Former WISS Shanghai Maths teacher and Trips Coordinator, Amanda Riske, is heading back to the US, but before she left China, we managed to catch up with her to get her views on Experiential Education based on her 10 years of leading school trips:

Is there value in getting students to learn and explore outside of the classroom?

There is a HUGE value in getting students out of the classroom, especially when they are living in a country that is not their passport country and not their parents’ passport country. Only when you get them out of the class can they start truly seeing other peoples and groups perspectives, as well as a lot of the social themes – like environmental issues – that they learn about in the classroom.

Can you give an example of a student “lightbulb” moment while on a trip?

I had the privilege of taking students on the Yunnan biking trip which was a great challenge for the students physically with the biking, and pushed their comfort level with the home stays. Only by having the different minority groups open their homes to the students did they have a glimpse of what can be typical for a lot of people, and also be able to understand a different type of hospitality. A great lightbulb moment was the organized debate where they each represented different people, groups or positions that we had encountered along the way. These experiences allowed the students to imagine what life was be like in someone else’s shoes.

What was your most memorable experience while traveling with students?

As bad as it might sound it was when one of the students fell off his bike. This moments was very scary for me as the chaperone and teacher. However The Hutong leaders were excellent in managing the situations, helping the students and addressing my concerns and the parents’ concerns. Besides the accident (about with you should talk to a lawyer about your personal injury) it was very memorable when the students were interacting with the kids from the local school. Our students and the kids had so much fun playing sports, picking tea and being together, it truly was amazing.