The Benefits of Field Trips in Early Education

The Benefits of Field Trips in Early Education

At our Calgary private elementary school, our teachers are always thinking of the most enriching activities that we can add to our student’s day. Every so often, this means including a field trip! Students are always excited to hear that learning will be taken off campus and into their community. Field trips are an excellent way to promote building community relationships, get students out into the bigger world and turn application into knowledge.

In early education, field trips promote critical thinking, creativity and curiosity. They offer real-life environments that can’t always be recreated during a lesson, giving children the opportunity to explore something new and develop an understanding of how things work in their larger context.

The Importance of Field Trips in a Student’s Education

Field trips combine the social, emotional and cognitive goals of education into one big experience in the real world. Students bond with their classmates while they participate in new activities, further developing social skills and awareness.

The U.S. Travel Association conducted a study and found that “Children who take school tripshave better grades by 59%, higher graduation rates from high school by 95% and college by 93% and greater income by 12% annually.”

These numbers show just how important field trips, and an enriching educational curriculum in general, are for the long-term success of students. Through field trips, students not only learn how to apply the skills they’ve been working on in class, but become inspired to learn new skills outside of the classroom as well. Field trips provide a stimulating visual experience as children explore and bring their day’s findings back home to discuss.

Field trips are not a small component to education, but the very structure of what learning is all about. They act as a window to apply the skills learned in class with the real world.This is a great way to foster learning connections, curiosity and for teachers to see what interests their students.

Alyx Kellington made an important point in saying we should think of a field trip “as a field study, not a field trip.It is a learning experience or experiential learning.” As much as students see the fun in leaving the classroom for a potential day off, when comparing the enrichment provided by a field trip, students kick their brains into high-gear when it comes to field ‘studies’.

Why Field Trips Help Foster Creativity and Critical Thinking

Creativity is a trait that we all possess. Asasa Academy’s private Calgary elementary teachers aim to provide experiences that inspire each child’s inner creativity to bring out their best ideas. Creativity is a building block to critical thinking, as original ideas spark insights of innovation that lead to critical outcomes. Encouraging passion in each student’s learning to produce creativity is a key goal of ours.

Field trips not only give students opportunities to be creative, but they also provide them with opportunities to think critically about their surroundings. A study conducted by Mahgoub on the impact of field trips on students’ creative thinking concluded that “a field trip can motivate and enrich students’learning opportunities as they experience the natural environment, which can then impact inspiration and significantly enhance a student’s creativity, motivation and attitude.”

Field trips encourage students to look at objects from different perspectives and apply their knowledge to problems in the real world. Often, field trips provide critical historical, social and cultural enrichment that offers another perspective to examine diverse topics.

Because field trips create a connection between the real world and the classroom, they also promote key problem solving, creativity and critical thinking functions. Yet another piece is added to the learning puzzle as students continue to grow their understanding of the world and their place within it. A study from the University of Arkansas found that students who participated in a museum field trip showed increased “empathy, tolerance and critical thinking skills.”

How Asasa Academy Integrates Field Trips within our Private School Curriculum

At our Calgary private elementary school, we are fortunate to have the opportunities to integrate field trips consistently within our curriculum. Recently, some of our students participated in a community field trip this winter. After walking throughout the community with their peers, they later applied what they experienced to projects and assignments in the classroom. Our RCS and grades 3-6 students also went on field trips in October at different locations to strengthen their academic knowledge.

Asasa Academy believes that field trips are essential parts of school life. Research shows that real-world connections and hands-on experience provide students with a wealth of knowledge and a heightened capacity to continue learning. We have found that the retention of an academic concept is better when students experience it practically. By participating in the community directly, we aim to embrace cultural learning experiences.