Abstract: | Abstract Recent changes in higher education in the UK effectively make the traditional mode of fieldwork delivery unsustainable. This, coupled with criticisms of past fieldwork practices, suggests the need for a thorough re‐evaluation of the role and delivery of fieldwork programmes in contemporary higher education. A prudent place to start addressing this new agenda is an evaluation of some basic educational theory and the objectives of fieldwork. From such basic considerations, some of the contemporary problems with teaching fieldwork can be more effectively tackled and strategies for designing field exercises devised. |