At the Coalition of Essential Schools' Fall Forum last week, Alfie Kohn and Deborah Meier conversed with each other and a room full of educators and students about the value and role of play in education. In "How children's 'play' is being sneakily redefined," Alfie shared his remarks from their session with the Washington Post's Answer Sheet.
The piece is well worth a read for all of us who are concerned about not only recess (a huge concern here in Providence and elsewhere) but also the ways the rigidly defined curriculum and schedules that confront our kids in school aren't necessarily creating the best conditions for teaching, learning, and allowing them to develop into their best selves.
Showing posts with label recess.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recess.. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Follow the approved Wellness Policy, says PPSD parent Nina Ciniglio
Today, I'm delighted to share a guest post from Nina Ciniglio, a parent of a son at Nathan Bishop Middle School and current president of Bishop's PTO. Nina contacted me in response to the East Side Monthly piece I wrote earlier this year about the benefits of recess; you can read a version of it here.
The words that follow are Nina's.
The words that follow are Nina's.
I just read your piece about recess in East Side Monthly. I agree totally with everything, and in fact had tried on many levels to get recess reinstated in its full capacity (at least 10 minutes, non punitive) at my son’s elementary school, Robert F. Kennedy.
After a lot of effort that went nowhere, we thought the answer was upon us. The school board was finally going to bring to the table a new Wellness Policy that was required by NCLB. The Wellness Policy states, "The Board believes all students and staff should have the opportunity for daily physical activity. Schools will be encouraged to create an environment that supports physical activities. Daily physical activity must never be withheld as a disciplinary strategy."
We thought the problem was solved because supposedly the schools were going to be instructed to follow this, but I don’t think it went any further than the school board room! This policy was approved in March 2009, I don’t know why it says 2007. [You can view and dowload the entire PPSD Wellness Policy here.]
My son, who is now at Nathan Bishop, was so passionate about this issue that we drew up a petition and he collected signatures at and around school. He then wrote up a one page intro voicing his concerns and seeking approval of this Wellness Policy and presented it and the petition to the school Board in March 2009 at the school board meeting that was (supposed) to be the one which they were voting on the policy. Quite a courageous feat for a 10 year old!
I also just noticed that there was a Wellness committee put in place in August 2010. Maybe this is an issue we could tackle as parents, and see what the status of the policy is and why is it not being followed.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
"Play is the work of children." -Captain Kangaroo
 |
| Let there be no maximum to the number of pots and lids in service of fun! |
This article explores the role of parents/family members in instigating, promulgating, and promoting imaginative playtime for kids, and it hits on some key truths. Adults in kids' lives need to create the right conditions. For kids to have imagination-driven fun, they need to shut down the screens. Though, of course, television and other media can be powerful generators of play, as exemplified by my own kids' elaborate Clone Wars and Wipeout games. And we need to be cool with messiness. Not a problem in our house. Messiness abides.
The article drives by and briefly pauses on the subjects of school recess and the rigidity of kindergarten. I don't think that the majority of parents comply with reduced recess time during the school day as submissively as the article suggests. The parents and family members that I know do not, though we need to be more present in discussions about the role of play/downtime/recess in the school day. A topic for the near future.
At the same time, not all of the parents and family members I know are prepared to take up the play slack in the ways the article suggests; I resist the notion that play in schools is no longer worth fighting for and it's up to us at home from henceforth. It's not either/or. It's both. It has to be, because there are plenty of kids who don't live in households that are prepared to get messy, who don't have parents/caregivers who have any kind of time or energy to teach kids how to play capture the flag (not that I could do so - in fact, our dinner table conversation last night was nearly completely devoted to Leo and Elias explaining the rules and strategies of capture the flag to me) or build couch forts. We can't give up on play during the school day for all kinds of reasons, not the least of which is that it definitively enhances learning and academic performance.
What do you think? Do you play with your kids? How do you do it? Do you believe you need to teach them ways to play? How chaos-tolerant are you in the midst of kids' play? Do you think that the increased intensity of school/more media/more structure/perceptions and realities of less safe outdoor environments have affected kids' play? Share your thoughts in the comments? Thanks!
Three final notes:
1. Thanks to Lisa Belkin for the great Captain Kangaroo quotation.
2. As I was Googling for this post, I ran across The American Journal of Play. Is that not awesome!
3. If you're not yet hip to Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids blog, now's your chance to fix that. Skenazy busts up myths and unfounded anxiety that get in the way of kids' ability to play, imagine, have some place, explore, and, you know, be kids. Have fun.
Update:
Save Recess came across my radar just this minute. It's a blog created by a parent in Florida arguing against reduced recess at her kids' school. Looks like she has a petition and is prepared to stand up for her kids' right to, you know, be kids. So, there's one example of parent/family activism on behalf of recess per se, as opposed to play at other times of the day (which is also necessary but not a replacement). Share more with me, if you're aware of any.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Recess, Play and Learning: January 2011's East Side Monthly column
A version of this piece originally ran in January 2011's East Side Monthly print and online editions. This version is similar but a bit longer and with linked resources.
Recess, Play, and Learning
More often than not, in response to “Hey guys, what happened at school today,” recess is my elementary school-aged kids’ number one topic. Their daily 10 minutes of recess often results in 10 minutes of real-time recess retelling. Eventually, until I found ways to ask the right questions about math, science, reading, art, library and other learning opportunities they might have experienced between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, this apparent recess fixation troubled me. Was recess the only aspect their days (aside from gym, another topic discussed with wild enthusiasm) that my kids valued? However, I no longer interpret their passion for recess as a devaluation of the other 350 minutes of their school days. Quite the opposite: without those 10 minutes, they and their peers would likely get far less out of the rest of the school day. Their animated retelling of those action-packed minutes on the playground contrasts starkly with the larger reality of many schools, in which recess clings to a tenuous existence. In Providence and across urban school districts nationwide, recess has become a scare commodity that kids need more than ever.
This didn’t happen because adults decided, Scrooge-style, to take all the fun out of kids’ lives. The educators with whom I’ve talked about this understand comprehensively that kids need some “down time” to be at their best. To provide 10 minutes of recess, school administrators, teachers, aides, and other adults in charge of the school day face significant obstacles. The most pressing is the challenge of the clock. State and district mandates for formal, structured teaching and learning occupy most of the available 360 minutes of the standard elementary school day. There’s a whole lot to cover, learn and get through, and in most schools, educators feel fierce pressure to accomplish that within relatively few hours. Most teachers and administrators are well aware of the tension between fulfilling academic requirements and creating the opportunities for playtime that allow kids to recharge and refocus. I commend them for preserving any amount of playtime during the school day, as well as finding ways to infuse fun and elements of play within their curriculum and pedagogy.
I acknowledge that the young people in your lives may not be as recess-obsessed as mine. And of course my kids express high regard for science experiments, field trips, and engaging math, reading, and other classroom-based experiences. What your kids discuss at your dinner table may vary. What don’t vary are those necessities that recess and, ideally, other aspects of kids’ days ought to fulfill: physical movement, conflict resolution, play, creativity, and autonomy. Schools often find ways to infuse play into teaching and learning in ways that clearly benefit most kids academically and developmentally. That’s essential, but it’s not the same as unstructured, unenforced, undirected, and unevaluated down time. Generally speaking, kids are better off as a result of the few minutes that they run around or otherwise let off steam on most days. As documented in "School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior," published in the February 2009 volume of Pediatrics, the American Association of Pediatrics’ journal, when kids have time for recess—at least 15 minutes per day—there’s a clear correlation between unstructured play and academic achievement.
Obviously, recess as traditionally understood and practiced is not always paradise. Some schools do not have safe outdoor or indoor space. Other schools lack the resources required to supervise kids properly, which can result in injuries and anti-social behavior. And others mistreat recess, using it as a punitive measure by withholding it when kids make poor behavioral decisions (sadly, that is when they often most urgently need a short break to refocus and regroup). Under these circumstances, coupled with mandates about how time needs to be used during the school day, making already endangered recess extinct can seem like the most reasonable option.
Fortunately, some schools are focusing on finding ways to incorporate the benefits of recess in new ways. Some have opted for forms of structured recess that use the services of a “recess coach” who provides organized games and activities to keep kids active with fewer possibilities of injury or conflict. While cost and lack of self-structured imagination-driven downtime make this a difficult option for many schools, it’s a choice that is working well in some situations. (For more on recess coaches and related resources, check out Playworks, a national organization dedicated to connecting opportunities for fun and learning in children’s lives.)
Other schools take a more organic approach, finding ways to build clear connections between play and learning with the understanding that play is a main way that kids process what they’re learning and the challenges they’re facing. For a beautiful, detailed portrait of attention to play and its role in meaningful teaching and learning, treat yourself to Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground, by Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel, and Beth Taylor (Teacher College Press, 2010). Playing for Keeps provides a detailed and rich portrait of the cognitive and social value of play at Mission Hill School, a public elementary and middle school in Boston, and offers thoughtful ways for adults and kids to integrate play and learning with a particular focus on outdoors discovery and the delights of kids imaginations.
Ultimately, because more instructional time, however necessary, cannot come at the costs of what makes instruction effective, we need systemic changes that will allow play and learning to coexist in mutually beneficial ways. An expanded school day, sometimes described as extended learning time, is one such option that is beginning to gain some traction in Rhode Island (head up: this links to a useful policy brief from Rhode Island After School Plus Alliance that's in PDF form). Under the right conditions, which must include adequate funding to pay educators for their additional time, a more comprehensive school day can add tremendous benefit to kids’ learning and lives, especially when it provides a variety of school- and community-based options for learning and engagement. Many kids with whom I have spoken would gladly trade more time in school overall for a pace that allows more breathing room. Let’s listen to them and act accordingly to create better conditions for teaching and learning.
Recess, Play, and Learning
More often than not, in response to “Hey guys, what happened at school today,” recess is my elementary school-aged kids’ number one topic. Their daily 10 minutes of recess often results in 10 minutes of real-time recess retelling. Eventually, until I found ways to ask the right questions about math, science, reading, art, library and other learning opportunities they might have experienced between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, this apparent recess fixation troubled me. Was recess the only aspect their days (aside from gym, another topic discussed with wild enthusiasm) that my kids valued? However, I no longer interpret their passion for recess as a devaluation of the other 350 minutes of their school days. Quite the opposite: without those 10 minutes, they and their peers would likely get far less out of the rest of the school day. Their animated retelling of those action-packed minutes on the playground contrasts starkly with the larger reality of many schools, in which recess clings to a tenuous existence. In Providence and across urban school districts nationwide, recess has become a scare commodity that kids need more than ever.
This didn’t happen because adults decided, Scrooge-style, to take all the fun out of kids’ lives. The educators with whom I’ve talked about this understand comprehensively that kids need some “down time” to be at their best. To provide 10 minutes of recess, school administrators, teachers, aides, and other adults in charge of the school day face significant obstacles. The most pressing is the challenge of the clock. State and district mandates for formal, structured teaching and learning occupy most of the available 360 minutes of the standard elementary school day. There’s a whole lot to cover, learn and get through, and in most schools, educators feel fierce pressure to accomplish that within relatively few hours. Most teachers and administrators are well aware of the tension between fulfilling academic requirements and creating the opportunities for playtime that allow kids to recharge and refocus. I commend them for preserving any amount of playtime during the school day, as well as finding ways to infuse fun and elements of play within their curriculum and pedagogy.
I acknowledge that the young people in your lives may not be as recess-obsessed as mine. And of course my kids express high regard for science experiments, field trips, and engaging math, reading, and other classroom-based experiences. What your kids discuss at your dinner table may vary. What don’t vary are those necessities that recess and, ideally, other aspects of kids’ days ought to fulfill: physical movement, conflict resolution, play, creativity, and autonomy. Schools often find ways to infuse play into teaching and learning in ways that clearly benefit most kids academically and developmentally. That’s essential, but it’s not the same as unstructured, unenforced, undirected, and unevaluated down time. Generally speaking, kids are better off as a result of the few minutes that they run around or otherwise let off steam on most days. As documented in "School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior," published in the February 2009 volume of Pediatrics, the American Association of Pediatrics’ journal, when kids have time for recess—at least 15 minutes per day—there’s a clear correlation between unstructured play and academic achievement.
Obviously, recess as traditionally understood and practiced is not always paradise. Some schools do not have safe outdoor or indoor space. Other schools lack the resources required to supervise kids properly, which can result in injuries and anti-social behavior. And others mistreat recess, using it as a punitive measure by withholding it when kids make poor behavioral decisions (sadly, that is when they often most urgently need a short break to refocus and regroup). Under these circumstances, coupled with mandates about how time needs to be used during the school day, making already endangered recess extinct can seem like the most reasonable option.
Fortunately, some schools are focusing on finding ways to incorporate the benefits of recess in new ways. Some have opted for forms of structured recess that use the services of a “recess coach” who provides organized games and activities to keep kids active with fewer possibilities of injury or conflict. While cost and lack of self-structured imagination-driven downtime make this a difficult option for many schools, it’s a choice that is working well in some situations. (For more on recess coaches and related resources, check out Playworks, a national organization dedicated to connecting opportunities for fun and learning in children’s lives.)
Other schools take a more organic approach, finding ways to build clear connections between play and learning with the understanding that play is a main way that kids process what they’re learning and the challenges they’re facing. For a beautiful, detailed portrait of attention to play and its role in meaningful teaching and learning, treat yourself to Playing for Keeps: Life and Learning on a Public School Playground, by Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel, and Beth Taylor (Teacher College Press, 2010). Playing for Keeps provides a detailed and rich portrait of the cognitive and social value of play at Mission Hill School, a public elementary and middle school in Boston, and offers thoughtful ways for adults and kids to integrate play and learning with a particular focus on outdoors discovery and the delights of kids imaginations.
Ultimately, because more instructional time, however necessary, cannot come at the costs of what makes instruction effective, we need systemic changes that will allow play and learning to coexist in mutually beneficial ways. An expanded school day, sometimes described as extended learning time, is one such option that is beginning to gain some traction in Rhode Island (head up: this links to a useful policy brief from Rhode Island After School Plus Alliance that's in PDF form). Under the right conditions, which must include adequate funding to pay educators for their additional time, a more comprehensive school day can add tremendous benefit to kids’ learning and lives, especially when it provides a variety of school- and community-based options for learning and engagement. Many kids with whom I have spoken would gladly trade more time in school overall for a pace that allows more breathing room. Let’s listen to them and act accordingly to create better conditions for teaching and learning.
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