Social Interactions ~ Research Findings

Hidden Villa field trips can help to bring your class together. Because social justice and respect for all are founding prinicples of all Hidden Villa programs, field trip guides model respectful, compassionate behaviour and support students in putting these values into practice. Many students become deeply curious about Hidden Villa founders, Frank and Josephine Duveneck, whose histories reveal them to be exemplary role models of service to others. My research demonstrated that our experiences at Hidden Villa heightend my students' sense of trust in their classmates. Outside of the classroom curriculum, the combination of the respectful field trip interaction and Hidden Villa's history of social justice helped my students gain a greater respect for each other and for our diverse community.

Benefits:

• A successful learning environment depends on students being able to share space, information and ideas together in a respectful manner. Developing these skills can be a challenge. The more exposure to respectful behavior and role models students receive, the more successful they will be in creating an environment in which all feel safe to take the emotional risks necessary for real learning to occur.
• We live in a multicultural society that is becomig more and more globalized, with both positive and negative effects. It is imperative that citizens of this country learn to live respectfully with their neighbors. Students need the information and skills necessary to identify social injustices and act responsibly in their own defense or as an ally to others.

Evidence:

• Find out what kids have to say in their own words. Click on the image below see a short video of student quotes related to this topic. Or, go to the evidence page where you can read a selection of quotes from interviews, surveys and student writing. You can also find links to pages on the HV Classroom Kids website, which my students developed, designed and wrote together as a reflection on their relationship with Hidden Villa.