THE U.P. PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL TOURS
NELIA R. GUANCO
Instructor, U.P. Prep High School
The educational theory back of all the school tours seems to point toward similar objectives, namely:1
There seems to be no better way of expressing the ultimate aim of the "education on wheels" as advocated by the U.P. Preparatory High School than to quote apportion of the letter of Dr. Antonio Isidro to the Principal of Bulacan High School:
"Dear Mr. Tayao:
As integral part of its program fr developing robust nationalism, the U.P. Preparatory High School conducts educational tours and patriotic pilgrimages to the different beauty spots and historical places in our country. It is believed that in this way a better knowledge and appreciation of our rich and beautiful country could be developed . . . . This month it is our plan to see fertile lands of Central Luzon and the world famous city of Baguio."2
It is therefore the ultimate goal of the school to promote nationalism through a better understanding and appreciation of our country and people.
And to carry out this goal the school has mapped out its own specific objectives
no different from that adopted by schools in other countries. It has stressed above other things the following:3
NATURE AND SCOPE
Educational tours may assume several nomenclature like "School Journey," "School Trips" etc but all these may be defined as ". . . a teaching technique involving any definitely organized travel made primarily with an educative motive in mind."4
It grows out of the students’ need for first hand data to assist them in solving their problems. It involves an organized plan by which students journey to places where the data exist in their natural form or functioning order. Although many materials may be brought to the school for first hand study, there are numerous other materials, situations, relationships and phenomena which, because of their bulk, immobility or diversity cannot be taken into the classroom.
This idea is aptly stated by Kinder when he said:5
"No college campus can house America’s tremendous industry, nor can any campus library or school system of any kind whatsoever house her social, civic and political fabric, her natural resources, her beauty, her historical places, her contribution to art and architecture, nor her culture and her people. There are aspects of America which can be found in books but even more, they are to be found in direct experience."
In the U.P. Preparatory High School, the project is divided into two types, namely, field trips and educational tours.
The field trips are short morning, afternoon, or whole day trips to museums, programs, historical places etc when the occasion calls. For instance, when a lesson in science requires observation of museums or lectures from personnel of bureaus, the students are brought to such places to avail them of the actual and factual information; when historical celebrations occur, they make trips and pilgrimages to the historicalplaces nearby as shown by the ttrip they made to Cavite, to General Aguinaldo in person, to Calamba, to see the house of Rizal, to Nagtahan to see the relics left by Mabini or to the North Cemetery to offer wreaths to the great heroes of our country in connection with the July 4 celebration. For instance, on July 4, 1955, the whole student body trekked to Cavite to see Gen. Aguinaldo and his private museum and in 1954 and 1955 they went on a patriotic pilgrimage to such places like Rizal’s Cell at Fort Santiago, execution place of Rizal at the Luneta, the Malacanang Palace, the Cry of Balintawak and The Bonifacio monument. In
Ops, 2 pp missing in her Xerox copy ( I am supposed to go to the Education Library for the text of these pages.)
And much more, because tours not only cover a wider area but they entail greater responsibility and longer duration of time.
In the U.P. Preparatory High School, the teacher discusses with the class the proposed tour, explains its aims, informs them of what will be observed, points the tie-up between classroom instruction and the tour and gives advantages of the tour.
Parents are invited to a meeting where free discussion about the nature of the tour is taken up. They are informed of the tentative expenses, the rout, the schedule, etc. Parents’ suggestions are sought for. The meeting is set two or three weeks before tours outside Manila and authority and consent of parents are a requisite for joining the tour. A form (U.P.P.H.S. Form 15) is sent to parents to authorize their children to join the tour, without which no student is allowed to participate.
For each tour, the Principal may assign a Committee of teachers and students to make arrangements for the tour. The Committee in turn, may seek the help of some parents whomay be familiar with the places in question. The Committee makes arrangements for such matters as transportation, itinerary, the activities to be undertaken, accommodation and transportation in places to be visited. It is necessary that previous contacts with transportation agencies be made; it also necessitates resourcefulness on the part of the Committee to request discount for transportation rates. The U.P. Preparatory High School was able to secure a 25% discount from the Manila Railroad Co. in connection with the tours to the Bicol Region and Northern Luzon and the same discount plus special privileges from the William Lines Incorporated in their tour to the Visayas and Mindanao.
In this connection, the writer wishes to discuss here the system of financing tours. In the United States, the tours are generally financed by the students themselves through parents or may be undertaken by the student organizations or of community groups like the P.T.A. or the Chamber of Commerce. In some schools the teachers pay their own expenses, this, according to Kinder, is a " . . . poor practice" for the following reason:
" . . . if the school journey is to become part of the regular educational program of the school it should be paid for, as are other aspects of the program."
In the U.P. Preparatory High School the finances are shouldered by the parents of the individual student joining the tour. Usually parents accompany their children too. On the part of the teachers, they shouldered the expenses of the first two tours conducted last year, but their expenses were borne by the University as part of the program of the school in the succeeding tours.
In places to be visited, the Principal of the U.P. Preparatory High School or in some cases the Director of the School, writes some people who can help in making the tours in such places truly educationally productive.The list may include the governor, the mayor, the President of the U.P. Alumni Association, Provincial Chapter, the scool superintendents, and the principals.
In places to be visited where there is no adequate hotel accommodations, the Principal may seek the assistance of the High School Principals of the locality. For the promotion of better understanding and friendship among students, the principals are expected to have on hand approximately the same number of students to meet the touring students. Whenever possible, it is desirable that each visiting student stays, eats, sleeps, and be guided and entertained by a student of similar sex and year in the high school located in the places to be visited. When the U.P. Preparatory High School students went to Dagupan last year, students of the U.P. were distributed among the students of the Dagupan City High School for a night’s lodging, accommodation and entertainment. The experience was extremely satisfying and wholesome for both.
Days before the departure, mimeographed program of activities are distributed to the students (and for information of the parents) covering such points as to the day, time and place of departure, estimated total cost of the tour indicating the round trip transportation, things to bring along, hotel expenses, transportation, in the places to be visited and other expenses; complete itinerary of places to be observed, and the day, the time and place of arrival back in Manila.
The students are required to make a "research" or secure information and data about the places to be visited. This includes materials in geography, history, economics, customs, scenic and historical spots and other pertinent data which will give them a general idea of places they are going to. Each subject teacher gives his assignment or project to be done as part of the class including shell collection and impressions about sea life observed: English and Arts classes, impressions of places visited or people seen etc., expressed through writing or painting; geography and social science classes, the route passed, places touched, the important products of the place, the socio-economic conditions observed, etc. These assignments keep the students busy for the two-week stay away from classrooms and make their tour meaningful to them.
Regarding their behavior in tours, class advisers discuss during homeroom periods proper decorum in tours "worthy of our name and dignity as students." A day before the tour, the students joining the tour are gathered in an assembly where the principal or the head of the tour (a teacher designated by the Principal) discusses with them the itinerary, reminds them of the code of conduct and all those relevant points which are furnished them in mimeographed copies. These mimeographed copies must be brought along by the students in the duration of the tour.
During this assembly too, the students are divided into groups of 15 to 20, the grouping to be determined by the students themselves. Each group chooses its own leader who shall assist the teacher-in-charge in looking after the members of the group. Each leader is given sheets of the Educational Tour Conduct Report which he fills up daily to be signed by the teacher-in-charge at the close of every day. This report sheet includes an account of the students’ behavior in buses, trains, public places, etc.
In the assembly, too, they are to accomplish U.P.P.H.S. Form B which contains questionnaires on knowledge, attitudes about the places and people before they join the tour.
B. The Tour
At the time and place designated for assembly, the students are required to report to the respective leaders and stay with the group till the vehicle leaves. The leader in turn reports to the teacher-in-charge about his group, five or ten minutes before the time of departure.
Order is maintained in coming up and down the vehicles through the respective leaders of each group.
While in transit or in aboat such as the trip to the Visayas and Mindanao, special time in the boat is devoted to a previous discussion of related matters and other class assignments. After the observation of a place, while in travel to another place, an evaluation of what was seen is discussed by the tourists.
The students are required to observe specific places, to secure lecture notes given by the tour guide, if one is available, to note down important things they see, secure specimens for science classes and do other assignments. They are informed that reports of their observation are to be collected after the trip. However, if and when tours occur
during class days like the tour to the Visayas and Mindanao which takes a duration of two weeks, the students are expected to work and hand in their assignments to the teacher-in-charge of the trip. Thus, they work their assignments regularly on boats to comply with the number of hours they are supposed to sit and perform activities in the classroom. They are given grades on performance of the day’s work as they stay in their classroom. In this way do they earn corresponding credit for quality and quantity of performance equivalent to whatever credits they would earn when they are in school.
The students too are encouraged to get much information and to associate and
"fraternize" with the school students in the places visited who serve as their guides and entertainers.
C. After the Tour
The students are required to fill the Form B of the questionnaire to find out the increase in knowledge and change of attitudes of the students as a result of the trip or the tour.
Ways of follow-up may depend upon the objectives of the trip. For instance, formal test may be utilized as check up when information of factual types are desired. When social attitudes, appreciation, or emotional uplift are the expected outcomes, class discussions,written impressions, paintings, etc may be very fruitful means of check up. The classroom work, therefore, is tied up with what had been observed in the tours. In a class in history, for example, lessons may be correlated with the historical places and students who had joined the tour may give a lengthy account of the places visited; in science or arts, classes discussions of materials gathered or ideas retold to them may be held.
The students too are encouraged to write "bread and butter" letters to their respective host and to officials who helped them with the tour.
On the part of the principal or the teachers who joined the tour, social notes of appreciation may be sent to officials of places visited. The letter should not be a stereotyped one but one with a genuine expression of thanks. It may even contain individual reactions of students. After each tour, preparatory students and the faculty send letters even to managers of transportations they used, expressing their gratitude for the privileges given them during the trip.
The teacher-in-charge or the head of the delegation prepares a short but careful diary and evaluation of the trip which shall be of value to classes planning similar trips in the future.