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International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia


Volume: 16  Number: 1  Page: 5–20  doi:10.2167/irg203.0

Objectives and Constraints in Geographical Fieldwork: Teachers’ Attitudes and Perspectives in Senior High Schools in Taiwan
Lin-Fang Han and Nicholas H. Foskett
School of Education, University of Southampton, UK

This paper considers the objectives for geographical fieldwork within senior high schools in Taiwan, and the constraints on the implementation and development of fieldwork. It introduces briefly the position of fieldwork in geography education in Taiwan, then uses a model adapted from the work of Boardman in 1974 and Smith in 1996 in England to examine teachers’ perspectives on the objectives and constraints in geographical fieldwork. The paper concludes that teachers in Taiwan have a balanced range of objectives for fieldwork across cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains, while they see safety, the impact of lessons missed by teachers supervising fieldwork, and large classes as the main constraints to developing fieldwork. Whereas the detailed prioritisation of objectives and constraints shows some differences between Taiwan and England, the broad pattern shows strong similarities between the two educational settings.

Keywords: fieldwork, outdoor education, curriculum, geographical, education, Taiwan

© 2007 L-F Han & N.H. Foskett

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