Figure 1.--Here a teacher in the District of Colombia has taken her students out on a field trip to study rocks, a geology lesson. They look like 8th grade students, meaning 13-year olds. This is the earliest photograph we have found so far, it was dated 1896. The District was wonderful place for field trips because of all the museums, zoo, monuments, and national institutions.

It is likely that American teachers if not the first to plan field trips, were among the first. We believe this to be the case for several reasons. First, America along with Germany was a leader in public education. Second, American schools were not as strictly academic as European schools and extra-curicular programs became an important part of the curiculum. Third, the idea of a field trip fit in perfectly with John Dewey's idea s of pragmatism and democracy in public education. Dewey was a major figure in American education. Fourth, we note American field trips at the turn-of-the 20th century. This began with the children walking short distances. Fourth, Henry Ford and the Model-T (1908) solved a transport problem. The basic Model-T was soon followed with trucks and busses. With school busses appearing ftr World War II (1920s). Americns had the greatest mobility of any country. And a major elemnt in planning a field trip was mobility. Children who hd to walk were limited in what firld trips were possible as we see here (figure 1). City children might be able to take city transport to some venues, bnu that was not always feasible.

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Created: 8:49 PM 5/13/2022
Last updated: 8:49 PM 5/13/2022