Award winning humanities fieldwork

The Humanities department at Wesley College’s St Kilda Road campus has been recognised for their outstanding fieldwork program, being awarded the Alex Lyne Fieldwork Award 2014, by the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria. The Year 8 fieldwork to Hanging Rock, and the International Baccalaureate Geography fieldwork to Werribee River, were described as outstanding and “best practice” tasks, acknowledging the departments’ passion and excellence for the humanities.

Students in Year 8 collected data at Hanging Rock to measure change caused by natural and human processes; International Baccalaureate students completed their internal assessment at Werribee River, studying how it changes from the source to its mouth.

Both these activities were praised as excellent examples of the interdisciplinary nature of geography and of the value of “leaving the classroom” to engage in real world learning. Students participated in a range of data collection and recording techniques appropriate for the year level, as well as in-depth geography skills such as evaluation, analysis and ranking of different locations.

Ilja van Werringh, Head of Learning, Humanities said, “Fieldwork is an opportunity for students to engage deeply with their surroundings, to analyse and evaluate an environment that may otherwise have been worthy of only a casual glance. Our students were able to look at the familiar with fresh eyes, to understand what relationships there are in a landscape, to understand how human beings have changed the landscape over time and how the built environment can work with or against the natural environment.”

The Humanities department has a long and proud history of taking students out on fieldwork, recognising its centrality to the study of geography. Wesley College will continue to present students with exciting and meaningful opportunities to deepen their understanding of society and the environment, so they are well-equipped to understand the world around them.