By Annie Hughes, Kingston University London
Students who feel that they belong in their education setting report higher well-being and have better academic outcomes. Classrooms and curricula can be exclusive places, where what is taught and how it is taught privileges learners with particular backgrounds. This is also the case for field education.
Evidence points to the fact that field education commonly reflects the cultural norms of the discipline and its teaching staff, rather than those of an increasingly diverse student body. This leads to higher levels of anxiety among racially minoritised students concerned about how they will ‘fit in’ and how their particular needs will be met on educational field trips.
I have previously argued for the adoption an anti-racist approach to field education which promotes racial equity and justice by acknowledging and addressing how field experiences are mediated through racialised lenses. I support the need to take account of the complex interplays between student cohorts and their field tasks, locations and communities. In this blog, I present practical steps that field leaders, whether they are working in primary, secondary or tertiary education, can take to ensure more inclusive field experiences. The examples presented here have been developed by dedicated teams leading trips across my own institution.
- Adopting a critically reflexive approach is an important first step to developing anti-racist practice. Teachers involved in field teaching must acknowledge and take account of how their own racial identities and experiences impact on the design and delivery of their field classes. This may be around the location of field trips, as well as their organisation and selection of field activities.
- Whilst it may not be an explicit consideration of field staff, the racial climate of field locations should be considered to ensure students’ well-being and safety. Leaders should think about how systemic racism may impact on how your students’ feel about, and experience field locations. Moreover, field activities, particularly in human geography, may be experienced differently by racially minoritised students, particularly in less diverse and unfamiliar communities. Away from academic activities it is also important to make sure that field destinations cater for the range of cultural needs, including the availability of culturally appropriate amenities such as food outlets and faith spaces.
- It is important to purposefully ask your minoritised students what they need, while refraining from expecting them to share their experiences with the broader class. The co-creation of trip risk assessments with your students is recommended. This not only brings students into the conversation about risk, but also provides for a more holistic and inclusive perspective. In so doing, risk assessments will better reflect the lived experiences of all students. In a field trip to the United States in 2024, our Black students were particularly worried about police interactions and gun violence. As part of the programme, the campus police captain joined for a session to talk with our students at their request.
- Intentional programming is also important to ensure that students can see themselves and their backgrounds reflected in their field curriculum, one of the key principles of our institutions Inclusive Curriculum Framework. Activities should be planned which speak to the heritages, backgrounds and histories of all your students. For example, take the time to seek out minority-owned enterprises, initiatives, and accommodation. In one trip to the US, instead of travelling to a rural farm, the students visited an urban farm serving communities of colour in a food desert.
- If an option, it is also helpful to meet up with student groups in partner/host institutions that represent the backgrounds of your own students. Seeking out and engaging with professors of colour in host institutions (and surrounding educational establishments) is also an important way of actively addressing racial equity.
- The staff complement on any field trip is always an important consideration in any context. Whilst it is not always possible to have an accompanying staff which reflects the ethnic diversity of the student cohort, there are active steps that can be taken to adopt an ant-racist approach. These can include ensuring that staff are supported to develop their racial literacies and self-awareness through allyship and bystander training prior to the trip. It is important that staff are aware that real and perceived cultural differences between them and students may have an impact on the openness of communication and that there may be additional work required to build trust and cultivate relationships. Another option which has been adopted in our trips is that a student who had previously attended the trip returns as a paid intern to serve as a connection between the staff and the students.
- Explicit and scheduled wellbeing time is important for all students to support good mental and physical health. However, it is especially important for students who have less experience of field trips. We know in our University, for example, that our racially minoritized students are less likely to have experienced a residential field trip in their previous educational setting and are more likely to live with family. Added to this, travelling to a location where their communities are less represented may add to levels of anxiety and stress. It is therefore important to ensure that any support services that students are signposted to are culturally responsive.
I started the blog with the statement that inclusive learning environments promote better outcomes for students – both academically and for their wellbeing. Considerations of inclusivity in planning and delivering field trips is as important as it is in our classrooms, laboratories and lecture theatres.
Field education is a great way of introducing students to the world’s complexities. I argue that adopting an anti-racist approach to field learning and teaching which is actively cognisant of the complex relationships between race, racial identities and the field, will support us to deliver culturally relevant, safe, and meaningful field experiences for all the students who are taking these classes.
Special thanks go to Tamara Reid, Kingston University, for her work in developing racially inclusive field programmes.
About the author: Dr Annie Hughes is Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement at Kingston University, London.
Suggested further reading
Esson J, Last A. (2020) Anti-racist learning and teaching in British geography. Area. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12658
Fieldwork principle 4: accessible and inclusive fieldwork. Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers). https://www.rgs.org/research/higher-education-resources/fieldwork-principle-4-accessible-and-inclusive-fieldwork.
Leyland, J., Geoghegan, H., Hall, S.M., Latham, A. & Souch, C. (2022) Classics Revisited: ‘Muddy glee’ – What geography fieldwork means in the current moment. Area. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12838
Kendi, I.X., 2019. How to be an antiracist. London: Bodley Head.
Principles for undergraduate field courses. Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers): https://www.rgs.org/research/higher-education-resources/principles-for-undergraduate-field-courses.
How to cite
Hughes, A. (2025, May) How to make field education in geography more anti-racist: seven key steps. Geography Directions. https://doi.org/10.55203/FUFV9027
Geography Directions 