Geography fieldtrips in New Zealand

Fieldtrips are often part of geography courses at university and secondary school, but little research has been undertaken as to why they are so frequently a part of geography courses, how they relate to geographers’ theoretical understandings, and what geographers hope to achieve by running fieldtrips. This book addresses these issues. A number of university lecturers and secondary school geography teachers were interviewed, who have organised fieldtrips. Using structured interviews, the background of the geographer was established to understand influences on his or her academic development. A second theme showed how the geographer demonstrated geographical knowledge and values on fieldtrips. The third theme determined the values and convictions important to the geographer in the fieldtrip. Four main approaches were identified: classifying the world, applying general theories to explain the world, using structures to interpret the world, and deconstructing the world. This book helps in the understanding of fieldtrips and should be especially useful to all those who run fieldtrips or who are involved in geography at school or university level.