Education Through Experience

The Numerous Benefits of Educational Field Trips

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

From kindergarten through senior year, field trips are a key part of the educational experience. They expose students to the world around them, build social connections and complement in-school studies. However, as students enter high school, the curriculum gets more demanding and time becomes limited. Because of this, some schools are removing educational trips altogether. Regardless of the challenges, educational trips are beneficial to both social and intellectual development and should remain a key part of the high school experience. 

Field trips expose students to the world, which is an essential part of providing a full education. The educational trips at Maclay Upper School have positive exposure benefits. In December 2025, the theatre and dance departments traveled to New York City to take master classes and watch professional productions. The trip gave students an opportunity to learn about the performance industry in real time.

“I learned a lot about how New York classes work,” Valkyries team captain Alexandra Holland said. “I haven’t been able to get that experience before.”

Educational trips are an impactful way to build upon classroom-level understanding through full immersion.

Another benefit of field trips is building community within one’s group. In a study conducted by Stefanie Pace and Dr. Roger Tesi of William Patterson University, 75% of participants, all of whom were adults recalling field trips from grade school, remembered there being social benefits. 62.5% found overnight trips to be the most memorable.

Overnight trips at Maclay, including the New York trip, also promote social connection. The Valkyries, Maclay’s dance team, found themselves to be a more closely knit group after New York.

The social benefits associated with school trips are just as evident as the educational ones and result in lasting connections between students.

Furthermore, a field trip can complement in-school studies, allowing for a better understanding and appreciation of the subject matter. In their study, researchers Jay P. Greene, Brian Kisida and Daniel H. Bowen found that the critical thinking of students who visited an art museum improved by 9%. This higher-level thinking can benefit understanding of coursework.

In the summer of 2025, the Maclay foreign language department hosted a trip to France and Italy. Largely attended by French students, this trip complemented their studies.

“[We] took the boat ride down the Seine,” upper school French teacher Cynthia Stockstill said. “[The tour guides] are giving you history as you’re going down.”

In Spring 2026, the history department is hosting a trip to Europe, focused on the enhancement of historical knowledge.

“We’re looking at specifically World War II sites,” upper school history teacher Timothy Fitzpatrick said. “That’s why we chose to actually go across the English Channel in a boat like they did on D-Day.”

At Maclay and beyond, educational trips are continuing to enhance curriculum.

While the positive impacts are numerous, some teachers struggle with the presence of trips in a student’s schedule and the associated setback in curriculum.

“Field trips have become less common due to limited funding and limited available time due to each school systems’ focus on standardized testing,” Marc Behrendt and Teresa Franklin of Ohio University wrote.

However, planning and time management on the part of the teacher and the administration can allow for educational trips to continue. The impact that trips such as the Junior Ski Trip have on Maclay students make the lost time worth it.

“The ski trip was memorable and fun, and I think it was definitely worth missing school for,” junior Keya Patel said.

Even though they take away instructional time, educational trips are worth the loss as they allow better understanding of the world, build social connections and add to course comprehension. No matter a student’s age, universal exposure is a key part of education that can only be accomplished through educational trips.