Abstract
This chapter reports the results of a survey of US (n = 65) and Singapore (n = 33) teachers on how they engaged in field-based historical inquiry with their students. In particular, the authors focus on what types of sites teachers selected, their frequency of utilizing field-based teaching, their confidence in engaging students in particular field-based inquiry teaching strategies, and what they viewed as factors that promote or serve as barriers to utilizing field-based inquiry. All the participants had received advanced training in teaching with historical sites either as part of a course (Singapore) or teacher professional development institute (USA). They found that the participants were generally limited to one field-based experience per academic year, with some augmenting these experiences with additional in class or virtual fieldtrips. Sites most often identified include cultural or heritage sites and museums (Singapore) to memorials and historic sites (USA). Overall, the participants were confident in being able to utilize field-based historical inquiry strategies. However, they identified a number of barriers, with the most frequently identified being time (Singapore) and cost (USA). Important implications for teacher educators, administrators, and curriculum developers are explored around the types of sites identified, beliefs about field-based inquiry, and what can be done to promote field-based historical inquiry and reduce barriers to this practice.
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded by an international fellowship from the Wendy and Emory Reves Center for International Studies at William & Mary. The authors wish to thank Dr. Mark Baildon and Mr. Chelva Rajah from the National Institute for Education (Nanyang Technological University) for their assistance with this project.
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Stoddard, J., Hartley, A., Shy, L., Vo, K. (2021). US and Singapore Teachers’ Views on Teaching History Through Fieldtrips. In: Sim, T.Y., Sim, H.H. (eds) Fieldwork in Humanities Education in Singapore. Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8233-2_7
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