DISCUSSION ON WHETHER FIELDWORK IS BENEFICIAL TO FURTHERING CHILDREN’S UNDERSTANDING   OF GEOGRAPHY        4200w

An in-depth, critical discussion on whether fieldwork is beneficial to furthering children’s understanding of Geography, drawing on policy, practice and current research.

This essay will be used to critically discuss whether fieldwork is a necessary key component in a child’s education, specifically in relation to understanding Geography. It will draw on policy practice and current research to look at what is meant by fieldwork; what the government’s national policy is on using fieldwork in Geography and how that is applied at the local level in schools; plus an analysis of the benefits and dis-benefits.

Defining fieldwork

Fieldwork has been defined by the UK Quality Assurance Agency as a form of “active engagement with the external world” (QAA, 2002).

This definition is broad and encompasses many forms of fieldwork, such as:

fieldtrips, where a group of students may go to a different location to undertake study;

field research, where research into a specific area of interest i.e. field, is undertaken; and/or

field teaching, where a group of students may be taken to a different location for a lesson i.e. outside, which may or may not draw on things in that environment.

The Oxford English Dictionary (2019) provides another definition of fieldwork:

practical work conducted by a researcher in the natural environment, rather than in a laboratory or office.

Both definitions emphasise how fieldwork is thought to provide an alternative or additional mode of learning, relating what is learnt in the classroom to an outdoor and real-life perspective.

Gold et al., (1991), considers fieldwork to be at the heart of Geography. This is because geographers, teachers and researchers believe that fieldwork provides a deepening understanding of human and physical geography, and an opportunity to conduct research either individually or as a group, resulting in several skills being developed. This therefore has an influence on how Geography is taught in schools, whereby children are provided the opportunity to learn outside the classroom and connect with the natural world.  However, the action of stepping outside the classroom to enhance learning is controversial and questions have been raised by several educational researchers (e.g. Nairn, 2005; Trevor et al, 2008) as to whether it is a necessary component in Geography teaching to further enhance knowledge and understanding for students, particularly in a primary school setting.

Fieldwork’s increasing role in teaching Geography