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Learning Outside of the Classroom: Field Trips (The Glen, Winter 2024)
At Bayview Glen, we embrace the real world beyond our walls in many ways. An important way of exposing our students to opportunities for learning outside of the classroom is field trips. We offer a wide variety of field trips that are linked to our courses so that our curriculum comes to life and students get the opportunity to develop their skills in the real world.
On January 9, the students of our World Religion course in Grade 10 enjoyed a full-day field trip to three places of worship of religions they have studied during the first term of this school year. The World Religion course provides students with opportunities to explore various world religions and belief traditions and connects closely to our goal at Bayview Glen to develop empathy and respect for diversity of identity and viewpoint.
This field trip was led by Brian Carwana, the Executive Director of Encounter World Religions, a registered charity that aims to help people, organizations and communities explore what it means to become religiously literate and enhance their understanding of one another.
During this field trip, we visited Beth Tikvah Synagogue, the Richmond Hill Hindu Temple, and the TARIC Islamic Centre. Each of these visits provided us with an in-depth insight into the respective religions and the opportunity to engage in a dialogue. Having these conversations in the place of worship instead of our regular classrooms enriched the learning: “Being in the atmosphere of the different places gave our class an immersive experience."
In their reflection on this field trip, students showed the recognition of their own faith as well as a deeper understanding of other belief systems: “I learned a lot about the synagogue and the Hindu temple, which was very interesting. But the mosque was familiar to me because I am Muslim, and I know a lot about my religion.”
Another common reflection was on the — sometimes unexpected — similarities between religions: “I realized that even though on the outside each religion looked very different, at the heart of it they all have the same fundamental principles. I found that all of these religions believe in a higher power, have a common expectation on human character and prioritize strengthening the community. Reflecting on this particular trip allowed me to understand the significance of unity and how recognizing the similarities at heart will allow for a more connected and inclusive world.”
