Out Of The Classroom And Into The World: Learning from Field Trips, Educating from Experience, and Unlocking the Potential of Our Students and Teachers

Bank Street College of Education professor Salvatore Vascellaro is a leading advocate of taking children and teachers into a wider world as the key to improving our struggling schools. Combining practical and theoretical guidance, Out of the Classroom and into the World visits a rich variety of classrooms transformed by innovative field trip curricula—showing how students’ hearts and minds are opened as they discover how a suspension bridge works, what connects them to the people and places of their neighborhood, and as they come to understand the ecosystem of a river by following it to its source. Vascellaro shows, equally, that what teachers can offer children is fueled by their own engagement with the world, and he offers stunning examples of teachers awakened by their direct experiences with the social issues plaguing American society—from the flood-torn areas of New Orleans to the mining areas of West Virginia. Based on the core principles of progressive pedagogy, and the wisdom gained from Vascellaro’s experience as a teacher, school administrator, and teacher educator, Out of the Classroom and into the World is a direct retort to test scores and standards as adequate measures of teaching and learning—an inspiring call and major new resource for anyone interested in reinvigorating America’s classrooms.

About the Author :
Salvatore Vascellaro is a member of the graduate faculty at the Bank Street College of Education, where he teaches courses in early childhood curriculum and children's literature. This is his first book. He lives in New York City.

Review :
"While field trip itineraries are included in the appendix, this book is not about how to take field trips. Rather, it is Vascellaro's richly detailed account of three teachers who prioritized the richest way of knowing (which included field trips) over the shortest route to learning. With today's educational climate measuring success in terms of how much productivity can be squeezed out of learners within the shortest amount of time, it was extremely gratifying to delve into these teachers' success stories. The 'field trip' was really that of the teachers' journey into the uncomfortable terrain outside the content of the textbook and security of the classroom. . . .The book offers motivation for both teachers and students to pursue a love of learning." —Choice