Defining the Field School within Study Abroad

Globalization has created a need for culturally aware globally minded students across North America. Study abroad has increasingly become a normalized part of a young person's education however financial and temporal commitments attached to longer study abroad experiences hinder participation for many. In response, the field school model, which generally involves shorter stays and less financial commitment, has increased in popularity. The field school is a particular model of study abroad that shares characteristics with short-term study abroad, fieldwork, service learning and other models but requires definition. The purpose of this paper is to define the field school model of study abroad within the contest of study to assist administrators when presented the option, faculty when determining experiential learning opportunities and students in determining their educational path. The paper provides a working definition and nine defining features of the field school that distinguish it from other study abroad models.