

































 
 

 

Excursion or Field Trip:  An Alternative Approach to the 
Teaching of Social Studies in Secondary Schools 

 

 

 

 

A. A. OGUNJEMILUA (Ph.D) 
Department of Social Studies, School of Arts and Social Sciences, College of Education, 

Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria 
Phone No: +2348038185740 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Abstract: 
This paper examined the Excursion or Field Trip as an Alternative Approach to the 
Teaching of Social Studies in Secondary Schools. The examined the concept of excursion, 
field trip and social studies in secondary schools. The paper also discusses the preparation 
for excursion or field trip. The paper also examined the importance of of excursion and field 
trip and the problem associated with excursion in the teaching of social studies and 
probable solutions to the problems. 
Keywords: Excursion, Field Trip, Social Studies, Teaching. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Introduction  
The process of teaching and learning has assumed a new dimension in recent times 

with the introduction of new strategies and innovations.  One of these strategies is the use of 
excursion or Field as effective tool for teaching Social Studies in secondary schools. 

Field Trip is any learning activity that is carried out by students in group outside the 
classroom, under the guidance of the teacher (Osokoya, 1996).  He expressed further the 
field trip is a form of inquiry method of teaching. 

Fadeiye (2004) defines excursion as an educational journey to places of interest.  He 
emphasized that traveling is part of education and a means of increasing the learner’s level 
of understanding and knowledge of a subject. 

Jayeola (2004) defined excursion of field trip is an important aspect of learning not 
only for Social Studies but all other subjects in the school or college curriculum.  Excursion 
has an educational visit or journey to places of interest goes a long way to promote the level 
of understanding of the students and other people taking part in the exercise. 

Ogungbemi (2001) surmises that the excursions are organized not only to places of  
interest but also to places where relevant materials, information or knowledge are better 
teaching and learning of a particular subject scope. 

To employ this method for teaching, students can go on excursion to places that are 
within one’s immediate environment and even beyond.  Excursion to immediate 
environment could take one to places like the shrines, museum, king’s palace, school 
compound, archives, the blacksmith workshop, the local village stream mosque and old 
churches.  Distance trips could be made to Kanji-dam, zoological garden, game reserves, 
natural spring water, and waterfalls and other places of historical importance for the purpose 
of first hand observation and study. 
 
Preparation for Excursion or field trip 

Excursion or field trip is a good technique of teaching, when a capable of arousing 
the interest and curiosity of the students in learning of Social Studies.  The quality of 
preparation will determine the level of its success.  Hence, any excursion needs to be well 
prepared for before it must be carried out. 

 
How then can we prepare for a successful Excursion or field trip? 

In preparing for an excursion, it is important to note that three major categories of 
people need to be well involved and adequately informed.  Ogunjemilua (2004) opined that 
there is need to make preliminary arrangement with the school authority, parents and 
officials in the areas to be visited, schools authority need to be informed by the subject 
teacher or head of department that wants to organize such an excursion, while parents 
consent need to be sought for.  This will go a long way to determine the student’s 
participation. 

There is need to seek the approval of the place of visit before any excursion could be 
embarked upon.  This could be done by sending letters requesting for their consent of 
making an educational trip to the place. 

The organizer should want and see the reply of such letter before them so ahead in 
their visit to that place.  In a situation where there is no approval from the place of visit and 
the organizer embarks on such excursion, it will make it end in futility. 

An excursion must have purpose before it is embarked upon, such a purpose or 
objective must be well stated in order to have a successful trip.  The stated objective of an 
excursion will help the students to identify what to look for when they arrive at the place of 
visit.  It will also help them know the type of questions they would ask their host.  The 
teacher and the student must discuss and select the relevant places of interest where relevant 

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information are available for better teaching these places must be relevant also to the stated 
objectives.  The teacher should not force on students the places of visit. 

There is need for adequate provision for the welfare and logistic of the students and 
other people that are going with them in such an excursion.  In a long distance trip that will 
last more than a day sleeping and feeding arrangement must be made. 

Likewise, transportation to and fro must be made available students must be well 
informed to take with them clothing materials, eating utensils and enough money they 
should also take along  with them writing materials. 

It is not a gainsaying that “nothing good can come out of the camp of an indiscipline 
people”.  The teacher should therefore instill discipline in the minds of the students when 
planning for an excursion.  This will enable them to behave like a well discipline group of 
students in the place of visit.  This will enable them not in misbehave.  More equally, it will 
encourage them to utilize their sense to achieve their desired goals of such an excursion. 

The teacher should set up guidelines for the students to ensure smooth and 
successful trip.  On the day of excursion, all the students should gather at the school 
premises, while the teacher takes the attendance of the students in order to ensure the 
number of students that turnout for the excursion.  Apart from this, the teacher should check 
the materials and dressing of the students whether they meet the condition of where they are 
going for excursion. 

Other things that are necessary to check before the take off are the condition of the 
vehicle, the condition of the drive, that is going to drive and the particular of the vehicle 
(Ogungbemi, 2001). 

At the place of the visit, the following things must be taking note by the teacher. 
(1). Teacher who leads the students should keep the time schedule to avoid delay. 
(2). Teacher should note that a delay in one place of visit may result to  disappointment 

in another place of visit. 
(3). Teacher should encourage students to jot down points at each place they  visit. 
(4). Teacher should equally encourage students to ask questions. 
(5). Photographs could be taken in a place visited for reference purpose.  At times, the 

permission of the host should be sought before photographs are taken.  For instance, 
in care of sacred spots or locations, for fear of committing sacrilege. 

(6). At the place of visit the teacher should endeavour to take the roll call of the students 
to ensure that their number is still intact. 

 There are lots of things to do by both the teachers and students after the excursion 
had been successfully carried out. 
The teacher should report the feedback of the excursion to the school authority while 

a copy of the report should be kept for record purpose.  It is the duty the teacher that 
organized and led the excursion to write letters of appreciation and send it to the places 
visited.  The teacher should also ask students to write their reports of the excursion and he 
should enable the students to make use of the knowledge gained during the excursion in any 
history lesson. 
 
The Importance of Excursion or Field Trip 

Excursion method is good for the teaching of Social Studies in any level of 
education.  It provides experiences that cannot be brought into the classroom.  It affords the 
learner the opportunities for direct observation of physical and human phenomenal 
(Ogunjemilua, 2004). 

Ogungbemi (2001) surmises that travelling is educative and it teachers observation.  
Motivation to observe investigation and learn new ideas about the world around are gained 
and developed through excursion. 

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Excursion help to broaden students’ horizon and imagination learners are 
encouraged to be objectives and see varied dimension and respects of  ideas where 
knowledge and information is not given to them in the classroom environment. 

The learner’s outlook will be broadened and their experience indented because they 
will have direct observation of what they have been taught and heard in Social Studies. 

The teacher too will definitely be fellow learner and discover with his students.  The 
teacher acts as guide and friend he leads to delve more deeply, observe more closely, 
unmerited more fully and learn thoroughly (Ogungbemi, 1992).  Excursion method helps to 
sustain the student’s interest in Social Studies and makes learning permanent.  What 
students see practically will remain long in their memory that what they were taught 
theoretically or what they have read about.  Through excursion students would be able to 
see physically, touch, feel, and smell what they have been taught in the classroom.  For 
instance, through historical excursion, students have the privilege of seeing the staff of 
Oranmiyan, the Museum of Antiquity, the pot-shed movement at Itayemoo, the Excavation 
as Wumonije Compound, the Ornmiyan groove, the Museun of natural history at the 
Obafemi Awolowo University, the Ooni Palace.  Oduduwas’ Blacksmith workshop at Ile-
Ife, Olumo Rock at Abeokuta and Kiriji War  Theatre at Igbajo. 

Through historical excursion, both the students and the teacher will be able to 
correct erroneous impression, avoid prejudice and narrow mindedness which might have 
previously heard or entertained.  Opportunities to ask thought-provoking questions from the 
expert that they visit will be opened through excursion.  Questions that the teacher may not 
be able to answer satisfactory by the experts visited. 

Excursion method is one of the best ways to apply the psychological principle of 
teacher to the teaching-learning of Social Studies students understand better when teaching 
progresses from known to unknown, concrete to abstract and from simple to complex, 
besides, excursions in Social Studies will avoid students the opportunity to use their senses 
of seeing, learning, feeling, smelling, touching and tasting in the course of the trips. 

Excursion method of teaching increase learner’s level of understanding and 
knowledge in Social Studies.  Through personal contact with the places of historical 
interest, student will be stimulated to learn.  More also, personal contact to some historical 
places could also make teaching of Social Studies topics more easy. 
 
Problems associated with excursion or field trip in teaching Social Studies 

Ogunjemilua (2004) opines that field trips to places of interest entail the following 
problems or difficulties. 
(i) It requires adequate and long term planning. 
(ii) It requires a lot of fund since it is usually very costly. 
(iii) Lack of money frustrate planning. 
(iv) There is the possibility of parent rejecting or disapproving such visits. 
(v) Pupils and teachers are exposed to some dangers such as accident. 
(vi) It is time consuming and may disrupt other school programmes. 

He also stressed difficulties associated with organizing visits to places of interest in 
the school community as follows:- 

(a) Time table adjustment, some teachers may feel offended by adjust their table if not 
             told in advance. 
(b) School heads might think that such a visit may be as a result of readiness  to teach 
            or painlessness in the part of the teacher. 
(c) It might distract attentions of other learners in other classes, this can be 
 demonstrated through peeping through the window to see members involved in the 

field trip. 

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Probable solutions 

With the numerous problems confronting the use of excursion as a mean of teaching, 
one could not be able to conclude that this technique is not relevant to the teaching of Social 
Studies.  Merely looking it at the angle that traveling is part of education.  One could be 
convinced beyond reasonable doubt that excursion method makes Social Studies more 
teachable.  But for this to be attainable, some of the problem confronting it must be dealt 
with. 

The following suggestive measures could be used to tackle some of these problems. 
(1) Parents of the student should be adequately informed and their consent must be 

sought before embarking on an excursion. 
(2) The school authority and the teacher in-charge should guarantee maximum security 

of the students and others that are involved in such  an excursion. 
(3) The school authority should give approval to such an excursion and assist in the 

preparation. 
(4) The teacher in-charge and the school authority should not charge the students much 

they should not turn an excursion to a commercial enterprise. 
(5) The teacher in-charge should let the students know that objective of such an 

organized excursion this will make them not to see such an  excursion as mere 
travelling. 

(6) The teacher should equally evaluate the students after the end of an 
 excursion, this will enable him to know much students have gained and  how far 

the objective of such an excursion had been achieved. 
(7) The teacher should make sure that they get approval from the place of visit before 

they embark on such an excursion.  They should not be in a hurry but ensure proper 
planning. 

(8) The teacher or the school authority should write letter of appreciation at the end of 
an excursion to the place visited.  This will make any  subsequent future 
excursion organized enjoy the same privilege as  people use to say “one good 
turn deserves another”. 

(9) Students should be well informed and oriented about the code of  conduct in the 
place of visit. 

(10) In any long distant, excursion that will last two or more days students should be 
advised to hold much money for their feeding and other  needs. 

(11) Adequate health care provision must be made to cater for emergency cases.  First aid 
box should always accompany such trips. 

(12) In such a long distance excursions accommodation must be well arranged so that 
students and other people involved should not be  exposed to danger. 

  

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