CONTEXTUAL LEARNING AT THE JEU DE BOER, NEDERLAND 2010
On the 12th of April 2010, our school organised a field-trip to Jeu De Boer. It is a Dutch farm that was designed by the owners for farming and is also a recreational site for both children and adults to have fun, located somewhere between Leiden and Gouda. These recreational activities plus the everyday activities of the farmers that lived there was to be our study tour theme.
That bright Monday morning the students from elementary, junior high and high school of Sekolah Indonesia Nederland all gathered at school around half past 8. During that time we all started to form our own teams for the period of the study tour. The teams were divided into 4 which were all named after a farm animal such as team Sapi (cow), Bebek (duck), Ayam (chicken) and Domba (sheep). This excluded the elementary students which were separated into their own group. After each group was ready we started to head out on our trip to the Jeu De Boer.
The departure of the four teams would be divided into two groups, because we had planned on using public transportation to reach Jeu De Boer. The first group, which was team Ayam and Domba, left at 9.30. The second one, team Sapi and Bebek, left at 10 o’clock. We all arrived at the farm around 11 in the noon. When we reached the farm the students were all really excited to play along with the games the farmers had prepared for us and everyone else too were very happy to see all the farm animals in the meadow. For the secondary school students, the farmers had prepared a biking adventure around the farm area with the objective of following a GPS to reach certain goals. Each team was given one GPS to be used as a guide and a bag containing a map, and some clues and questions for the adventure. Each team had to be independent and cooperative on to finish the course, which was as long as 28 km. For the primary school students they also had a chance to go around the farm using a scooter.
At around 4 in the afternoon, each team was to regroup and be ready to head back to school. None of the secondary school teams had managed to finish the entire course because it was too tiring and the weather wasn’t very supporting because of the strong winds it brought. After everyone has gathered we said goodbye to the farmers and made our way to the bus stops although this time everybody was able to get on the same bus to school. At school most of the students’ parents were already waiting to pick them up and the rest went back to their own homes. It was a really tiring day for everyone but in the end it was a fun day.
By Hakam Adi Nugroho, XI IPS
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