| This is a descriptive study of the "Long Trip," a major aspect of the teacher education program at the Bureau of Educational Experiments (later known as Bank Street College of Education). Begun by the founder of the Bureau, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, and co-planned and led by Eleanor Hogan, a faculty colleague, the Long Trip reflected in microcosm the values and pedagogy of the program for teachers.; Each spring from 1935 through 1951 (excluding the war years), the student teachers would travel together over a thousand miles to encounter the complexity of a distant social and physical environments. They confronted social and political issues of their day---the labor movement, poverty, conservation, government intervention programs, race relations---all the while considering the lives of children and their families, and educational implications.; This study examined the concept, experience, and impact of the trips. Three questions organized the research: What were Mitchell's and Hogan's original concept and goals for the Long Trip? What did Long Trip participants recall as outstanding aspects of the experience? What was the perceived impact of the experience on the personal and professional development of the participants?; Qualitative and historical research methods were used. Surviving members of classes that participated in the Long Trip conveyed their perceptions of the experience through open-ended questionnaires and interviews. Personal documents were reviewed. Historical and educational literature, especially the works of Mitchell, were used to understand the trips in relation to the political, social, economic, and educational context. Seven themes were identified, which illuminate student perceptions of the faculty, the teacher education program, their peers, the situations confronted, and the long term impact. From the perspective of forty-five to sixty years later, participants' perceived the experience as having a decided impact on their professional and personal development.; This study offers insight into the progressive movement in teacher education, the intentions of pioneering educators, and most significantly, into the effects of educational experience from the vantage point of the learners---all of which has implications for the process of educating teachers and children today. |
