School trips memories are so sticky and more so when done with the right teachers. Back in school, the announcement by a teacher to take a 15 min excursion to the school farm would even ignite the student with low levels of engagement. Why so? Was it because of the outdoors? The destination or the teacher? Our findings for the discovery journey is that youth/students are wired to respond positively while outdoors and in the presence of an authority.
As we celebrate teachers this week, we delve further into how they make our school trips more memorable and fun.
There are many school trips that you may remember from your childhood. It does not matter where you are from or how old you are, we all remember the excitement of getting out of the classroom for the day, taking a packed lunch and spending money for the gift shop and making memories with our classmates. But in addition to being a fun day out and a break from the formal learning contexts, contextual and educational school trips can have extensive benefits for experiential learning and development.
How do teachers bring out those memories?
- Assigning roles
Students when tasked with responsibilities of taking some actions during an academic trip,helps in reinforcing their involvement and accompanying memories. Great teachers know the value of ensuring each and every student is assigned a task during a field trip. Some students will be tasked with documenting activities,taking photos, sketching,collecting samples or leading groups as patrons. These activities build up positive memories and opportunities for acquire life skills.
- Trip Preparations
Most teachers can attest that the levels of engagement of the students prior to a school trip is very high in comparison to usual class times. When teachers prepare the students with questionnaires about an upcoming school trip, they help students prepare mentally and build visual images of the destination, the activities, the journey which overall contribute to many opportunities of an education trip making it more memorable.
- Group Action
Grouping the participants into small teams creates competitiveness and fun during a study trip. Students compare their team with the others and tend to support team members. A student will remember a team member helping out to hike up a hill or sharing items during an excursion. The caring element reinforces their positive imagery from a trip.
- Reporting
Great teachers not only lead a group through an excursion but they also task them with reporting the experience as findings, sketches, photos and even test during an academic trip. Even students with a low level of engagement would participate, building up their memories of the school trip.
In the end, it’s the activities during a trip that our memories are anchored and great teachers know how to do it.
