THE ADVANTAGES OF FIELD TRIPS

As they say, experience is the best teacher and field trips may provide this experiential learning to students. However, preparations for field trips may cause quite a headache for teachers but on the other hand, well prepared field trips can give learners a real and worthwhile ed7cational experiences that they coukd't really acquire in the four corners of the classroom. The following are the asvantage and disadvantages of field trips. Advantages:

Knowledge may be presented to learners in diferent modes. It also calls to the approach of learning by doing and goes away with the usual learning of simply watching and listening during class discussions. During field trips, learners are exposed to a whole new world which may give them a broader horizon. This can be more benefitting to learners who belong to low socio economic backgrounds who may not have opportunity to having been exposed to these experiences before.

Another is that earlier concepts discussed by the teacher in class are being reinforced. It allows learners to see information in a new way and gives them opportunity to compare and contrast theory with reality.

Also in field trips, learners are provided with enrichment activity where in they may be able to see information in a different light. Through this, learners and teachers may have increased communication and learners who might be passive in class might become active during field trips.

There are some field trips wherein parents or guardians of the learners are involved as chaperons. This now becomes an avenue for teachers and parents or guardians to be connectes. They may be able to get to know and understand what teachers deal with everyday.

The author is Master Teacher I at Northville High School