The AGO has experienced a decline in visits by schools which mirrors a general decline in culturally enriching field trips in both Canada and the US.   With experience in the
school system both as a parent volunteer on these field trips and as a school
council member helping to make decisions in allocating funds i understand the logistic and economic pressures that are seriously constraining the ability to say yes
to these excursions.  In fact, after one memorable trip to the Toronto Science Center when my daughter was in grade two, it felt like the whole day was spent getting there, organising the kids, lunch, bathroom visits– the entire trip seemed an exercise in managing stress!  It hardly seemed worth the expense and on top of that a waste of precious time from the already packed curriculum.

The authors of “Value of Field Trips”, Jay Greene, Brian Kisida and Daniel Bowen, were able to actually study this value.  They were able to work with a unique institution in Arkansas – Crystal Brides Museum of American Art - whose mandate and large endowment fund allow it to pay for the children’s admission, busing and even substitute teacher coverage – breaking down economic barriers and allowing the study to include rural and high-poverty schools in order to get a comprehensive picture of the value of the field trip. Their results were impressive and quite surprising.  There was a marked increase in the four categories studied: critical thinking,
historical empathy, tolerance and general interest in art museums.  With the greatest increases for the rural and high-poverty schools.

This article has me really thinking on this.  i had resigned myself to advocate bringing
programs into schools, bypassing time and economic hurdles seemingly more
bang for the parents and school boards ever decreasing buck.  So i revisit my personal memories of field trips.  i don’t have a single bad one.  i don’t have any memory of thinking that it was a waste of my time.  In fact, it is the field trips that stand out in my memories of school; i don’t have many specifics, fleeting memories of plays seen, art experienced, taken to parts of the city unknown, being able to wander independently with friends to get lunch.  It is the whole experience that is remembered in my being like an emotional imprint – the specifics are not actually important. 

Two years ago my daughter participated in a wonderful exchange to Nunavut.  When we received the kids at this end for a week – it was day after day of field trip.  One particularly busy day where they spent the morning at OCAD U (shout out to Vladimir Spicanovic and Indigenous Visual Cultures Dept. for facilitating that!), followed by the Aquarium, then the CN Tower.  At the break for dinner, prior to the Blue Jays game we were attending that evening, all the parents and teachers grabbed groups of kids to go get something to eat.

 At dinner i asked each of the kids with me which activity/experience was their favourite so far that day and one young boy from Nunavut said the best part of the day for him was the GO Train ride into Toronto.  At the time given all we had done, my internal reaction was OMG we could have saved time and money on all the rest of this very long day.  Now thinking on what is the value of the field trip – it goes beyond what Greene, Kisida and Bowen studied.  Perhaps we need to evaluate the life skills – negotiating a transit ride is no more or less valid than the destination.  So now that frustrating trip years ago to the science center was not just about the
destination, it was about the kids negotiating a new environment, experiencing
the bus, being in an unfamiliar public space, organising themselves, learning
the associated behaviours in that institution.

Kids are not going to remember their day to day class time 30 years later.  They are going to remember when they were taken out of that environment, some will remember the destination, others the feeling of being independent, the excitement, random details like a trip on the GO Train.  So maybe we need to broaden what we define as “value” when we consider the field trip.  The expense (and stress) i can now say is worth it.  

Kid visiting OCAD U