When speaking to Ms. Fields, an English teacher at South Granville High School in Creedmoor, NC, she mentioned an obstacle for field trips many may not be aware of. The answer may not be as surprising as one may think: administration. The “who” behind this level of restriction may come as no surprise, but the “why” is still puzzling. Why at high school are more restrictions placed? Isn’t high school the time when students are coming into their own, discovering what interests them? Why are field trips, which allow students to interact with the world beyond the classroom, being limited, or downright vetoed?
One reason Ms. Fields gave for most teachers opting out of field trips is because there is a ton of paperwork. Teachers have to submit disclaimers and releases to families, organize all of the medical information of their students, and then get approved by the county. Then, once the preliminary paperwork is approved, the field trip itself has to be considered. There are so many obstacles before the destination of the field trip is even proposed. However, Ms. Fields doesn’t know where these restrictions originated. She posited they may come from the state level, but she isn’t certain. What she does know is that most teachers do not have the support to jump through the layers of hurdles necessary unless a field trip is mandated by the county. While the paperwork is important to ensure student safety, the legal jargon now included in the approval process makes teachers and schools wary.
Another reason for the dissuasion of field trips may have to do with high school schedules. High schools in Anne Arundel County, Maryland (where I grew up) have an “A-Day, B-Day” schedule, where students have eight classes all year, and four each day, alternating daily. For one class to go on an approved field trip, this would mean all of the students in that class would have to miss their other three classes that day. Classes in high school are more singular than they are in elementary or middle school. Instead of having the same teacher every day teaching all subjects, or teams where all four teachers have the same students, in high school, depending on electives and the levels of each subject, the variation of student schedules is so great that it is virtually impossible to inform all teachers unless a school-wide announcement was made. In short, students would be missing an entire day's worth of classes for one class’s content. In Granville County, a similar schedule is in place. With high schools being divided by department (History, English, Science) rather than by teams, there is less communication, and therefore less field trips. Interdepartmental communication would be a necessary step for high schools to begin reimplementing field trips.
Speaking from personal experience, the lack of field trips was evident in my high school career. I had one class which met every day my freshman year, and that was AP US History. The reason it was offered daily was because the 2017-2018 school year was one of the first years AP US History was offered to freshmen and thus required a recitation to monitor student progress. Due to this consistency in meeting time, we were taken to St. John’s College to hear a discussion on historical philosophy. However, I was not taken on any other field trips the remaining four years of high school. By contrast, in middle school I was taken to the Baltimore Aquarium, Smithsonian African American History Museum, the Maryland Zoo, and to Colonial Williamsburg, to name a few. We were exposed to art, music, and history, and encouraged to extend our knowledge beyond the classroom. In elementary school we were taken to Maryland Hall (an art school) to watch musical performances, and to the Baltimore Museum of Industry. These hands-on interactions invited fun and learning, as well as engagement with our surrounding communities. I looked forward to field trips, just as Ms. Fields’ students do now. She said her students will ask her if they can go somewhere and all she can say is “I wish.” Especially with the evident support for field trips as elementary and middle schoolers, it is disappointing for high schoolers to be confined to the classroom when, beyond school, they are being given more and more freedom to choose their own paths.
This bottom down strategy from state and county officials is hurting both teachers and students. Many teachers have stated the post-COVID school environment has been polluted by apathy. What the higher ups fail to realize is they are fueling this apathy by making it difficult for teachers to introduce students to art, science, and culture beyond readings and exams. To reignite interest and engagement, county and state administrators need to work with teachers to make it easier for them to file for field trips, receive funding, and allow students to interact with their communities. By bringing students outside of the classrooms, they would be benefiting both the students, allowing them to engage with material in a new and exciting way, and the museums, zoos, and places of history around their state that would receive extra money and involvement from their visitors. They would be spurring knowledge, potentially introducing students to their future careers and schools, and financially helping their community. It is important for students to engage with the history of the world and the history of their states to become more socially and spatially aware. Administrators need to work with families to guarantee student safety and student creativity. Therefore they need to dismantle the barriers they have put in place, and instead foster growth and community in the next generations.
Written by Millie Huntington
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