Fall Field trip – a different perspective

There was one school that had two groups of kiddos at Wickham Farms on a field trip also. (Remember yesterday I posted about Cutie Pie’s field trip there this past fall with his pre-Kindergarten class?) These students were from a grade school, although I’m not sure which one. The kids looked to be in about 5th grade. The teachers were very plainly, yet smartly dressed. The children wore uniforms and walked in straight lines approximately 2 feet behind the person in front of them.

This was very interesting to me and I couldn’t help but watch them at times we were near them, as generally kids visiting this place are not so reserved. At the point where the first child in line should stop, a two word command or the marching chant of “one two” was spoken loudly by the teacher and the entire line would come to a stop. At another command the line of students would walk forward. At the spot they were to turn for the class photo “About face” was spoken loudly and the students turned in unison.

In a way I was very impressed by these students and their teachers. There seemed to be little misbehaving. The children were doing (exactly) as they were told. There seemed to be a respect for each of the teachers. However, something was missing. There was no squealing as they watched the goats jumping, or giggling while touching the pet rabbit. At one point they were sitting at tables having an apple and drinking cider when one group was bothered by bees and started waving them away. A teacher spoke sternly to the children and threatened to put them back on the bus if they didn’t stop misbehaving. The children sat still. When it was time for them to move on they were given commands to stand, to step behind the benches they had been sitting on, to turn to face the teacher, to walk forward, another to turn to form one line and another to walk to the next station.

This was just my observation. I’m not sure what type of school they were from. Maybe they needed this type of teaching style to succeed. It just seemed a little too rigid for my parenting style, yet so intriguing to watch.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Do you think there is a place for this type of interaction for school-age children? Do you think it’s extreme? I’d love to read your comments!