Some people are fortunate enough in this life to have a wide range of experiences presented to them as children. Indeed, many take experiences for granted such as trips to the beach or snow with family, school holiday outings to movies or the zoo and for really lucky ones, traveling holidays to visit relatives in another town or city or flying overseas to holiday in far flung places.
Unfortunately, for some, real life experiences don't go far past their front gate or the community they live in. The only knowledge they have gained or real life experiences they have some knowledge about is seen through reality TV or what they've been told by others.
Recently, we have had school trips to participate in education outside the classroom. Firstly was a trip to the Auckland Museum where our Y7&8 students, making connections between ancient worlds through myths and legends and a trip to the Auckland Zoo for Year 1 to 6, to see animals and their habitats - once again making connections between animals and myths and legends.
Both trips were extremely valuable to students learning, not just in relation to their topic of study, but to their own life experiences. Both trips were guided tours, with trained educators with specific areas of expertise. Students were given opportunities to share their thoughts and ideas, ask questions to people who knew their subjects and were absolutely buzzing having the opportunity to experience the animals and artifacts first hand.
These trips proved to show that we must keep education outside the classroom alive in our practice and advocate for our students to be able to access these opportunities!
They are absolute GOLD!
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