School visits to heritage attractions in the East Midlands: The impact of change 1988-1996 and the effects on teacher decision making

This thesis investigates how changes both in education and heritage have affected school visits to heritage attractions in the East Midlands. The legislative and political changes encountered in schools since 1988 are discussed using a selective literature review. The effect of changes in heritage attraction use and provision also are considered. Previous research highlights the complex nature of teacher decision-making but evidence of the impact of change on school visit organisation is shown to be inconsistent and inconclusive. The research design consists of both quantitative and qualitative survey methods involving schools and heritage attractions over a five-year period. A survey of the region's heritage attractions provides a detailed insight into the provision for schools in the East Midlands. A questionnaire survey developed to investigate a number of issues relating to the contemporary characteristics of heritage visits reveals a complex inter-relationship between influencing factors. The responses from 1284 schools confirm the importance of day visits to most teachers and they provide an invaluable insight into the key factors of influence in the decision-making process. The effect of change on contemporary school visit patterns is revealed through the analysis of school visit diaries which together provide information about 8283 separate day visits by East Midlands schools in 1991. The research suggests that the National Curriculum and Local Management of Schools have significantly influenced the quality and quantity of visits organised. The type of school and its location are found to affect the impact of these changes. These findings are more extensively investigated using data obtained from 90 teachers interviewed at a selection of heritage sites and schools in the East Midlands in 1993 and a survey of a representative sample of 60 Nottinghamshire schools in 1996. The analysis reveals that the changes identified in the earlier stages of the research continue to affect schools. Visit cost emerges consistently as an influential factor. The principal findings from the research are summarised and structured in a model of teacher decision-making which shows the relationships between the various stages of the visit- planning process. This model simplifies the complexities of this process and it highlights the opportunities for positive influences to be exerted. The implications raised by these findings are considered.