What Contribution Can Residential Field Courses Make to the Education of 11-14 Year-olds?



Learning science outside the classroom

There have long been enthusiasts for learning school science outside the
classroom and in many secondary schools the ‘biology fieldtrip’ has existed
for decades. Although concerns have been expressed that fieldwork is
declining (Lock and TiIling, 2002), the last decade or so has seen a renewed
interest in learning science outside the classroom and this has manifested
itself in a number of ways (Braund and Reiss, 2004). For one thing, there has
been a very considerable growth, not just in the UK but in many other
countries too, in the educational role of such out-of-school sites of science
learning as museums, science centres, zoos and botanic gardens.

In addition, organisations such as Learning through Landscapes
(http://www.ltl.org.uk/) have helped many schools to develop the educational
potential of their school grounds. Indeed, even back in 1955 the Department
of Education & Science was exhorting schools to improve their school
grounds for educational uses (Department of Education & Science, 1955).
Things have moved on a pace since then and in July 2002 the House of
Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology called for fieldwork
to be strongly recommended in all 14-19 science courses (House of
Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, 2001).

The training of teachers, in science and other subjects, has now begun to
catch up with these developments. Since September 2002 one of the
standards for the award of Qualified Teacher Status expected of all trainee
teachers in England and Wales is:

As relevant to the age range they are trained to teach, they are able to
plan opportunities for pupils to learn in out-of-school contexts, such as
school visits, museums, theatres, field-work and employment-based
settings, with the help of other staff where appropriate,

(Department for Education and Skills, 2002/3, p. 10. Standard 3.1.5.)

However, the benefits of fieldwork, including residential fieldwork, remain
unclear. This study examines what these benefits might be in the context of



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