Some of our core memories are created around school. Chances are, there are some field trip adventures that stick with you to this day. Educational tours present amazing opportunities for students to expand their awareness, higher-level learning, and problem solving skills.
As a teacher, the thought of organizing education tours might be met with some reluctance. Not only do you have to source funding, but you’ll have to navigate district policies and wrangle kids in the airport when the time comes to travel. While the behind the scenes work is often tough, rest assured that it’s 100% worth it to take your students on an educational tour.
Educational Discovery Tours has a proven planning pipeline that will assist in making educational travel a reality for you and your students. Think back on the fond memories you made on your school field trips and check out these top benefits of educational tours that you and your students will enjoy once you step out of the classroom:
Experiential Learning
As a teacher, you do your best to make classroom lessons applicable to real-world scenarios. Students can absorb large amounts of knowledge at their desks, but taking lessons outside the classroom provides an even more powerful gateway to learning. Students can lean on the memorable experiences had on educational tours to navigate scenarios in the future. This includes use of time management, social skills, and transportation.
Improved Critical Thinking
There are jobs that your students will do in the future that don’t exist yet. Only time will tell what the specific requirements will be, but it’s more than likely that they will need soft skills pertaining to communication, leadership, and teamwork. The internet has connected society on a global scale, and they’ll need to be able to communicate effectively and work as a team both in person and virtually. Educational tours are densely packed with such interactions, and can prepare them for what’s to come in their professional lives.
Parallel Classroom Lessons
What’s better than learning about a historically-significant location, then getting to see it in person? When students can visualize, discuss, and literally stand in the spots that historical figures did, the bridge between textbook and history is transcended. Students will discover that people of the past were a lot like them, and develop a greater understanding of what lead to momentous events. Traveling to a historical hot spot builds on the imagination, incorporating a deeper level of learning.
An Expanded Worldview
Fully immersing students in various cultural settings has been shown to be invaluable to the growth of youth understanding and development. Educational tours can be a great way to broaden perspectives and discover that there is no single way to ‘do life’. Different cultures have different ways of doing things, and it’s critical for students to be able to hear and act on ideas that they will be exposed to throughout their lives – even if that means disagreeing with them. Visiting another country is particularly effective in exposing students to various points of view. We can help your group get there.
Insights Into Local Culture
‘Pura Vida!’ What does this mean to you? If you speak Spanish, you can translate it to “Pure Life”, but did you know that this saying is culturally significant to the people of Costa Rica? It’s a greeting, it’s a goodbye, and it’s a way of life that the locals are proud to embody. This is just one example of a local cultural phenomenon that can be experienced by visiting a new place. Learn fun facts like this one on your class’s next adventure!
Teacher – Student Bonding
Being in close proximity to students is bound to strengthen student – teacher relationships and build rapport. They’ll be able to see you outside the four walls of the classroom and get a glimpse of the real you. They might even start to believe you have a life outside of teaching! Students who have a personal connection with teachers can become more engaged with your lessons, and you’ll get to see them in a new light outside school as well.
Learn By Doing
Some students are able to absorb information from lectures and textbooks. But for those that you have trouble getting through to, a “learn by doing” approach could strongly benefit them. By bringing these students out of the classroom and into an immersive educational tour experience, you’ll be able to identify topics that strike their interest and build upon them once you’re back in the classroom.
Make Memories That Last Long After the Trip
Going on a trip with peers and interacting with them in amazing locations is a recipe for memorable experiences to flourish among students. The classmates from their normal friend group will be along for the ride, but furthermore, individuals will be encouraged to interact with peers outside their normal circles. When this happens, fun new interactions are had, and memories are made. Think back on the trips you took in grade school and high school, and you might recall meeting new friends and sharing great times.
Discover More With EDT
It takes intensive planning, fundraising, and paperwork to make educational school tours possible for you and your students. The reward always becomes worth it when you see students open up to new possibilities and experience lessons first hand. As an added bonus, teachers always travel free with Educational Discovery Tours. That means you’ll get an awesome trip by coming along, and will take home some new memories yourself!
When you’re ready, contact our staff with your questions about student travel. With ample experience preparing trip itineraries, we can ensure the success of your extracurricular endeavor. We look forward to helping with your educational tour!
