements, finances, and permission slips from the parents.

4. Make a tentative route plan, subject to later alteration based on class planning and objectives. • Try to wok out mutually satisfactory arrangements with other teachers if the trip will conflict with their classes. • Prepare preliminary lists of questions or other materials which will be helpful in planning with the students.

5. Preplanning with students joining the trip • Discuss the objectives of the trip and write them down. The main objectives should be included in the permit slip given to parents and should be consulted later when the trip is evaluated. • Prepare a list of questions to send ahead to the guide of the study trip. • Define safely and behavior standards for the journey there and for the field trip site itself.

6. Discuss and decide on ways to document the trip. Everyone is expected to take notes. • List specific objects to be seen on their way to the site, on the site of the field trip and on their way home from the field trip. • Discuss appropriate dress. Comfortable shoes for walking are important. • Before the trip, use a variety of learning materials in order to give each student a background for the trip. For example, by viewing a film, a slide set, or a still picture unit dealing with housing standards and conditions, a class maybe better prepared to learn through a visit to an actual slum area.

7. Preplanning with Others Joining the Trip Other people accompanying the group need to be oriented on the objectives, route, behavior standards required of everyone so they can help enforce these standards. These may be parents who will assist teachers, other teachers and/or school administrator staff.

8. Taking the Field Trip • Discuss route map of places to be observed. • Upon arriving at the destination, teacher should check the group and introduce the guide. • Special effort should be made to ensure that: - the trip keeps on the time schedule - the students have the opportunity to obtain answers to questions - the group participates courteously in the entire trip - the guide sticks closely to the list of questions.

9. Evaluating Field Trip These are questions we can ask after the field trip to evaluate the field trip we just had: • Could the same benefits be achieved by other materials? Was it worth the time, effort, and perhaps extra money? • Were there any unexpected problems which could be foreseen another time? Were these due to guides, students, poor planning, or unexpected trip conditions? • Were new interests developed? • Should the trip be recommended to other classes studying similar topics?

10. Educational Benefits Derived from a Field Trip • The acquisition of lasting concepts and change in attitudes are rooted on concrete and rich experiences. Fieldtrips are opportunities for reach and memorable experiences which are fundamental to learning that lasts. • Field trips bring us to the world beyond the classroom. The real-world connection is more work but the benefits of broadening teaching beyond textbooks far outweigh the little bit of time it takes from a teacher’s schedule. • Field trips have a wide range of application. It is not meant only for children, it is for adults also. It is not only meant for the social science subjects, it is for all other subjects as well. • It can bring about a lot of realizations which may lead to changes in attitudes and insights. The field trip “can nurture curiosity; build a zest for new experience, and a sense of wonder.” (Dale 1969)

11. Disadvantages of Field Trips • It is costly. • It involves logistics • It is extravagant with time • Contain an elements of uncertainty.

12. Community Resources These can be persons and places in the community. For persons, let us not go too far. • Let us begin with the parents of our students. Many of them can be a resource speakers in their fields of expertise. • A dentist may be invited to talk to the children on how to care for their teeth. • A journalist may serve as resource speaker on the parts of a newspaper and how to write an editorial. • A senior citizen and a war veteran in the community may be invited to class for an interview on a topic of which he is expert, say for example, his memories of World War II. • A barangay captain may be asked on what the barangay intends to do to curb the rampant alcoholism among the youth in their community.

13. As to places to visit, popular destinations are; • Museums • Zoos • Botanical gardens • Historical places • Places exhibits • Scenic spots • Performances like a play, a concert, and dance presentations also form part of a community resources.

14. The Field Trip: A bridge of the school and the community Field trips abolish the “walls” that divide the classroom and the outside world. Field trips also connect people. All people involved in the field trip – students, teachers, parents, school head – come together for joint planning. Resource person in the community are brought to the school as key informants in an interview by children or as lecturers. Why not open your school to field trips? We lose nothing when we open our school doors to parents, officials, and other members of the community. Instead, we gain this support and cooperation. They are rich learning resources.