Fieldwork in the Far, Far Away: Exotic Experiences and Geographical Understanding

With DCSF encouragement for fieldwork, geographers should maximise the use of their locality for practical reasons. However, trips beyond the students' familiar world offer an unparalleled opportunity for the development of geographical understanding, and the further away the better. Moving away from positivist approaches to fieldwork, it is argued that an open-ended experiential approach can have a powerful effect on the development of geographical understanding. An A2 fieldtrip to Morocco is followed. Students' geographical understanding is analysed through their journals, essays and statistical exam data.