To Tour Or Not To Tour

This is the question raised by school administrators, teachers, students, and even government officials in the country after a tragedy befell on seven university students from Luzon in an educational excursion sometime this month.

On the government’s side, the question is a no-brainer since the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Department of Education (DepEd), respectively, have issued guidelines on the conduct of field trips, educational excursions, instructional exposures, among others.

Whatever it is called, it will not mean a thing because the problem lies on the implementation of such guidelines, which brings to mind another question: who’s to blame?

The blame game is something that people in the academe should deride; of which, people in politics would almost always have to ride in.

Surprisingly on this issue, CHEd has proven its worth in appraising the case in due manner and time. The DepEd also has ongoing investigations regarding untoward incidents during field trips in its jurisdiction nationwide. Whether the higher education institution or school concerned should be sanctioned or not, it is evident that both government agencies demonstrated commendable competence and character in dealing with this perennial problem.

Or perhaps, CHEd is not doing its job remarkably. Why should there be another investigation in the Senate House if there is already an ongoing probe in the rightful government agency which is CHEd, or is this another investigation ‘in aid of legislation?’ Why can’t government officials trust their fellow government officials? The hypotheses we can formulate range from the widespread deep-seated idiocy of those in power to the pervasive corrupt practices of those elected, appointed or hired in the government service.

When Sen. Koko Pimentel proclaimed his detestation against field trips due to their expensive nature, is he not trying to advocate ignorance by thinking that education should be cheap? Who in this world can honestly say that he has not spent a cent for his education? What can we do and how far can we go to be educated? As a scholar himself, the highly-esteemed senator knows how to answer these.

As an educator myself, I have no qualms about those students who don’t even bother spend a dime or two, exert effort and exhaust time for their studies. They are just giving me the perfect justification for a flunked grade.

How can I possibly help them if they don’t even help themselves? How can I educate them if they detest the fundamental principle of investing in an education? In education, as well as in all areas of life, we can only expect returns when there is investment.

Participating in field trips and educational tours is one fraction of this investment. Though, there is a risk involved and a certain amount required from students, what they can learn as supplement to the theories they obtained in the classroom will be worth their while.

Whoever said that learning is not only confined in the four corners of the classroom should now be deemed a prophet. The Pragmatic educational reformer John Dewey who said that “Life is education itself” is neither a mystic nor a clairvoyant but a practitioner and a researcher who was sure that authentic learning comes from real-life situations and actual tasks.

The much clichéd idiom “Experience is the best teacher” will never wear out, especially in the field of education. Hence, to say that field trips and educational tours are irrelevant and just wasteful is to mean that schools are the only storehouse of knowledge. This is wrong. Think about how much time a learner spends in the classroom as compared to the time he spends at home. Homes, where the heart is, are influential shapers of minds and hearts.

Due to the fact that what can the school and the home provides is also not enough, academicians hold out-of-school activities as golden opportunities for learners to develop their intellectual, socio-cultural and athletic dimensions, among many others. Field trips serve this purpose.

How can learners appreciate geography if they will only be provided with pictures and not get the chance to see the difference between a mountain and a hill or a river and a lake? How can learners increase their awareness of the nation’s history if they have not even gone to a local museum or a town’s park?

How can students boost their self-confidence and interpersonal skills if they are detained in the classroom with their teacher and classmates as their only audience? Field trips provide the link between theory and practice.

If the risks outweigh the benefit of learning, then should we just forego the trip, but, is life not a risk in itself? If Benjamin Franklin did not go outside of his home, would he still discover lightning as source of electricity? If Galileo did not go out to see the sky, would it be possible for him to determine that planets revolve around the sun and not the other way around as commonly held centuries before him? Had Yuri Gagarin not gone into outer space, what would the human race be proud about humanity’s exploration and exploits? In serendipity and in research, out-of-the-classroom experience only proved practical. Nobody wants accidents. Yet, an ounce of prevention is always golden.

Prevention here does not mean that educational tours should be banned. In this context, prevention refers to the implementation of the safety precautions and protection mechanisms that should be followed by heart. Only because people fail to follow procedures, then problems arise. This is a sad reality and a common shortcoming among us.

But, of course, yes, definitely, let’s tour!