Benefits of Educational Travel

Are you a parent considering sending your child on an educational trip? Or an educator who is interested in new experiences for you and your students? Maybe you’re a trip leader that has seen your students learn and grow on an educational tour. 

Traveling prepares students to write a fantastic story for their lives.  You believe that travel teaches skills that the classroom simply cannot. Every student should experience the life-changing benefits of a school trip. 

It may not be immediate, but you’ll notice a difference after a student travels. It could be something as simple as getting up when the alarm clock goes off in the morning. Or something more dramatic as considering career fields or taking school more seriously. Parents and teachers know that experiences are the seeds of growth for young people. Educational travel provides students an opportunity to learn more about the world and discover themselves. 

The three areas of student growth are:

• Academic Enrichment - Students make discoveries and build on what they’ve learned in the classroom. Students see and learn from other cultures while on tour. The experiences students have on tour open new horizons for achievement. 

• Social Skills - Many students have never traveled away from home. Their educational trip is an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone in a new environment. Travel helps students gain responsibility and independence. 

• Leadership Skills - Students will be inspired by the monuments and memorials they see on tour. Or maybe they’ll be inspired at a National Park or on a visit to a college campus. Students will develop their own leadership skills over the course of their trip. 

Regardless of who you are, after reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of the benefits of student travel experiences. 

Academic Enrichment on a School Trip

Your classroom curriculum guides the design of an itinerary. Your students will see the places that made history. Having the space for a group discussion will allow students to debrief their real-world experiences.  Part of the academic enrichment of educational travel is having a first-hand experience of the places and events that made history. The other part of intellectual growth is seeing and learning from different cultures. Hands-on cultural experiences can be service-learning projects or simply traveling to a new place. 

A well-designed itinerary provides opportunities to experience hands-on learning. Examples of experiential learning include participating in a debate at a historical site, working in a science lab, taking an official college visit, and a reenactment of history. Parents have anecdotally reported seeing better grades from their child after vising a college. High school students openly consider careers and places they’d like to go to school. 

Social Skills on Educational Tour

Educational experiences are fundamental to a trip. Ancillary benefits include the growth of social skills. For many students, their educational trip is the first time they’ve traveled away from home. Their trip is a real-world opportunity to mature. Students will have more responsibility for themselves and gain an understanding of their surroundings on tour. The extra responsibility helps students develop confidence that carries over into their everyday life. 

Think about when you’ve created your own friendships. The friendship ingredients were likely in part proximity, spending time together, and having a common goal. Traveling with classmates creates all the same scenarios for building friendships. Navigating real-life (age-appropriate) responsibilities will help students learn and grow. 

Leadership on a School Field Trip 

Monuments and memorials on tour are a testament to enduring leadership. These symbols of sacrifice can be an agent of change for a student’s worldview. Activities like having students navigate a subway schedule for the group or a competitive scavenger hunt provide opportunities for students to become leaders. 

Students develop leadership skills over the course of their tour. Navigating a new environment with friends is a path to personal development. Leadership starts with leading yourself. The alarm clock sounds and the student has a choice, to sleep in or start their day on time. As a student, you’ll ask more of yourself. Ultimately one of the goals in life is to live less afraid. Trips take students out of their comfort zones and help develop grit and determination. 

Conclusion - Benefits of Educational Travel

How many times have you told your student or child the same thing only to have them repeat the same behavior? You learn the most by doing, and you know that kids are the same. Every child deserves to have a rite of passage school trip to learn and grow. We know that school trips are part of the scaffolding for a student’s personal development. 

Leadership, social skills, and academic enrichment are the significant benefits of educational travel. Students learn about themselves and the world around them through these memorable experiences. 

If you’re considering leading a trip to provide great benefits to your students, we can help. Click the let’s talk button. We’d love to serve you. Happy Travels!