The Importance of Recess; Downtime Improves Productivity
"In designing a structured recess, they (schools) will sacrifice the notion of recess as an unstructured but supervised break that belongs to the child; that is, a time for the child to make a personal choice between sedentary, physical, creative, or social options." (AAP)
I remember my time at school. We used to start at 8 o'clock sharp and end our day at half past 2 in the afternoon. During these six and half hours, we used to have 8 periods and 2 recesses. First recess used to be just 15 minutes, after we 3 long periods, to eat quick snacks. Students used to bring packed lunches from home or were given lunch money so that they could buy samosas, chicken burgers, rolls, biscuits, chips and drinks from a small tuck shop located inside the premises of the school. Then it used to be back to academics, lectures, assignments. After two more periods of equal length, we would get another recess, this time full 30 minutes. Those 30 minutes were what we used to go to school for on some days! Technically, the 30 minutes were included in our day to allow for Zuhr Prayers and some free play time. We would chat, gossip, play all kind of fun games, run around, interact with other classes, collaborate on upcoming fun festivals, melas and shows. It used to be 'Our Time'; Time away from the books and teachers and supervision. We'd laugh and giggle and just make beautiful memories.
This was some 30 years ago. Good times.
Then the schools became progressive.
While nothing much has changed in the curriculum, no changes in the didactic style of teaching and monotonous, monological lectures, with periods crammed with overload of data with single minded focus on banking knowledge in the students' heads; The recess changed.
Authoritarian Structured Recess
Now the recess is all about supervised snack times with priority focus on 'Discipline' and 'Quite Classrooms'. Playgrounds are fast disappearing with more organized spaces like areas for circle times, outdoor (planned to the last detail) activities and physical exercise or workouts, which are again high supervised and authoritarian in nature. All these areas have a strict discipline regime, with so much as even the voice levels being dictated and managed by the teachers and other staff.
Younger kids at Kindergarten level are allowed some role-play through play areas carefully crafted with make-believe kitchens, dress up and some manipulatives like playdough, abacus, blocks and puzzles. However, the children are almost always directed towards these activities as part of their strict daily regime, often with strings attached (like whoever finished the worksheet first will get 5 minutes) with a 'lip on your fingers' command hovering over the heads lest they try to interact with a fellow students as they play with the allotted piece of 'fun activity'. The kids have no imagination. Even the art and craft is carefully managed and planned with all kids lined up in a fashion akin to an assembly line at factory as they produce exactly the same piece of art as mandated by the teacher.
Children develop intellectual constructs and cognitive understanding through interactive, manipulative experiences. This type of exploratory experience is a feature of play in an unstructured social environment. (See source at the end of the article).
Another worrisome and highly debatable issue is that of taking away recess as a punitive measure. While the recess itself is not much to look forward to, in terms of free play time or free talk time with friends, the little time the kids do have to re-energize and charge themselves seems to be the easiest way to intimidate them and coerce them into obedience. Such is the obsession of our society with obedience and discipline that most schools will happily trade it with the mental and emotional well being of our students. The simple logic, that you cannot make anyone behave any better by making them feel worse about themselves and the school, is quite simply lost on most.
Research Supports Recess
The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons. Several studies demonstrate that recess whether allowed indoors or outdoors actually improved the student's attention and performance in classrooms. In designing a structured recess, schools will sacrifice the notion of recess as an unstructured but supervised break that belongs to the child; that is, a time for the child to make a personal choice between sedentary, physical, creative, or social options. Ironically, minimizing or eliminating recess may be counterproductive to academic achievement, as a growing body of evidence suggests that recess promotes not only physical health and social development but also cognitive performance. (See full report here)
Dr. Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College notes in his book, 'Free to Learn', “Playing with other children, away from adults, is how children learn to make their own decisions, control their emotions and impulses, see from others’ perspectives, negotiate differences with others, and make friends... In short, play is how children learn to take control of their lives."
Why is that important? Because according to Dr. Gray when one feels like they do not control their own lives, they feel depressed and anxious, a trait that is fast getting associated to school and student's life. While some schools will look at recess as a waste of time, time that they are taking away from the crucial academics, this time is in fact an investment into the mental well-being of our students.
The Future Needs Students Who Know How To Exist Together
The world is fast moving towards more collaborative modes of study. Research conducted by Sugata Mitra clearly shows that children can actually self-organize themselves and learn almost anything on their own without even the presence of a teacher, by merely collaborating, interacting and discussing the difficult concepts and the big questions with their fellow students, classmates and group members. Yet, our schools are stuck somewhere in the past (far away in the past in fact, about 200 years into the past); and are still obsessed with controlling every minutes and second of the student's time spent at the school along with controlling (more like eliminating) social contact between the students. These so-called progressive schools are actually stopping our children from reaching their full potential.
What are we going to do about it? I would suggest that all schools need to incorporate a minimum of 30 minutes of free-play time (exclusive of snack time). Kids just like us, need downtime and frequent short breaks. In a ground breaking study by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and her colleagues at USC and MIT found out the periods of rest and downtime let our brains revert to 'Default Mode' which is crucial for consolidating memories, reflecting on past experiences, and planning for the future; helping us make sense of life (Source; Abstract of Research). Downtime actually improves the cognitive abilities of the students and are not wasted opportunity for academic productivity.
Sources;
National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. Recess and the Importance of Play: A Position Statement on Young Children and Recess. Washington, DC: National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education; 2002. Available at: www.naecs-sde.org/recessplay.pdf. Accessed September 13, 2011
I remember my time at school. We used to start at 8 o'clock sharp and end our day at half past 2 in the afternoon. During these six and half hours, we used to have 8 periods and 2 recesses. First recess used to be just 15 minutes, after we 3 long periods, to eat quick snacks. Students used to bring packed lunches from home or were given lunch money so that they could buy samosas, chicken burgers, rolls, biscuits, chips and drinks from a small tuck shop located inside the premises of the school. Then it used to be back to academics, lectures, assignments. After two more periods of equal length, we would get another recess, this time full 30 minutes. Those 30 minutes were what we used to go to school for on some days! Technically, the 30 minutes were included in our day to allow for Zuhr Prayers and some free play time. We would chat, gossip, play all kind of fun games, run around, interact with other classes, collaborate on upcoming fun festivals, melas and shows. It used to be 'Our Time'; Time away from the books and teachers and supervision. We'd laugh and giggle and just make beautiful memories.
 |
| There is no substitute for free play |
This was some 30 years ago. Good times.
Then the schools became progressive.
While nothing much has changed in the curriculum, no changes in the didactic style of teaching and monotonous, monological lectures, with periods crammed with overload of data with single minded focus on banking knowledge in the students' heads; The recess changed.
Authoritarian Structured Recess
Now the recess is all about supervised snack times with priority focus on 'Discipline' and 'Quite Classrooms'. Playgrounds are fast disappearing with more organized spaces like areas for circle times, outdoor (planned to the last detail) activities and physical exercise or workouts, which are again high supervised and authoritarian in nature. All these areas have a strict discipline regime, with so much as even the voice levels being dictated and managed by the teachers and other staff.
 |
| Structured role plays are great learning opportunities but are not a substitute for recess time where kids can indulge in free play |
Children develop intellectual constructs and cognitive understanding through interactive, manipulative experiences. This type of exploratory experience is a feature of play in an unstructured social environment. (See source at the end of the article).
Another worrisome and highly debatable issue is that of taking away recess as a punitive measure. While the recess itself is not much to look forward to, in terms of free play time or free talk time with friends, the little time the kids do have to re-energize and charge themselves seems to be the easiest way to intimidate them and coerce them into obedience. Such is the obsession of our society with obedience and discipline that most schools will happily trade it with the mental and emotional well being of our students. The simple logic, that you cannot make anyone behave any better by making them feel worse about themselves and the school, is quite simply lost on most.
Research Supports Recess
The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons. Several studies demonstrate that recess whether allowed indoors or outdoors actually improved the student's attention and performance in classrooms. In designing a structured recess, schools will sacrifice the notion of recess as an unstructured but supervised break that belongs to the child; that is, a time for the child to make a personal choice between sedentary, physical, creative, or social options. Ironically, minimizing or eliminating recess may be counterproductive to academic achievement, as a growing body of evidence suggests that recess promotes not only physical health and social development but also cognitive performance. (See full report here)
Dr. Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College notes in his book, 'Free to Learn', “Playing with other children, away from adults, is how children learn to make their own decisions, control their emotions and impulses, see from others’ perspectives, negotiate differences with others, and make friends... In short, play is how children learn to take control of their lives."
Why is that important? Because according to Dr. Gray when one feels like they do not control their own lives, they feel depressed and anxious, a trait that is fast getting associated to school and student's life. While some schools will look at recess as a waste of time, time that they are taking away from the crucial academics, this time is in fact an investment into the mental well-being of our students.
The Future Needs Students Who Know How To Exist Together
 |
| Collaborative study group |
What are we going to do about it? I would suggest that all schools need to incorporate a minimum of 30 minutes of free-play time (exclusive of snack time). Kids just like us, need downtime and frequent short breaks. In a ground breaking study by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and her colleagues at USC and MIT found out the periods of rest and downtime let our brains revert to 'Default Mode' which is crucial for consolidating memories, reflecting on past experiences, and planning for the future; helping us make sense of life (Source; Abstract of Research). Downtime actually improves the cognitive abilities of the students and are not wasted opportunity for academic productivity.
Sources;
National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education. Recess and the Importance of Play: A Position Statement on Young Children and Recess. Washington, DC: National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education; 2002. Available at: www.naecs-sde.org/recessplay.pdf. Accessed September 13, 2011
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