Beyond four walls : why go beyond the bounds of school?

Authors

Linda Lorenza, Bell Shakespeare Company

Abstract

Excursions and incursions are a step out of the everyday action and routine of school and may well engage students who do not respond to usual mainstream classroom activities and who learn in different ways. Excursions offer a sensory learning opportunity whereby students explore the reality of an environment, be it geographical, mathematical, scientific, social or artistic, through a range of sensory experiences. The forward-thinking teacher and the open-minded practitioner can find ways to incorporate diverse students' responses to their experience. It goes without saying that practitioners going into schools also need to be prepared. The school audience is possibly the harshest a practitioner will encounter. Children say what they think, and if they are prepared for the activity they will have particular expectations. It is hugely rewarding, though, for students, the practitioner and teachers when everyone is prepared. Students learn to think and develop into young adults through their schooling, and the connections to the 'outside' world they build through the experience of excursions and incursions are vital components of their development. [Author abstract, ed]

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