Liberating learning: Thinking beyond 'the grade' in field-based approaches to teaching

Abstract

This paper is positioned within current debates on education development and the value of fieldwork as a pathway to fostering a nuanced, sophisticated and empathetic world view among students. Here, we focus on one form of field-based teaching within geography, that is, intensive field studies courses taught abroad. We draw on our experience as cofacilitators of a six-week intensive field course conducted in various parts of Thailand. The course we discuss in this paper was focused on teaching students both applied research skills (critical engagement, ethnographic research methods and ethical research practice) and substantive content (the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of Thailand from a geographer's perspective). We argue that the value of field studies lies in the ability of such a course to help students enhance and deepen broad, generalisable skills such as problem solving; ethical research practice; critical engagement with complex social issues; and independent research skills. © 2011 The Authors. New Zealand Geographer © 2011 The New Zealand Geographical Society.