Recent changes in higher education in the UK effectively make the trad
itional mode of fieldwork delivery unsustainable. This, coupled with c
riticisms of past fieldwork practices, suggests the need for a thoroug
h re-evaluation of the role and delivery of fieldwork programmes in co
ntemporary higher education. A prudent place to start addressing this
new agenda is an evaluation of some basic educational theory and the o
bjectives of fieldwork. From such basic considerations, some of the co
ntemporary problems with teaching fieldwork can be more effectively ta
ckled and strategies for designing field exercises devised.