How School Trips Modify the Pupils’ Representation of Space

Abstract

A research project studies the modalities of spatial learning. The objective was to understand if the experience of school trips modifies the children’s spatial representations. The research was carried out with 192 pupils in Lyon (France) and Cracow (Poland). In order to examine the children’s spatial representations, mental maps were used. In this method, the geographical approach places the lived-in space in the centre of preoccupations. The research postulated that the connection to reality is inseparable from the filter of the representations. Through experiences, the individual constructs an interior model of his or her environment. This paper reports specifically on the results of a sample study in Poland.