Pedagogy by the Sea....

As I listened to the Director the Shrine and Field Trip Guide, as he described the origin of the shrine and the historical figures responsible for forming it, I began to think about the instructional methods and strategies being implemented to engage this group of 4th grade students as they gained a better understanding of the historic Shrine. I was amazed as I watched him employ a variety of methods with ease and perhaps without even realizing the pedagogical soundness of his choices. I also realized there were several layers of instruction happening and that I needed to further analyze this learning situation.

The first instructional method that I observed was the overarching fact that the class was on a field trip. In Jack's organized review of Instructional Strategies and Methods, field trips fall into the category of Experiential Learning - "learner centered and activity oriented." Sounds right for 4th graders.

Here's what I also found out... The students' teacher had covered during classroom time, several topics related to the content the students would hear about during the day's tour of the shrine. This provided them with a basic foundation for the concepts they'd dig into deeper this morning on their long awaited field trip. In addition, during the weeks that followed their shrine adventure, they would revisit several topics introduced during their shrine tour that again, would allow further understanding of the topics.

A few other methods that I observed included: Storytelling - the Guide was an expert on the topics related to the shrine so he was able to tell stories related to the shrine at the children's level of understanding. Generally as he told a story, he would ask questions to give the children opportunities to share what they knew. His inquiry consistently prompted the children to generalize to other topics and to reach into previous understanding and pull out what they already knew.

Another interesting observation was how the Guide interrelated content from several subject areas to create authentic learning experiences for the students. For example, after we listened to a story about the person who lead the effort to form the mission, the Guide asked the students to look at the rock tiles they were standing upon and tell him what was unique to these tiles compared to other tiles they'd stood upon. As the students studied the tiles, a few began to make the connection that there were imprints looking like sea life on the rocks. Sure enough, the Guide told the group tiles had been brought to the site decades ago and other interesting facts about these unique rocks. There were similar opportunities throughout the tour the Guide took advantage of to present cross-curriculum topics.

At one point the Guide used a Narrative method to describe how on object, a cross, was formed, transported and erected. He also very descriptively talked about related issues encountered and how the issues were resolved. As I observed and listened to comments and questions coming from the students, I could see them making connections.

Overall the experience seemed to be one the students remained engaged in throughout the entire time. I'm curious to check in with the teacher in the coming weeks to learn how presentation of the related topics goes.