today as we reflect on the recent field class, the apt metaphor or analogy that springs to mind is the finish. what kinda finish does a red leaves in your mouth? or is there even one to talk about? hmmm... the reds in question would be a backsberg pumphouse shiraz (2004 vintage) vs a yalumba 'Y' series merlot (2004 vintage)...
but first, lets set things in their proper context. the field trip to the bukit timah nature reserve on tuesday was interesting not just the jokes just got cornier and lamer with the passage of time but also the modelling of teaching strategies/styles. the topic? the tropical rainforest, duh!
the fieldtrip was conducted in two ways to get us to understand the different approaches/strategies in facilitating the learning process. well, to me, the first one was teacher-centric or should i say: paper-focused (ie look at the worksheet and fill in the blanks). very rigidly scaffolded to generate comprehension and much akin to a cloze passage exercise amidst the verdant greenery and the serious geriatrics and retirees breezing past you on the trail with their hydration bladders and walking poles...
the other was an adaptation of the prophets lambert and balderstone's work which was quite interesting. my interest was piqued by the exploratory/inquiry-based approach the prophets suggested which was quite apt for the task at hand, not to mention, it also acted as a catalyst for the pandora's box of debilitating corny and lame wise-cracks for one and all 
now onto the play cards, the sensory emphasis coupled with the reflective thinking implicit on the cards' questions is something that is essential for stimulating kids to think about their environment as well as their higher-order thinking skills. well, we were told that we could use the jigsaw method with the cards to further interest students during their field trip. i must say that the jigsaw method works here (ie during a fieldtrip) unlike the planning stages of a fieldtrip where the cacophony of differing views/ beliefs/ pedagogy/ content/ etc serves to divide & dilute the focus.
pardon my digression. anyways, you ask yourself. what kinda fieldtrip do i want to conduct? how much info is readily available for the kids out there in the field and yes, what are the weather conditions? the logical constraints? we spent quite a lot of time on those issues but more importantly, at the end of the day, the question essentially is what are the learning abilities of our students? what do we want to them to learn out in the field? and yes, make geography interesting and real but how? and what type of learning experience do we want to leave them with? something that complements their textbooks or something that value-adds their lives (yes, that incl. the textbooks)?
perhaps, the learning experience could be compared to the finish of a red: a light, mellow, well-balanced red with sufficient hint of fruit without a finish to shout about from the dark continent or a dark-ruby red, dry, full-bodied red with a lasting finish from the lucky country?
i don't mean to diss s. african wines but hey, inconsistency's a bad rep to live down :0
anyways, onto the learning experience we want to leave our students with or generate whilst out in the field. its something that can be likened to purchasing wines for a wedding. you want something thats quaffable yet with the air of sophistication especially if you're expecting a drinking crowd of educated oenophiles who can tell their vintage from the vignerons after 2 bottles.
here i posit that the learning experience we leave our students with is very much dependent upon our teaching styles. i.e., teaching style = teaching behaviour + teaching strategy (Leask, 2001). so don't pedestalise your wine to your audience/ customers especially if its a amesbury shiraz grenache which is nothing short of vinegary ribena masquerading as wine or passing off a goldleaf white as a semillion chard when its nothing more than a columbard chard... integrity, intel, and wit are important out in the field.
be honest and let your wine sell themselves, just like a beaumont cabernet merlot or a swartland sauvignon blanc and/or cabernet sauvignon let alone a simonsig chenin blanc. that way, your guests will know that its only the good stuff you're serving which will only enliven their already memorable experience... ...
