Field Trips to the Church - Theoretical Framework, Empirical Findings, Didactic Perspectives

Visiting the local church is said to be a powerful case of participa tory learning. Inside the church the students have an actual, multi-sensory encounter with Christian practice. Moreover, leaving the classroom to visit some artifact nearby is attractive and is said to raise the situational interest of the students. An empirical study on the effects of such field trips, however, is still missing. This volume addresses this research gap in religious education. It provides insight into the theoretical background, the empirical design and the results of a project about field trips to the local church in compulsory Catholic religious education in German primary schools. It draws a comprehensive picture of such effects by identifying the benefits of scholastic field trips as well as the obstacles of this didactic set-up. The volume closes with a description of didactic principles and methods which help to improve scholastic field trips to the local church.

Ulrich Riegel ist Professor für Religionspädagogik am Seminar für Katholische Theologie der Universität Siegen.