The World is Our Classroom: The Importance of Field Trips at Westland

One of the underpinnings of Westland’s philosophy and mission is experiential learning. It brings me back to a conversation with an alumni from the 1960’s who described their Westland experience as “full-body learning.” That description brought me back to something I had read in Westland’s founding document from 1949: “The learning becomes vital.”

Vital. The word has me wondering: how does learning become vital for children? My gut answer is this: The learning becomes vital when it’s real. And how much better to convince children of a Study’s worth and realness than seeing it out in the real world?

Enter field trips. Enter experiential learning.

Some ten years ago, I once heard a head of school poo-poo field trips when her school was closed unexpectedly. She said something like, “Most of the children are just missing a field trip anyway.” I quizzically looked at her and said something along the lines of, “I think we think about field trips differently.” We moved on. But I’ve held her words to this day.

At Westland, field trips are akin to textbooks. Whereas in more traditionally-structured schools, field trips are “extra,” even fluffy add-ons, at Westland, field trips provide essential experiences and information for a Study. Field trips are an integral part of children acquiring information that moves them through their research and gives them the opportunity to become active seekers of vital information.

Starting this past school year and continuing into this one, a committee of teachers and I are honing in on the question: “What is a Study?” We are exploring the ingredients of a Study with the goal of documenting the what and how of Westland’s mission – that learning is experiential and hands-on.

Through this study of Studies, we are deepening and expanding our collective understanding of our pedagogy, the role of the teacher, and how we pursue concepts in depth. We also analyzed and documented the importance of field trips.

Perhaps most of the focus on field trips for parents and guardians is the field trip itself, or the “during.” Parent and guardian chaperones get to see Westland’s integrated social studies-based program in action. But the intentionality that goes into the planning of and reflection on the field trip is something that parents and guardians may not see or realize. It’s the before and after components of a field trip that deserves an uncovering in order to understand more deeply what goes into creating experiential learning experiences. Before going on a field trip there is a research and vetting process. This planning includes:

Visiting the site ahead of time. Teachers go with an eye towards the social studies curriculum connections, but also the myriad details to consider when bringing a group of children to a site, ranging from bathroom proximity, anticipating the varied quality of docents, construction, commute time, and so on.
Teachers collect questions from children about what the children want to know. Teachers document the questions, because this honors children as actual researchers. The children go on field trips with purpose because they have pregenerated their questions. This process sparks curiosity and builds children’s habit of inquiry.
Teachers work with the librarians to provide books that ground the children’s research and feed their curiosity and excitement for the upcoming field trip. These books are also displayed alongside artifacts that teachers put out in the classroom. Here is where the environment is also the teacher.
Just before the trip, teachers prepare the children by sharing the plan and the actual experience of the day, how children will document what they learn, and what they might encounter – from getting on the bus, how long the ride might be, and with “warm demander”-esque expectations of behavior: “You are showing me where I can take you in the future.” This connects to how children move as citizens through their city. Teachers help to set a tone, i.e., “You don't put your feet on the furniture. You are representing Westland in the world.”
Teachers will sometimes make a packet for the children to bring that asks the children to find details, so they can navigate the site with a teacher’s lens. Children essentially have a manual for what they will need on the field trip.

John Dewey once said that we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience. It’s our belief that the reflection on the field trip is as important as the field trip itself. After a field trip:

Teachers debrief with the children. This practice is especially important as oftentimes the children are in small groups that have had potentially different experiences. Teachers debrief the process and the content: what was learned and how the children learned it.
Through reflection, teachers gather the unanswered questions and the new questions that came up. This practice, too, is an essential component to children’s curiosity remaining not only intact but vibrant. Children learn to ask, “What’s next?” as learners.
Teachers then develop ways the children can articulate and convey what they learned on the field trip. At Westland this is often through block building, but other examples include woodworking, bookmaking, Sing shares, discussions, dramatic play, writing, painting, ceramics, etc. When children take knowledge and create something with it, they get to consolidate and internalize the content and skills.
Another way children consolidate their learning and get the opportunity to reflect is through writing thank you notes to the field trip “hosts” and experts they encountered. As one teacher reflected on these beautiful thank you notes the children create: “It takes things to another level.” What’s notable, too, is that more questions tend to come up when the children are reflecting through the lens of their gratitude. Also, some fledgeling writers are resistant to the act of writing, but they get sincerely motivated to convey a message of gratitude because writing a thank you note is real. There is a real audience.

I’ve been reading and learning a lot about AI and education. In an article from The Atlantic that an alumni parent sent me, two AI experts, Lila Shroff and Ian Bogost, discuss the blind spots in education and where education might need to go – smaller settings, iterative feedback, skills-based learning, etc.

One comment that really stayed with me, because it is a particular strength of Westland’s, is that schools used to have hands-on opportunities like metal and woodshop. Ian Bogost stated, “We used to touch more things.”

At Westland, children just don’t have this problem. Their learning is experiential: They paint their learning, they discuss it, they dance their learning, they sew, sing, debate, make maps, cook, and create. And yes, they go to actual places on field trips in order to talk to real people and experts. Because they get to touch things, they are in touch with their curiosity, they grow connected to their group, and they internalize the lifelong message that learning is vital.

Westland SchoolSeptember 28, 2025

The World is Our Classroom: The Importance of Field Trips at Westland

Vital. The word has me wondering: how does learning become vital for children? My gut answer is this: The learning becomes vital when it’s real. And how much better to convince children of a Study’s worth and realness than seeing it out in the real world?

Enter field trips. Enter experiential learning.

Through this study of Studies, we are deepening and expanding our collective understanding of our pedagogy, the role of the teacher, and how we pursue concepts in depth. We also analyzed and documented the importance of field trips.

Teachers work with the librarians to provide books that ground the children’s research and feed their curiosity and excitement for the upcoming field trip. These books are also displayed alongside artifacts that teachers put out in the classroom. Here is where the environment is also the teacher.

Teachers will sometimes make a packet for the children to bring that asks the children to find details, so they can navigate the site with a teacher’s lens. Children essentially have a manual for what they will need on the field trip.

John Dewey once said that we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience. It’s our belief that the reflection on the field trip is as important as the field trip itself. After a field trip:

Teachers debrief with the children. This practice is especially important as oftentimes the children are in small groups that have had potentially different experiences. Teachers debrief the process and the content: what was learned and how the children learned it.

Through reflection, teachers gather the unanswered questions and the new questions that came up. This practice, too, is an essential component to children’s curiosity remaining not only intact but vibrant. Children learn to ask, “What’s next?” as learners.

One comment that really stayed with me, because it is a particular strength of Westland’s, is that schools used to have hands-on opportunities like metal and woodshop. Ian Bogost stated, “We used to touch more things.”