KC Field Trips
A project of the William T Kemper Foundation
Embedded Files
Guiding Vision
Guiding Vision
Every Kansas City student has meaningful outside of class learning experiences every year, inspiring interest and engagement in community and cultural institutions.
Method
Method
During this discovery phase of the project, we have focused on building partnerships, understanding and trust.
The project began alongside the pandemic, and we pivoted to a position of support for institutions and teachers. The reset of remote learning and the climate of racial and political tension added intensity and depth to our discussions.
Museums were able to go back to the drawing board with virtual experiences. Teachers needed outside of class support more than ever. KC Field Trips took shape in that space.
Bridging the gap
Common Language
Shared expectation of labor and roles
Gaining trust with mutual aid
Provide metrics and meaningful connections to partners as a value add for them
Simple and consistent support helps teachers build a relationship
Bottlenecks
Time to search, schedule and sort through logistics
Substitute teachers and buses are the most common red tape
Sources include interviews, focus groups, and educator surveys (design and results)
Provide a third party bridge between field trip providers and schools
Benefits:
space for honest feedback that is not directed at the institution/class
Schools don't need to cold call numerous places when we have an infrastructure already connected (especially for Real World Learning (RWL) experiences)
Create an external field trip support infrastructure inspired by schools that have a built in field coordinator
Benefits:
Teacher access regardless of school affiliation
Helps level the playing field of our inequitable education system
Effectively connect grants and opportunities with students, aligning resources so that money isn't left on the table
This winter we progressed from listening to designing. We prototyped a Concierge Program to directly support teachers in finding the best learning experiences for their students. Description of our pilot program
Detailed Description of Project Discoveries on THIS DOCUMENT
Events Organized by KC Field Trips
Events Organized by KC Field Trips
Virtual Museum Day
Virtual Museum Day
Shared success and recruitment to the project
Over 20 institutions around the city collaborated and created new material and a new way to connect during lockdown. Many parters, from the Truman Library to the Nerman Museum of Art, credit this experience with inspiring their active outreach in such an unprecedented time.
Path Back to Field Trips
Path Back to Field Trips
Building community and sharing insights
Throughout the year, educators at museums and schools convened monthly to pose, process, and respond to questions. Countless connections were made: between institutions struggling with similar problems and educators finding resources.
Purpose Statement
Purpose Statement
Create space to develop and share ideas: open up facilitated dialogue to build collaboration in our work and enhance each institution individually.
Build a collective to implement large scale change: use our size and shared intention to push for improvements that we can’t make alone.
Nonprofit and Community Partners
Nonprofit and Community Partners
Full description of our partnerships HERE
Nonprofit that connects people to volunteer opportunities and will be the home for KC field Trips moving forward!
Our outward-facing catalogue of learning experiences and the marketplace affiliated with the project.
With decades of experience integrating the arts into classrooms, YA is a powerful partner and support.
Civic learning ecosystem with a shared vision of museum integration and real world connections.
Former project home that offers support in analysis and guidance for increasing effectiveness.
KC Metro Arts Educators Network: Convening of arts focus organizations and instructors that updates and shares insights.
School Partners
School Partners
Description of collaboration efforts, from feedback and piloting our services, HERE
Research in Defense of Field Experiences
Research in Defense of Field Experiences
The Benefits for Field Trips from Explorable Places: reflection on the access, growth, and impact that make field learning essential.
How Society and Support Learning from the Learning Collaborative: pulling from tenets of place based learning and civic wellbeing, this blog presents a defense for rethinking how learning gets done.
Importance of Arts Integration from Arts Education Partnership: their series ArtsEd Amplified showcases a variety of research and support for arts interventions and incorporations.
The Power of Museum Learning from Education Next: Guiding research about how field trips can positively affect student critical thinking, learning retention and empathy. Summary chart below:
Toolbox In Progress
Toolbox In Progress
For Museums:
Explorable Places partner page: To create a listing start here: https://bit.ly/getstartedEP, and for reference, walk-through slides
For Educators:
Field Trip Resource Book from Explorable Places
Moving Forward
Moving Forward
The Uncover KC team will move from the discovery phase into implementation. Building from their proposal for transition, they have set up user pathways for the KC Field Trips Service.
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