Changing Horizons in Geography Education - HERODOT Network ...

Primary Childrens’ Understanding of Fieldwork ExperiencesJohn HalochaBishop Grosseteste College, Lincoln, England, LN1 3DYe-mail: j.w.halocha@bgc.ac.ukAbstractFieldwork activities in England are currently under threat owing to concern over the safety ofpupils. It is therefore essential for geography educators to have clear evidence of the benefitsof fieldwork in being able to develop primary children’s understanding of the world. Theresearch was based on field visits made to the coast by children aged 10−11 years in 2004.The purpose of the visits was to develop their understanding of coastal processes. Followingthe fieldwork, pupils were asked to represent what they had learnt and how they thought theyunderstood coastal processes. Analysis of the children’s work provided a number of insightsinto their understanding: these are discussed within the paper, along with some implicationsfor fieldwork design and justification.Key words: Primary Education, Geography, fieldwork, Teacher TrainingIntroductionFieldwork is viewed as an essential part of geography by many English primaryteachers but there is increasing pressure on them to justify its presence in thecurriculum (Revell, 2002). There is also concern from some teacher unions andsenior management about the legal issues surrounding fieldwork (Clare, 2004). Theycan refer to theoretical sources (Smith, 1987:209) to find backing for their position.Practical texts on developing and leading fieldwork provide more evidence to supporttheir case (Richardson, 1998). There is, however, little research evidence at primaryschool level which examines how and what children actually learn through fieldwork.Nundy (1999) is an exception to this and provides us with some interesting startingpoints for further research. In particular he noted the positive impact on long termmemory as a result of pupils being in memorable places. Rickinson (2001) presentsa review of research on outdoor learning but this contains relatively few referencesto fieldwork undertaken by primary aged children. The research discussed in thispaper offers some evidence of what pupils learn through fieldwork and how fieldworkdesign may affect their understanding.Pilot researchA pilot project was established in 2003. The teachers had devised a programme ofpractical activities for each child to experience during their field day. These werebased on concepts such as sea defences, longshore drift and coastal erosion. Theauthor attended this day as an observer. These were then followed up back at school.Soon after, 150 pupils in five classes were asked to represent their learning andunderstanding of coastal processes. Five teachers were asked to do this with their32