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Peer-reviewed article

Understanding Teachers' Perspectives on Field Trips: Discovering Common Ground in Three Countries

January 15, 2010 | Public Programs, Informal/Formal Connections
The school field trip constitutes an important demographic market for museums. Field trips enlist the energies of teachers and students, schools and museums, and ought to be used to the best of their potential. There is evidence from the literature and from practitioners that museums often struggle to understand the needs of teachers, who make the key decisions in field trip planning and implementation. Museum personnel ponder how to design their programs to serve educational and pedagogical needs most effectively, and how to market the value of their institutions to teachers. This paper describes the overlapping outcomes of three recent studies that investigated teacher perspectives on field trips in the United States, Canada, and Germany. The results attest to the universality of some of the issues teachers face, and suggest improvements in the relationship between museums and schools.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • David Anderson
    Author
    The University of British Columbia
  • JK 3
    Author
    California State University
  • Storksdieck Headshot small
    Author
    Institute for Learning Innovation
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2006.tb00229.x
    Publication Name: Curator: The Museum Journal
    Volume: 49
    Number: 3
    Page Number: 365
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
    Audience: Elementary School Children (6-10) | Middle School Children (11-13) | Youth/Teen (up to 17) | Educators/Teachers | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Public Programs | Museum and Science Center Programs | Informal/Formal Connections | K-12 Programs

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