Learning outside the classroom via Field Trips
What do you remember from school? What caused you to be who you are today? Chances are, a group project, a special speaker, or a field trip helped you decide. There was something in your life that sparked your passion or curiosity. It pushed you to take your learning into your own hands and learn more.
A field trip is one of the best tools that we can use to provide every student with real-world experiences. Whether that’s a trip to the local post office, waterfront park, a library, a museum, a theatre, a community garden or a restaurant, each experience that a student participates in contributes to their understanding of the world.
When students leave the classroom, they see the connections between what is happening at school and in the ‘real-world’. They begin to see that what they learn within the walls of the classroom can help them solve the problems they see in the world around them and can have a direct impact on who they become as people.
Our communities are rich learning laboratories. Field trips make it possible to take students to see an underwater ecosystem at an aquarium, use high powered microscopes, see and touch historical artefacts in person and present on a public stage among hundreds of other things. Each experience solidifies learning and supports important academic concepts.
“Research in education has shown that we remember field trips long into adulthood. I remember visiting the post office in second grade and looking at the sorting machine. I have vivid memories of that, when I don't even remember the name of the teacher who took me.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
Field trips are an integral part of education strategy at T.E.S.A.L.A. There is a strong emphasis on learning outside the classroom, and gaining practical, living experience of the world.
At T.E.S.A.L.A., classroom learning is complimented by a number of field trips that are planned throughout the school year to a variety of places – ranging from the local pizza store, the local post office, museum, the farm, and enriched coding experience.
