A practical handbook published by the Rural Development Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in March 2025, for farm stay areas to effectively implement educational travel reception.
Educational travel in farm stay aims to provide educational programs with high educational effectiveness utilizing the rich regional resources of rural areas in overnight experiential learning conducted as part of school education. This handbook systematically organizes the system development, program development, safety management, and school collaboration methods necessary for educational travel reception.
Regarding the basic concept of educational travel reception, the importance of establishing clear educational effectiveness based on the Course of Study rather than simple agricultural experience and constructing experiential programs according to the developmental stages of children and students is shown. Specifically, progressive learning objectives are set, such as contact with nature and basic farming experience for elementary schools, understanding regional issues and vocational experience for junior high schools, and participation in sustainable regional development for high schools.
For reception system development, important elements include establishing specialized educational travel reception organizations, training instructors, constructing safety management systems, and adapting accommodation facilities for educational travel. Regarding safety management in particular, appropriate risk assessment of agricultural work and outdoor activities, prior safety education, appropriate instructor placement, emergency response system development, and other matters are explained in detail.
For school collaboration, methods for effectively organizing a series of educational processes including enriched preliminary learning, on-site experiential activities, and post-learning reflection are introduced. Additionally, the importance of accurately understanding school-side needs and designing programs while ensuring consistency with the curriculum is emphasized.
For marketing strategies, methods specifically explained include understanding the characteristics of the educational travel market, building long-term relationships with schools and travel companies, securing repeat customers, and expanding reputation through word-of-mouth. Additionally, practical methods for measuring and evaluating educational effectiveness through pre- and post-questionnaire surveys and behavioral observation are introduced.
The article concludes that educational travel in farm stay is an important initiative that balances sustainable regional development and next-generation human resource development, with significant results expected through proper reception system development.