Education

What is LEAP, anyway?

As the industry leader in educational travel, it’s no surprise that education is at the heart of everything we do at WorldStrides. While students continue to learn in new and innovative ways, our ability to drive their excitement about a topic is always in demand. Even our understanding of what students should be learning is adapting to our changing world and the needs of society! 

When we consider the educational and professional landscape, credentials and degrees are important. However, our students want more than a line on their resume—they want to feel invested in their work, passionate about their subject matter, and to know they are impacting the greater good. 

Our innovative approach to elevating learning on tour has earned us national accreditation and helped to ignite growth for millions of students over more than 50 years. Using LEAP—our own unique learning philosophy rooted in more than 50 years of educational travel and experiential learning—we ensure that students are actively engaging with the sites they visit, absorbing their surroundings, and thinking deeply about the concepts that relate both to their destination and to their home communities. We want students to feel invested in the “why” and “how” rather than relying solely on the ‘”who,” “what,” and “when.”

Unsure what LEAP truly is? Read on to learn more about LEAP and discover how it can transform this generation of learners.

Exploring the world with LEAP

LEAP:  Learning through Exploration and Active Participation is designed so students fully engage with their surroundings, with the goal of making sure students:

• learn through hands-on activities
• are challenged to think critically and from different perspectives
• gain comfort in the discomfort that comes with true growth
• grow personally and intellectually

LEAP into action, anywhere

In practice, LEAP takes on all kinds of fun and educational forms, depending on the specific program, curriculum, and destination. LEAP often starts with icebreakers and team builders, which are designed to build student community and trust within the group, and continues through meaningful discussions about challenging topics. 

Hands-on LEAP activities include role-playing, building, dissecting, and experimenting. Cultural experiences include learning how to create a local culinary dish, painting a mid-century masterpiece, or dancing like (and often with) the locals. 

LEAP is often displayed by meaningful connections between students and with their teacher. Most importantly, LEAP is customized to meet the needs of every student in every destination. With LEAP, every student has a unique and transformative educational experience. 

The LEAP philosophy

LEAP is based on Howard Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences and anchored in experiential learning theory, which bases learning on experience and builds on application and reflection. LEAP also illustrates Carol Tomlinson’s theory of differentiation by meeting the learning needs of each student. Every WorldStrides Field Educator is trained to apply these principles of LEAP in every tour:

• Individual accountability 
• Sustained curiosity
• Cooperative learning
• Non-traditional learning contexts
• Customized content delivery

Using LEAP in the classroom

LEAP is a WorldStrides philosophy, but it isn’t contained to just our educational travel experience—it’s something you can use and apply anywhere.

LEAP can allow for incredible creativity to be paired with individual interests. Some of the LEAP suggestions above allow students to choose their approach to how they learn the content.

When you create your own activities and ways to incorporate LEAP into your classroom, you’ll watch overall understanding of your curriculum grow.

Today’s students engage in a world of advancing complexity. Our mission at WorldStrides is to support these students in preparing for that challenge. We seek to stimulate thinking, challenge complacency, inspire creativity, and nurture stewardship with one-of-a-kind educational experiences around the world that students won’t soon forget.