Field Study: Bringing to Life their Learning

We all remember our field studies in our formal education.  I remember my first Field Study to a Forest right behind my elementary school.  We were looking for what types of things lived in the forest.  I remember how excited we were to make connections to what we were learning in class and actually see these crawly creatures, plants and animals (small squirrels/birds) in the environment.  We could feel, sense, smell, touch and taste the environment which led to an even greater understanding of what we learned in class.  Sadly, many school districts are restricting the amount and types of field studies that can take place.

Planning a field study is an arduous task that involves lots of steps with an attention to detail.  From contacting places, to creating forms, to getting approval from the district, to your admin and then finally from parents- there is a lot that goes into the process.  Tack on transportation and finance issues and more importantly safety and prevention, and you will see that many teachers choose not  go on field studies because of work and responsibility that go along with it.  Nonetheless, are we removing an integral part of our students learning?  I would argue "Yes"!

No matter how much technology allows students to students to interact on a global level, they still need to go out into the community and learn about the physical world around them.  Field studies bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge allowing the students to experience and engage in new levels of learning that maximize their understanding.  From Kindergarten to Grade 12, their initial curiosity gets the better of them and they become engaged with the activity at hand.  I wish that districts continue to allow students to engage in such meaningful learning experiences.  

Many teachers use Field studies in different ways.  Some will use them as an introductory activity, or during the middle of learning activities or at the end or culmination of their unit.  I wish as teachers we had more resources to create learning partnerships with local community organizations to use these resources not at one of these focal points, but all throughout our students learning.  Can you imagine allowing students to go to exhibit as an introduction, then again during their learning, and then at the end to synthesize it.  If this is too overzealous, I feel that teachers should at least have one field study planned for all major units in their class learning and development activities.

Students must learn to interact and apply what their learning to real life issues in their local community.  Bridging that gap is an important aspect of our teacher practice and using field studies as a resource makes it more achievable.  Finally our most vulnerable students may rarely have occasions or opportunities such as these and you will be providing those students an amazing opportunity to see something different to  what they have already experienced.

Field studies are fun, engaging, crazy but enlightening and allow students to learn outside of the normal learning environment.  As a teacher, I want my students to leave the classroom not only learning skills to be successful in working environments but more importantly, to give them experiences that teach them about culture, humanity, leadership and community.  Every time I walk into Science World, The Zoo or the Vancouver Aquarium I remember for a split second the wonderful experiences I had as a kid and realize that my teachers imparted the idea that learning takes place everywhere when they took me on those field excursions.

Professional Development Mindshift

As a teacher, I too often complain about Professional Development activities that take place at my school, and in my educational community.  For me, when I come to Pro-D events I may play on my Ipad, text on my phone, maybe even mark or do assessments during the presentation.  I awkwardly become my disengaged students in my classes, the students I sometimes get frustrated with.  I too at times may blame the presenter (death by Power-Point, no interaction, no voice/volume control), but as an adult learner I should know better right? Then the whole idea of teachers being overly critical of other educators as they present starts to sweep in.  Why am I being so judgmental?  I ask my students to open their minds to new learning opportunities, but close my mind off at some of these events.  I challenge my students to take risks, but judge the presenter as they take a risk sharing their ideas with my colleagues and I.  Walking out of a Pro-D event, I was asked if I had learned anything, and I answered "No"  (I sounded like my students or my son when he comes home from school).  I mean I had  already heard a lot about implementing technology in the classroom, but did I not hear something new?  Was there a question asked that did not deserve some inquiry?  Then I came to the realization that my Professional Development woes had nothing to do with Professional Development or its presenters, but with my learning and professional development mind shift.  Like other teachers, I continuously choose Pro D events that either fit my teaching area or offers some type of answer or skill set that is applicable to my teaching area or practice. 

 For example, when I taught physical education, I only went to Physical Education workshops.  What changed for me over the last year was this mind-shift that Professional Development can take place in any workshop if you allow yourself to open your mind to learning.  Not just learning about what you want or need to know! But to learn for the sake of just learning. I started to try different Pro-D development workshops, some that were further away from teachable areas.  I took one on literacy interventions (primary-based), I sat through one on Genius Hour, I sat through Science education Pro-D's and what I got out of it was that "there are a lot of amazing ways to teach and learn in classrooms".  I may not have agreed, or embraced some of the ideas being presented (as I do not teach primary or science) but the presenters made me think about what I can do to change my practice.  Watching a science Pro-D about integrating more hands on-lab time was truly amazing.  The presenter pointed out that Science should not be taught in class with just text books but that students should be using labs to explore and learn about chemistry, physics, earth science and biology.  It made me re-evaluate how I teach my classes- Were notes, Power-Point lectures, and videos the best way to engage my students when teaching Social Studies? or should I have them interactively learning historical concepts through drama, plays, re-enactments?  

This dialogue led to me re-shaping my views of who I was in the classroom and what I could be doing differently.  The presenters did not know, but they invoked inquiring questions that made me challenge what I was currently doing in my classroom.  I mean, I sat through one presentation that talked about the best tool's or apps on an Ipad and wondered "why was it so important to integrate Ipads in the classroom"?  From this question, I went many different ways from student-engagement, to its the new way to teach, back to is this really important to my practice?  I love technology, and I integrate it in the classroom as much as I can, but I find that my students learn more primarily through collaboration and class discussions.  Though many of my students can manipulate through computer software easily, and can create "mean" presentation programs that infuse pictures, music and video files, most of them only use technology to retrieve and find information easily.  

The thing is, I would not have thought about all of this and reflected about it if I had not gone to that Professional Development.  The value is not so much in the new resource or skill set as it is in the inspiration and knowledge of the educator who is passionate about their work.  By seeing their teaching practice I can confirm,retool and re-shape my teaching practice, in other words, I can professionally develop.  So the next time you are choosing workshops, choose something out of your comfort zone, try something new, and challenge yourself to be conscious as to how this workshop can reshape your practice. Open-mindedness, risk-taking, optimism and growth must be the values to change how you look at Professional Development.