No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Recess Quality and Social and Behavioral Health in Elementary School Students
Abstract
BACKGROUND
A majority of research findings have focused on recess as instrumental to achieving minutes of physical activity rather than focusing on the psycho-social benefits associated with a high-quality recess environment. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between recess quality and teacher-reported social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes in children.
METHODS
Data were collected from 26 schools in 4 different regions of the United States. Teachers (N = 113) completed behavioral assessments for randomly selected children in their classrooms (N = 352). Data assessors conducted live observations of recess using the Great Recess Framework—Observational Tool. A series of 2-level regression models were fit in Mplus v. 8.2 to assess how recess quality was associated with indicators of children's social, emotional, and behavioral health.
RESULTS
Recess quality significantly predicted executive functioning problems (b = −.360, p = .021), resilience (b = .369, p = .016), emotional self-control (b = −.367, p = .016), and a composite of adaptive classroom behaviors (b = .321, p = .030).
CONCLUSION
Results of the present study demonstrate that recess quality impacts child developmental outcomes. Schools should ensure there is adequate training and resources to facilitate a positive and meaningful recess for students.
... Underlying these recommendations is a deep research base from health, public health, social science and education documenting the multiple benefits that children accrue from this unstructured playtime at school. For instance, playing at recess helps children to concentrate in class (Jarrett et al., 1998;Pellegrini and Davis, 1993), augments their executive functioning (Massey et al., 2021), and improves classroom behavior (Barros, Silver and Stein, 2009;Massey et al. 2021) as well as academic performance (Rasberry et al. 2011;Waite-Stupiansky and Findlay, 2002). It is also an important place where students learn and practice social-emotional skills, such as conflict resolution, teamwork, empathy, and self-regulation (Miyamoto, Huerta, and Kubacka, 2015;Massey et al., 2017). ...
... Underlying these recommendations is a deep research base from health, public health, social science and education documenting the multiple benefits that children accrue from this unstructured playtime at school. For instance, playing at recess helps children to concentrate in class (Jarrett et al., 1998;Pellegrini and Davis, 1993), augments their executive functioning (Massey et al., 2021), and improves classroom behavior (Barros, Silver and Stein, 2009;Massey et al. 2021) as well as academic performance (Rasberry et al. 2011;Waite-Stupiansky and Findlay, 2002). It is also an important place where students learn and practice social-emotional skills, such as conflict resolution, teamwork, empathy, and self-regulation (Miyamoto, Huerta, and Kubacka, 2015;Massey et al., 2017). ...
School recess is an evidence-backed approach to increase school-based opportunities for students to play, accrue necessary physical activity, and socialize with peers, to the benefit of their physical, academic, and socioemotional health. As such, the Centers for Disease Control recommend at least 20 min of daily recess in elementary schools. However, unequal provision of recess contributes to persistent health and academic disparities for students, which remain to be addressed. We analyzed data from the 2021-22 school year from a sample of low-income (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education-eligible) elementary schools (n = 153) across California. Just 56 % of schools reported providing more than 20 min of recess daily. Differences in daily recess provision were apparent, with students in larger and lower-income schools receiving less daily recess than students in smaller and higher income schools. These findings support the enactment of legislation mandating health-sufficient daily recess in California elementary schools. They also highlight the importance of, and need for, annually-collected data sources to enable monitoring of recess provision, and potential disparities, over time, in order to assist in identifying additional interventions to address this public health problem.
... Several ecological studies have used children's drawings as a technique to obtain detailed information about children's knowledge, attitudes and feelings about nature [39][40][41][42][43][44]. It has been shown that children as young as five can provide reliable information on ecological issues, provided they are asked clearly and appropriately [45]. ...
We live in an era where future generations are experiencing a serious loss of knowledge, sensitivity, and interest in biodiversity. This situation is thought to be unique to urbanised countries with limited green spaces. However, with the increasing urbanisation of rural areas, it is necessary to investigate what is happening in places of high biodiversity. In this study, we investigated the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of children and adolescents in the rural municipality of José María Morelos in southeastern Mexico. We analysed 1119 drawings by 117 children in their first three years of school and interviewed 280 students in their last three years of primary, secondary and high school. Younger children drew more native species, with the majority being mammals. Of the students surveyed, secondary school students had the highest level of species knowledge and considered deer and jaguar to be the most important species. They considered hunting to be the main cause of animal depletion and had a positive attitude towards nature conservation. Based on our findings, we recommend that educational strategies be implemented at all school levels to promote knowledge of the less emblematic species that inhabit the Selva Maya.
... It would also be particularly critical to help subsidize recess expenses in areas where typically underserved children will have more access will have more access to play spaces (e.g., on the school grounds or establishing partnerships with neighborhood parks) as this is an equity issue well-established in the literature (e.g., NSCDC, 2023). As we know from our participants, many people believe in the inherent value of recess for children's healthy development (e.g., Massey et al., 2021;Murray et al., 2013), but we also know there are many competing demands educators must try to simultaneously meet (e.g., Tran et al., 2013;Turner et al., 2013). ...
While we continue to see a growing push for the restoration and codification of recess in elementary schools, policy does not necessarily equal practice. Georgia recently passed legislation requiring at least 20 minutes of recess per day for students in PK-5. The purpose of this research study was to survey elementary school educators to reveal the temporal (i.e., duration, frequency, and cancellation practices) and descriptive (i.e., type, equipment, place) characteristics of recess in Georgia’s public elementary schools. The results of this study, which can be summed up statistically and descriptively as less recess overall, and less free play specifically, as well as reduced access to safe play spaces since the onset of the pandemic, yield important policy implications for Georgia’s school children. These implications relate to persistent disparities in immediate and long-term positive outcomes for children across multiple domains including academic, social-emotional, and behavioral.
... The mental health and behavioral impacts of play are numerous. Play at recess has been found to positively influence emotions (Clark & Rhea, 2017), self-control, and resilience (Massey et al., 2021). Through play, children self-regulate, solve problems, and experience joy (Gray, 2011;Sunderland, 2016). ...
The articles for the Special Section on Play highlight the complexity of play and the many ways occupational therapy practitioners study and promote play with children, families, and adults across individual, school, family, political, and cross-cultural settings. The authors of the articles in this issue view the importance of play across the lifespan and through multiple research lenses, including play preference, environmental supports for and barriers to play, the skills required to succeed in play, and the extent to which play is self-determined. The guest editors offer suggestions for how to enhance occupational therapy’s voice in the study and promotion of play as a primary lifelong occupation.
... The mental health and behavioral impacts of play are numerous. Play at recess has been found to positively influence emotions (Clark & Rhea, 2017), self-control, and resilience (Massey et al., 2021). Through play, children self-regulate, solve problems, and experience joy (Gray, 2011;Sunderland, 2016). ...
Occupational therapists view play through a unique lens. Considering play as a human occupation, and one to which all people have a right, places occupational therapists among a special group of professionals championing play. This State of the Science article seeks to increase awareness regarding the occupational therapy profession’s contributions and to situate those contributions within the larger body of literature on play while also promoting further study of play as an occupation.
... The sessions and mingles/breaks had different set-ups that shaped the conditions for the actors' position-related (inter)actions. Studies show that school breaks, as opposed to classes, are often unstructured, allowing children to make free choices regarding activities and interactions, while adults mainly regard their roles as safety monitors (60,61). Bourdieu (46) also shows that actors behave differently in social contexts based on their position and access to valuable capital and symbolic power. ...
Introduction
The death of a parent can have profound negative impacts on children, and a lack of adequate support can exacerbate negative life experiences.
Aim
To explore the influences of various actors on the content and execution of a bereavement programme within a Swedish context, considering relational and contextual perspectives.
Methods
An ethnographic field study involving six children, their parents, and eight volunteers. A theory-inspired thematic analysis was conducted, methodically inspired by Braun and Clarke, theoretically inspired by Bourdieu’s concepts of position, power, and capital.
Results
Confidentiality obligation was an essential element in the programme, however, the premisses varied depending on actors’ positions. Volunteers and researchers had different outlets to express their experiences in the program. The programme offered the children an exclusive space for talking about and sharing experiences and feelings. Simultaneously, the programme restricted the children by not allowing them to share their experiences and feelings outside the physical space. The physical settings shaped the different conditions for interactions among the actors. The sessions adopted loss-oriented approaches, where communication between volunteers and children was guided by the volunteers. However, children created strategies for additional, voiceless communication with their peers or themselves. During breaks and mingles, shared interests or spaces connected children (and adults) more than their common experience of parental bereavement.
Conclusion
The participants in the programme were significantly influenced by the structural framework of the programme, and their positions within the programme provided them with different conditions of possibility for (inter)acting. Children’s daily activities and interests were both ways to cope with parental bereavement and connect them to other people.
... Il tempo della ricreazione è un momento ricreativo-motorio importante per favorire un sano sviluppo delle competenze cognitive, emotive, sociali e per migliorare il clima dell'ambiente classe. La sua valenza formativa è paragonabile a quella offerta dalla didattica perché renderebbe gli studenti più attenti e produttivi [3] e questo emerge con forza a condizione che l'intervallo sia di qualità [4] e venga associato al movimento e al gioco libero, con la possibilità, per gli alunni, di gestire in autonomia le scelte di gioco da svolgere. I giochi motori migliorano i livelli di apprendimento e aumentano l'attenzione [5], permettono inoltre di scaricare le energie per rigenerarle dirigendole con meno stress ai compiti scolastici. ...
Obiettivo: ripetere, a distanza di un anno, l'indagine sulla ricreazione scolastica della mattina ampliando il campione dei soggetti intervistati e aggiungendo domande specifiche inerenti la scuola per ottenere maggiori informazioni. Metodi: questionario anonimo somministrato a bambini della scuola primaria nel periodo marzo-maggio 2023 grazie alla collaborazione di dieci pediatri. Risultati: sono stati intervistati 449 bambini (età media 8,24 anni, DS +1,49) di 141 istituti scolastici del territorio romano e di alcuni comuni della città metropolitana di Roma; il 98,9% degli istituti è dotato di spazi esterni (cortile, giardino, ecc). Il 48,2% del totale dei bambini intervistati ha dichiarato di trascorrere la ricreazione all'interno della classe e il 45,6% del totale dei bambini intervistati rimane in classe esclusivamente perché "Non possono uscire dalla classe". Inoltre, chi trascorre la ricreazione in classe la ritiene troppo breve (N 74; 34,6%) e si differenzia dagli altri bambini (p<0,001). Conclusioni: nonostante la quasi totalità dei bambini intervistati dichiari che la propria scuola abbia un cortile o spazio esterno, l'intervallo della mattina si svolge per circa 5 bambini su 10 in classe per impossibilità a uscire dalla classe. Il tema della ricreazione rientra nella promozione e garanzia del benessere psicofisico dei bambini, come sottolinea anche l'Accademia Americana di Pediatria. Objective: repeat, a year later, the survey on school school morning recreation expanding the sample of subjects interviewed and adding specific questions about the school, for example if the school they attend has an outdoor space, in order to get more information. Methods: anonymous survey administered to primary school children in the period March-May 2023 thanks to the collaboration of 10 pediatricians. Results: 449 children (average age 8.24 years, DS +1.49) from 141 schools in the Roman territory and metropolitan cities of Rome were interviewed; 98.9% of the schools have outdoor spaces (courtyard, garden, etc.). The 48.2% of the total number of children interviewed said they spend the recreation inside the classroom and 45.6% of the total number of children interviewed said they remain in the classroom exclusively because "They cannot leave the classroom". Moreover, the children who spent recreation in the classroom consider it too short (No. 74; 34.6%) in respect to other children (p<0.001). Conclusions: despite the fact that almost all of the children interviewed say that their school has a schoolyard or outdoor space, morning recreation takes place, for 5 out of 10 students in the classroom because they cannot leave it. The issue of recreation is part of promoting and ensuring the psychophysical well-being of children, as also highlighted by the American Academy of Paediatrics. Introduzione Quando è stata introdotta la ricreazione nella scuola italiana? La ricerca sulla storia della ricreazione, cioè individuare il pre-ciso momento temporale della sua introduzione nel sistema scolastico, è poco documentata. La maggior parte delle infor-mazioni disponibili si riferisce principalmente alle sue regola-mentazioni con decreti e articoli legislativi, come esplicitato per esempio nel decreto 297 del 16 aprile 1994 (articolo 10, comma 3, lettera A) e nell'articolo 21 della legge n. 59/1997. In entrambi, la ricreazione è riconosciuta come "tempo scuola" da garantire agli studenti e da conteggiare nel monte orario scolastico, quindi non è un momento che toglie tempo alle ore d'insegnamento. In un'altra circolare ministeriale, la 105/75 viene indicato il tempo minimo della durata della ricreazione (almeno 10 minuti) [1], anche se non c'è nessuna informazione sul luogo dove trascorrerla, cioè se in classe o all'aperto. La ricreazione è un "diritto" e quando la ricreazione viene ne-gata, i bambini non solo non riescono a godersi il tempo, ma subiscono anche un danno perché viene loro tolta un'oppor-tunità di sviluppo importante [2]. Infatti, non è raro che la ri-creazione, come dimostrano le evidenze sulle quali si poggia la dichiarazione dell'Accademia Americana di Pediatria [3], venga incautamente usata come uno strumento punitivo dal docente che sceglie se concederla o meno. Il tempo della ricreazione è un momento ricreativo-motorio importante per favorire un sano sviluppo delle competenze cognitive, emotive, sociali e per migliorare il clima dell'am-biente classe. La sua valenza formativa è paragonabile a quella offerta dalla didattica perché renderebbe gli studenti più at-tenti e produttivi [3] e questo emerge con forza a condizione che l'intervallo sia di qualità [4] e venga associato al movimen-to e al gioco libero, con la possibilità, per gli alunni, di gestire in autonomia le scelte di gioco da svolgere. I giochi motori mi-gliorano i livelli di apprendimento e aumentano l'attenzione [5], permettono inoltre di scaricare le energie per rigenerarle dirigendole con meno stress ai compiti scolastici. Il movimen-to è alla base dell'evoluzione cognitiva e la stretta relazione tra lo sviluppo motorio e quello mentale è determinante fin dalle prime fasi di crescita [6]. I benefici procurati dalla ricreazio-ne si associano anche alla salute fisica dei bambini: trascorre-re molto tempo da seduti aumenta la possibilità di assumere peso e di conseguenza aumenta il rischio di malattie cardio-vascolari. Considerando la quantità di ore settimanali che si trascorrono a scuola (comprese tra le 30 e 40), trasformare il tempo della pausa in un momento di attività motoria, per esempio correre e camminare, può fronteggiare la tendenza, sempre più allarmante, della crescente obesità infantile come riporta anche l'ultimo report europeo [7]. L'Italia risulta il Pa-ese con la percentuale più alta di bambini in sovrappeso o obe-si (42%) nella fascia d'età 5-9 anni e in Europa circa un bambi-no su 3 in età scolare risulta obeso o in sovrappeso. In un'altra indagine effettuata da OKKIO alla salute, sul solo territorio italiano, nella fascia d'età 7-10 anni il 20,4% dei bambini risul-tava in sovrappeso e il 9,4% obeso [8]. Eppure l'importanza del movimento con i suoi benefici a bre-ve e lungo termine è ben consolidata e la raccomandazione di
... Boys and girls have differing expectations placed on them by society-where boys are expected to have a sense of "masculinity" that may promote antisocial behavior (Heyder et al., 2021). That being said, recent research suggests that allowing children opportunities to exercise and "burn some energy" during such activities as school recess (Massey et al., 2021) or physical education classes (You et al., 2021) can help diminish behavior problems within the school setting. Schools could benefit from implementing these preventative measures as a way to help promote prosocial behavior within the classroom. ...
Prior research indicates that Black students and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to receive exclusionary discipline and are at risk of low academic achievement. However, the association between academic achievement and exclusionary discipline over time is not as well understood. With data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, the study uses structural equation modeling to investigate the relationship between exclusionary discipline and academic achievement over time and the predictive roles of race, socioeconomic status, and sex in these domains. Results indicate that Black children and children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to receive exclusionary discipline and to have lower academic achievement when they were nine years old. Academic achievement at age nine was positively associated with academic achievement at age 15 and negatively associated with receiving exclusionary discipline at age 15. Similarly, receiving exclusionary discipline at age nine was predictive of low academic achievement at age 15 and a heightened risk of receiving exclusionary discipline at age 15. This study highlights disparities that exist in exclusionary discipline and academic achievement both in the short and long-term. More research is needed to address opportunity, discipline, and academic achievement gaps experienced by racially and economically marginalized children to ensure all can realize their full potential.
... Similarly, a study by Massey et al. (2021) collected data from 26 schools in the U.S. to assess the effect of recess quality on the social and behavioral health of students. They trained 113 teachers to observe recess using the Great Recess Framework-Observational Tool, which they used to observe a total of 41 recess periods. ...
Recess is an important and unique component of the school day, and yet there is a relative paucity of research on its impact on young children. Moreover, recesses are often perceived negatively by educators because they can detract from academic instructional time and, depending on the kind of play and interactions between students, may also be times of social conflict and, in some cases, exclusion and bullying. This article examines several facets of recess and its importance: it outlines what students do at recess and the social processes that take place, as well as challenges specific to recess time, and its impact on social-emotional learning. It then reviews what constitutes a high-quality recess and synthesizes scholarship on the effectiveness of recess interventions around the world. The article evaluates whether recess is ultimately a help or a hindrance to young children’s social-emotional development, and concludes with both policy and practice recommendations for educators.
... Parents of children with disabilities expressed a greater desire for a recess environment that includes multiple activities, is supervised by adults who also play alongside children, and is a space where conflict resolution occurs. While parents of children with disabilities expressed high agreeability with these recess practices, previous research also supports that these conditions are related to the social and emotional development of children of all abilities [36]. While previous research has focused on the beneficial effect of recess on the physical health of children with disabilities, [16], data in the current study suggest a need to better understand how to support the social and emotional health of children with disabilities during recess and point toward which policies parents find important, but not whether or not these practices are actually happening at recess. ...
Background
Previous research has shown that school recess can provide children with physical, social and cognitive benefits; yet, recess opportunities and experiences may be different for different groups of children, specifically for children living in lower income environments, children of different racial groups other than white, and for children with disabilities. Parent perceptions of recess are important to consider as they serve as advocates for their children’s access and opportunities at school as well as an additional informant for children’s experiences at recess that may be useful for policymakers and school boards to consider.
Objective
To examine parent perceptions of recess by children’s disability status, children’s race and ethnicity, and family household income.
Method
Participants included 473 parents from the U.S.A. stratified across six household income levels. Data were collected through an online survey using Prolific in May of 2020]. Confirmatory factor analyses were run for measures assessing parents’ perception of belonging and victimization at recess, recess policies, and recess procedures. Regression analyses were run to examine if parents’ perception of recess were predicted by race, income, or child disability status.
Results
Results revealed that parents’ perceptions of recess were predicted by child disability status but not race or income. Specifically, parents’ perceptions were significantly predicted by child disability status regarding victimization ( b = .13, SE = .06, p = .05), recess policies about withholding recess ( b = .171, SE = .07, p = .01), and finally, student engagement at recess ( b = .165, SE = .07, p = .02).
Conclusion
Results show that parents of children with a disability perceive a different recess experience for their child that involves more instances of victimization compared to parents of typically developing children. Based on these findings, school, district, and state policy makers could consider ensuring that recess includes multiple activities, is supervised by adults, and is a space where conflict resolution occurs, for creating a more inclusive environment for children with disabilities.
... Quality was not a predictor of externalizing nor internalizing behaviors, but it significantly predicted adaptive behaviors (ie, adaptability, social skills, and communication), executive function problems, resilience, and self-control. 41 To improve recess quality, some schools have adopted recess programs. ...
BACKGROUND
Play is essential for child growth and development, and may have academic and social-emotional implications. To understand the relationship between in-school play opportunities and academic achievement (AA) and social-emotional well-being among elementary school students, a systematic review of the current in-school play literature was conducted.
METHODS
Keywords were input across 7 search engines. After screening, 20 peer-reviewed publications related to play, AA, and social-emotional well-being met the inclusion criteria for this review.
FINDINGS
Across the included publications, recess was the only in-school play opportunity assessed. Overall, student behavior and social-emotional outcomes benefited from more recess while mixed results were found between recess participation and academic outcomes. However, more recess was not detrimental to AA.
CONCLUSION
The findings from this review support the need for recess as part of a whole child approach to education that may mitigate the negative outcomes of sitting through long periods of instruction. More research is needed on the AA and social-emotional effects of other types of in-school play opportunities (ie, centers, play stations, and other breaks). Findings from this review indicate that recess is a necessary part of the elementary school day.
... 22 Recess periods are not only found to be instrumental to achieve recommended PA but also for psychosocial benefits such as executive functions, resilience, and emotional self-control. 30 Recently, multilevel school-based interventions (schoolyard restructuring, active classroom, recess breaks) were found to significantly improve MVPA levels and reduce sedentary time in 6-to 10-yearold children. 31 (2) Teachers as role models: Our review found that most (≈50%) of the school teachers did not meet the global PA recommendations, while only 23.8% met the PA recommendations. ...
BACKGROUND
Children are expected to adhere to the recommended physical activity (PA) dose of 60 minutes per day and minimize sedentary behaviors (SB) to stray away from the cardio-metabolic disease risk. However, there is a lack of review of current evidence pointing to the negative physical health effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, with its barriers and facilitators for effective PA implementation in children aged 3 to 13.
METHODS
Two independent authors conducted an extensive search on five peer-reviewed journal databases for the studies examining changes in PA or SB in children and the potential barriers during Covid-19 lockdown.
RESULTS
Of 1039 studies initially screened, only 14 studies were included. Ninety-three percent of the studies were cross-sectional surveys. A 34% reduction in PA was noted while SB, including screen time, increased by 82%. Our review identified potential barriers to the effective implementation of PA behaviors in children at four levels: individual, family, school, and government policies.
CONCLUSIONS
A moderate reduction in PA and high SB in children during lockdown was linked with obstacles at the individual, family, school, and political levels. Stakeholders should consider the above barriers when designing and implementing interventions to address low PA and SB practices.
BACKGROUND
When well implemented, recess is a critical part of the school day for children's healthy development. We explored the implementation of a recess improvement process in 5 elementary schools across 3 states.
METHODS
We conducted a mixed‐methods implementation study in which we visited each school 3 times over 1 school year, collecting observational, interview, survey, and focus group data. Qualitative data were coded thematically and analyzed across schools. Quantitative data were tabulated and aggregated over time and across schools.
RESULTS
We observed improvements in aspects of recess quality at each school, with three schools demonstrating the most progress. Quantitative data showed null effects in aggregate; however one school demonstrated significant improvements. Four criteria contributed to the quality and sustainability of recess reform: staff engagement, integration with other programs, student leadership, and recess communications.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY
Program implementation research often refers to “buy‐in” as a key ingredient to successful adoption. We provide a tool that helps to operationalize buy‐in in the recess context.
CONCLUSIONS
Changing the recess environment requires individual and institutional commitment to valuing recess as an important learning environment. School administrators must lead the change process and create institutional infrastructure to support success.
BACKGROUND
School recess quality is vital to children's social and emotional skill development. However, there is a research‐to‐practice gap where academic findings are ineffectively translated back to schools. The aims of this study were to examine how a co‐designed intervention would impact negative behaviors observed during recess and to explore the facilitators and barriers to recess implementation over the course of a school year.
METHODS
Utilizing a research‐practice partnership, the authors collaborated with staff at an elementary school to design, implement, and assess an intervention focused on improving recess quality. The intervention offered training in research‐supported recess practices through professional development training and teaching students transitions and games. The school's recess behavioral report log of negative playground behaviors across the academic year and notes from recess staff meetings were analyzed.
RESULTS
Quantitative results pointed to a stable decrease in negative playground behaviors post‐intervention compared to pre‐intervention. Qualitative analyses suggest school leadership and practitioners should focus on “reculturing” recess prior to making structural changes, and empowering recess staff to sustain change.
CONCLUSION
Prior to considering interventions at recess, there is a need to assess both school and recess culture. In doing so, reculturing around the importance of recess during the school day and the roles of adults in the process is needed to ensure the sustainability of any changes made.
Background
Recess provides a key physical activity opportunity for students in school, yet a wide range of recess requirements exist. To design optimal recess policies, the effect of recess on students’ educational outcomes must be better understood. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-method systematic review is to identify and systematically evaluate research on the effects of recess on student educational outcomes, including behavior, cognitive performance and academic achievement.
Methods
A systematic search of the literature in ERIC (EBSCO), ProQuest Central, PsycINFO, Teacher Reference Center, MEDLINE Complete (EBSCO), and CINAHL Complete was performed through September 2022. Data was extracted from quantitative studies, and reported themes with exemplar quotes were extracted from qualitative studies. The Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) was used to assess study quality.
Results
The search identified 932 articles, of which 13 were included in the review, including 8 quantitative and 5 qualitative studies. Eleven studies were conducted in the United States, and reported sample size of studies ranged from 12 to 11,624. Studies found mixed effects on student behavior, discipline referrals and academic achievement. Qualitative studies reported multiple benefits of recess including increased focus, improved problem solving and academic achievement.
Conclusions
Overall, evidence suggests positive benefits for behavior and either positive or null benefits of recess on academic achievement. However, evidence is limited by non-controlled study designs and diversity in outcome assessments. Additional quantitative evidence is needed to convince policymakers of the specific evidence supporting recess, but also to advise on the optimal recess policies and practices to improve student learning.
Recess is a critical source of physical, social and emotional health and well-being for children, but generally not prioritized during online learning. A 13-week structured recreation intervention was delivered virtually during recess to students in the fifth and sixth grades (age 10–12 years; N = 71) at one elementary school (Phoenix, AZ, USA). We used embedded mixed method with a prospective pre-/post-design to measure change in student-reported emotion and qualities of engagement in an online setting. Students completed an online pre-/post-survey to measure emotion and motivational responses (enjoyment, competence and relatedness). We used narrative notes to qualitatively assess student engagement during programming. Differences in student-reported emotion were analyzed using paired t-tests. The effect of motivational responses on emotion was analyzed using multiple regression analyses. In vivo coding and concept coding were used to analyze qualitative data. We found no statistically significant differences in student-reported emotion; however, student relationships with peers predicted increased positive and decreased negative emotions after the intervention. Seven categories promoted student engagement: challenging, enjoyable, experiential, practical, purposeful, relatable and relevant. School-based health practitioners can offer structured activities virtually during recess, when in-person learning is interrupted and in all-online settings, to promote emotional well-being.
Although scholars are attuned to the particular transitional dilemmas faced by middle school students, inquiry into middle school breaktimes is largely limited to research on bullying and peer victimization. This study interrogates the geography of middle school breaktime to expand understanding of student safety and recognize the ways that the state’s intervention in school spaces creates particular challenges for young learners. By investigating breaktimes at three middle schools and employing a critical geography lens in data coding and analysis, we demonstrate how the organization of space shapes student experiences. Findings suggest that scholars should consider breaktime as a “thirdspace” within the middle school day—one that offers vast potential for positive student development, but is marginalized due to its status as “non-academic” time. Findings reveal that school leaders and staff may better support students by addressing the ways that breaktimes are differently navigated by students along ethnic, socioeconomic, age, and gender lines.
Background:
School recess offers students a break from the rigors and immobility of academic learning, and a chance for social interaction, play, and physical activity. The recess literature is based on elementary schools, with little attention to older students. Early adolescents also need school breaks, and this study offers some of the first findings on how to organize this time to best support the developmental needs of middle schoolers.
Methods:
The study explores middle school breatktime in 3 schools in California. It uses observations, interviews, and a student survey conducted in 2018. Data were coded thematically and analyzed.
Results:
Findings indicate a tradeoff between socialization and physical activity among students who falls along age and gender lines. Adults viewed their roles mainly as safety monitors, including both physical and emotional safety. They were aware of the limitations of their breaktime offerings, which generally included access to outdoor and a few alternative indoor spaces, and attributed not having more options to lack of resources.
Conclusions:
Findings demonstrate the complexities of organizing breaktime space for early adolescents. Middle schools must plan their breaks with attention to developmentally appropriate activities, including games and sports as well as opportunities for other kinds of social interactions in safe, supportive environments.
Background: Previous research has shown that school recess can provide children with physical, social and cognitive benefits; yet, recess opportunities and experiences may be different between children with and without disabilities. Parent perceptions of recess are important to consider as they serve as advocates for their children’s access and opportunities at school.
Objective: To examine parent perceptions of recess by children’s disability status, family household income, and race/ethnicity.
Method: Participants included 473 parents from the US stratified across six household income levels. Confirmatory factor analyses were run for all 3 scales assessing parents’ perception of belonging and victimization at recess, recess policies, and recess procedures. Regression analyses were run to examine if parents’ perception of recess were predicted by race, income, or child disability status.
Results: Results revealed that parents’ perceptions of recess were predicted by child disability status but not income or race. Specifically, parents’ perceptions were significantly predicted by child disability status regarding victimization (b = .13, SE = .06, p = .05), recess policies about withholding recess (b = .171, SE = .07, p = .01), and finally, student engagement at recess (b = .165, SE = .07, p = .02).
Conclusion: Results show that according to their parents, children with disabilities may have a different experience at recess than children without disabilities and that there are ways to improve the recess environment to better meet the needs of all children.
Objectives
Schools can provide an optimal environment for promoting children’s health behaviours. The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model addresses 10 aspects of the school environment that can be used to promote student health behaviours and academic outcomes: namely, Health Education; Nutrition Environment and Services; Employee Wellness; Social and Emotional School Climate; Physical Environment; Health Services; Counselling, Psychological and Social Services; Community Involvement; Family Engagement; and Physical Education and Physical Activity.
Design
Guidelines for practical use of the WSCC model for school professionals are limited, impeding potential impact on school health promotion. Accordingly, in this article, we seek to demonstrate an application of the WSCC model to a specific school-based practice: recess.
Setting
School recess.
Results
An overview of literature and evidence-informed practices details how recess can facilitate WSCC adoption and initial implementation. Areas requiring further empirical research prior to making additional recommendations are also discussed.
Conclusion
Strategies to enhance learning and health are described, attempting to bridge the gap between research and practice in school settings using the WSCC model.
The purpose of this study was to examine individual variables associated with children's levels of recess physical activity (PA), as well as environmental influences that influence children's engagement during recess. Participants (n = 146) were 4–6th grade students across seven schools. PA data were collected using the Fitbit Flex. Psychological need satisfaction at recess data were collected with a basic psychological need satisfaction for recess PA survey. Observations of recess activity engagement and the quality of the recess environment were also collected at 134 recess periods (n = 8340 children) across nine schools. Results of multi-level regression analyses indicated that gender and recess time were significant predictors of physical activity during recess. In examination of the environmental level factors, multi-level regression analyses revealed that ‘adult engagement and supervision’ was the only significant predictor for recess engagement in boys and girls. These findings suggest the amount of time allocated, and the quality of the recess environment must be included in evaluation of the critical factors relevant to engagement of students in physically active recesses.
Background:
Physical activity (PA) remains the primary behavioral outcome associated with school recess, while many other potentially relevant indicators of recess remain unexamined. Few studies have assessed observations of teacher/student interactions, peer conflict, social interactions, or safety within the recess environment. Furthermore, a psychometrically-sound instrument does not exist to examine safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment on the playground. The purpose of the current study was to develop a valid, and reliable, assessment tool intended for use in measurement of the contextual factors associated with recess.
Methods:
An iterative and multi-step process was used to develop a tool that measures safety and structure, adult engagement and supervision, student behaviors, and transitions at recess. Exploratory structural equation modeling (Mplus v. 7.4) was used to examine the underlying measurement model with observational data of the recess environment collected at 649 school-based recess periods that spanned across 22 urban/metropolitan areas in the USA. Data were also collected by two researchers at 162 recess sessions across 9 schools to examine reliability.
Results:
A 17-item observation instrument, the Great Recess Framework - Observational Tool (GRF-OT), was created. Findings of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analyses supported factorial validity for a 4-factor solution and linear regressions established convergent validity where 'structure and safety', 'adult engagement and supervision', and 'student behaviors' were all significantly related to observed activity levels. Each sub-scale of the GRF-OT showed adequate levels of inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability analysis indicated a higher level of stability for the GRF-OT when using a three-day average across two time points as compared to a two-day average.
Conclusions:
Initial evidence for a valid, and reliable, assessment tool to observationally measure the recess environment with a specific focus on safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment was established in this study. Use of the GRF-OT can inspire evaluation, and subsequent intervention, to strategically create consistent, appropriate, and engaging school recess that impact children's physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.
Unstructured, outdoor play combined with character development instruction has shown preliminary associations with improved cognitive functioning and classroom behaviors. The purpose of this study was to further evaluate these components of the LiiNK Project (Let’s inspire innovation ’N Kids) when including intervention and comparison school children. The intervention consists of four 15-min recesses, scheduled throughout the day in combination with four 15-min character development lessons taught weekly to improve the elementary classroom learning environment. The second year of this longitudinal study included grades kindergarten through second grade students (N = 405) from two demographically comparable private schools in the southwest region of the United States. One school implemented the intervention, while the other school maintained current protocols. The intervention teachers adhered to the four play breaks at a rate of 92% over the course of the intervention. Transitions from classroom to playground and back dropped from 4 min each way to less than 1 min each way. The results of comparing the two schools showed classroom off-task behaviors such as fidgeting and moving around the room decreased significantly, while attentional focus improved significantly as a result of the intervention. LiiNK Project results from grades kindergarten and 1 in the same schools last year are congruent with the results of this study. Next steps will include public school expansion to explore student diversity among rural, urban, and suburban environments with the play and character intervention.
This study applies multi-level analysis to student reports of effective teacher-student interactions in 50 upper elementary school classrooms (N = 594 fourth- and fifth-grade students). Observational studies suggest that teacher-student interactions fall into three domains: Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support. Results of multi-level confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a three-factor model fits between- and within-classroom variability in students’ reports reasonably well. Multi-level regressions provide some evidence of criterion validity, with student reports at the classroom level related to parallel observations. Both classroom- and student-level student report data were associated with students’ reading proficiency and disciplinary referrals. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research on student reports of classroom interactions and their practical utility in teacher evaluation and feedback systems.
Research on the development of self-regulation in young children provides a unifying framework for the study of school readiness. Self-regulation abilities allow for engagement in learning activities and provide the foundation for adjustment to school. A focus on readiness as self-regulation does not supplant interest in the development of acquired ability, such as early knowledge of letters and numbers; it sets the stage for it. In this article, we review research and theory indicating that self-regulation and consequently school readiness are the product of integrated developmental processes at the biological and behavioral levels that are shaped by the contexts in which development is occurring. In doing so, we illustrate the idea that research on self-regulation powerfully highlights ways in which gaps in school readiness and later achievement are linked to poverty and social and economic inequality and points the way to effective approaches to counteract these conditions. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 66 is November 30, 2014. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.
Objective
The purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of recess interventions on children's physical activity (PA) levels and to examine which specific interventions/characteristics have more influence on children's PA
Data Source
Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, ProQuest, SPORT Discus
Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Papers published between 1986 and 2012, published in the English language, and evaluating any recess intervention with PA as an outcome
Data Extraction
Study outcomes were distilled into seven domains related to PA: age, gender, intervention type, intervention duration, duration of PA per intervention session, outcome measures, and study region
Data Synthesis
Effect sizes were pooled within and across studies for each domain separately. Moderator analyses were performed using gender, age, and total length of intervention. Twenty-three independent samples were provided from 13 studies.
Results
The estimated overall effect size for time in PA was 56 (SE .07), suggesting a positive and significant mean difference between pretest and posttest PA time after implementing a recess intervention. Differences in PA levels were moderated by age, duration and type of intervention, and type of outcome measures.
Conclusion
The limited evidence suggests recess interventions can improve youth PA levels. Implications reinforce the importance of schools in advocating for recess during the school day. Strategies shown to increase student PA during recess should be implemented.
School recess provides a major opportunity to increase children's physical activity levels. Various studies have described strategies to increase levels of physical activity. The purpose of this systematic review is therefore to examine the interventions proposed as forms of increasing children's physical activity levels during recess. A systematic search of seven databases was made from the July 1 to July 5, 2012, leading to a final set of eight studies (a total of 2,383 subjects-599 "preschoolers" and 1,784 "schoolchildren") meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were classified according to the intervention used: playground markings, game equipment, playground markings plus physical structures, and playground markings plus game equipment. The results of these studies indicate that the strategies analyzed do have the potential to increase physical activity levels during recess. The cumulative evidence was (a) that interventions based on playground markings, game equipment, or a combination of the two, do not seem to increase the physical activity of preschoolers and schoolchildren during recess and (ii) that interventions based on playground markings plus physical structures do increase the physical activity of schoolchildren during recess in the short to medium term.
Despite the fact that physical activity is universally acknowledged to be an important part of healthy functioning and well-being, the full scope of its value is rarely appreciated. This article introduces a novel framework for understanding the relationships between physical activity (and specifically sport-related forms of physical activity) and different aspects of human development. It proposes that the outcomes of physical activity can be framed as differential 'capitals' that represent investments in domain-specific assets: Emotional, Financial, Individual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social. These investments, especially when made early in the life course, can yield significant rewards, both at that time and for years to come. The paper presents a new model-the Human Capital Model-that makes sense of these effects, outlines the different capitals, and briefly articulates the conditions necessary for the realization of Human Capital growth through physical activity.
Relationships among multiple variables over time are of interest in many developmental areas and are frequently examined using time-varying predictors in multilevel models. Yet an incomplete specification of time-varying predictors will usually result in biased model effects. Specifically, the impact of constant, between-person sources of variation must be differentiated from the impact of time-specific, within-person sources of variation - that is, persons should be modeled as contexts. The current didactic article expands upon previous work to address why and how to model persons as contexts in longitudinal analysis. An electronic appendix of syntax for estimating these models is also provided.
BACKGROUND: Recess is at the heart of a vigorous debate over the role of schools in promoting optimal child development and well-being. Reallocating time to accentuate academic concerns is a growing trend and has put recess at risk. Conversely, pressure to increase activity in school has come from efforts to combat childhood obesity. The purpose of this review was to examine the value of recess as an integral component of the school day.
METHODS: A comprehensive review of recess-specific literature was conducted, beginning with a Google Scholar search, to cull definitions, position statements, and policy recommendations from national/international associations and organizations. A multi-database search followed. Additional articles were selected from reference lists.
RESULTS: The search yielded a range of articles, from those focused on specific aspects of recess to those that examined multiple factors, including how to structure and conduct recess. Several themes emerged supporting recess as beneficial for children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical functioning. Optimal recess was well-supervised and safe. Crucial components were well-maintained playground equipment and well-trained supervisors.
CONCLUSION: Recess serves a critical role in school as a necessary break from the rigors of academic challenges. Recess is a complement to, not a replacement for, physical education. Both promote activity and a healthy lifestyle; however, recess—particularly unstructured recess and free play—provides a unique contribution to a child's creative, social, and emotional development. From the perspective of children's health and well-being, recess time should be considered a child's personal time and should not be withheld for academic or punitive reasons.
Recess is an important component of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program, providing approximately 1268 and 914 steps for boys and girls, respectively, within a 15-minute time period. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of unstructured recess on children's school-day physical activity levels and to examine if recess and school-day physical activity levels varied by BMI, gender, and grade level.
One-hundred sixty third- to fifth-grade students from 2 elementary schools wore pedometers during 4 recess periods.
Recess accounted for 17% to 44% of school-day step counts. There was a significant main effect for grade level, but not for BMI or gender, on the percentage of school-day steps accumulated during recess.
A 15-minute recess makes a valuable contribution to children's school-day physical activity, especially for the least active children. More research is warranted to determine environmental influences on children's recess physical activity.
The authors examined the relations among children's effortful control, school relationships, classroom participation, and academic competence with a sample of 7- to 12-year-old children (N = 264). Parents and children reported on children's effortful control, and teachers and children reported on children's school relationships and classroom participation. Children's grade point averages (GPAs) and absences were obtained from school-issued report cards. Significant positive correlations existed between effortful control, school relationships, classroom participation, and academic competence. Consistent with expectations, the teacher-child relationship, social competence, and classroom participation partially mediated the relation between effortful control and change in GPA from the beginning to the end of the school year. The teacher-child relationship and classroom participation also partially mediated the relation between effortful control and change in school absences across the year.
Children frequently engage in diverse activities that are broadly defined as play, but little research has documented children's activity levels during play and how they are influenced by social contexts. Assessing potentially modifiable conditions that influence play behavior is needed to design optimal physical activity interventions.
System for Observing Children's Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP) was developed to simultaneously assess children's physical activity, social group sizes, activity type, and social behavior during play. One hundred and fourteen children (48 boys, 66 girls; 42% overweight) from 8 elementary schools were observed during recess over 24 days, with 12 days videotaped for reliability purposes. Ninety-nine children wore a uni-axial accelerometer during their observation period.
Estimated energy expenditure rates from SOCARP observations and mean accelerometer counts were significantly correlated (r = .67; P < .01), and interobserver reliabilities (ie, percentage agreement) for activity level (89%), group size (88%), activity type (90%) and interactions (88%) met acceptable criteria. Both physical activity and social interactions were influenced by group size, activity type, and child gender and body weight status.
SOCARP is a valid and reliable observation system for assessing physical activity and play behavior in a recess context.
This study examines the amount of recess that children 8 to 9 years of age receive in the United States and compares the group classroom behavior of children receiving daily recess with that of children not receiving daily recess.
This is a secondary analysis of a public-use data set, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, third-grade data set. Children were categorized into 2 levels of recess exposure, that is, none/minimal break (<1 break of 15 minutes/day) or some recess. Some recess was further categorized into 5 levels on the basis of frequency and duration of recess. Child, parent, school, and classroom characteristics of those with and without recess were compared. The group classroom behavior was assessed by using the teacher's rating of class behavior.
Complete data were available for 10301 to 11624 children 8 to 9 years of age. There were equal numbers of boys and girls (boys: 50.3%). Children exposed to none/minimal break (30%) were much more likely to be black, to be from families with lower incomes and lower levels of education, to live in large cities, to be from the Northeast or South, and to attend public school, compared with those with recess. Teacher's rating of classroom behavior scores were better for children with some recess than for those with none/minimal break. This finding was maintained in multivariate regression analysis. However, among children receiving daily recess, the teacher's rating of class behavior scores did not differ significantly according to the level of exposure.
These results indicated that, among 8- to 9-year-old children, having > or =1 daily recess period of >15 minutes in length was associated with better teacher's rating of class behavior scores. This study suggests that schoolchildren in this age group should be provided with daily recess.
This Policy Statement was reaffirmed April 2023
Recess is at the heart of a vigorous debate over the role of schools in promoting the optimal development of the whole child. A growing trend toward reallocating time in school to accentuate the more academic subjects has put this important facet of a child’s school day at risk. Recess serves as a necessary break from the rigors of concentrated, academic challenges in the classroom. But equally important is the fact that safe and well-supervised recess offers cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits that may not be fully appreciated when a decision is made to diminish it. Recess is unique from, and a complement to, physical education—not a substitute for it. 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.
Although it is well understood that relationships are linked to healthy development and academic success, research on socialization during recess is limited. From the conceptual framework of belonging, an array of established measures was used to create an online anonymous survey specific to recess. This survey includes modified scales for belongingness, affect, and victimization and discrete items about the social and physical setting. The survey was completed by 520 students from grades 4 through 8. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed an excellent fit of the belongingness scale to the data. Victimization related inversely to belongingness and positive affect and predicted negative affect and low belongingness. The article concludes with implications and recommendations for researchers and school-based professionals.
Background:
We assessed the effectiveness of a simple intervention for increasing children's physical activity, play, perceived competence/social acceptance, and social skills.
Methods:
A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted, in which schools were the clusters. Twelve Sydney (Australia) primary schools were randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions, with 226 children (5-7 years old) selected randomly to participate. Data were collected at baseline and after 13 weeks. The intervention consisted of introducing recycled materials without an obvious play purpose into school playgrounds and a risk-reframing workshop for parents and teachers.
Results:
Children from the intervention schools increased physical activity and reduced sedentary time while control schools decreased physical activity and increased sedentary time. The intervention yielded increases in total accelerometer counts (β = 9350 counts, 95% CI 3490-1522, p = .002), minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (β = 1.8 min, 95% CI 0.52-3.12, p = .006), and reductions in sedentary time (β = -2.1 min, 95% CI -3.77-(-0.51), p = .01). Although the changes in time spent in play and nonplay were not statistically different (p = .08) the effect size (d = .27) indicates clinical significance.
Conclusions:
This intervention was effective for increasing MVPA during recess and demonstrated capacity to improve play opportunities in school playgrounds.
Objective
To identify the effects of a structured and multifaceted physical activity and recess intervention on student and adult behaviour in school.
Design
Mixed-methods and community-based participatory approach.
Setting
Large, urban, low-income school district in the USA.
Methods
Data were collected at three time points over a 1-year period. Sources included recess observations at four elementary schools, in-class behavioural observations of fifth-grade students ( n = 21) and focus groups with fourth- and fifth-grade students ( n = 75).
Results
Results suggested an increased amount of positive interactions between adults and students and a decreased amount of conflict in the playground post intervention. Results also suggested that a peer-leadership training programme had beneficial effects on students’ classroom behaviour.
Conclusion
Results from this study provide evidence that school recess can be used to teach social–emotional competencies that can impact student behaviour during recess and in the classroom.
Background:
We examined the effectiveness of Peaceful Playgrounds™ (P2) to decrease antisocial behaviors (ASB) while increasing physical activity (PA) and prosocial behaviors (PSB) in elementary school children.
Methods:
A longitudinal, cluster-randomized design was employed in 4 elementary school playgrounds where students (third to fifth) from 2 intervention and 2 control schools were observed during recess periods. The intervention included environmental changes (eg, marked surfaces) and student education. Data were collected using systematic observations of youth behavior and semistructured interviews conducted with key informants. Mixed-effects regression models controlling for scans nested within days nested within schools estimated the interaction of measurement period and treatment condition on children's PA, PSB, and ASB. It was hypothesized that children in intervention, but not control schools, would demonstrate increased PA/PSB and decreased ASB.
Results:
Contrary to the hypotheses, intervention and control schools showed favorable changes for all dependent variables except for PSB, but 1 intervention and 1 control school drove these effects. Follow-up interviews indicated variability in implementation and lack of adherence to the control condition.
Conclusions:
P2 may promote increased PA during recess, but these results demonstrate the complexity of intervention implementation and the need for rigor when measuring intervention fidelity in real-world settings.
We examined the relations among children's effortful control, school liking, and academic competence with a sample of 240 7- to 12-year-old children. Parents and children reported on effortful control, and teachers and children assessed school liking. Children, parents, and teachers reported on children's academic competence. Significant positive correlations existed between children's effortful control, school liking, and academic competence. Consistent with predictions, and while controlling for the effects of parents' education and family income, school liking mediated the relation between effortful control and academic competence. Implications include a focus on proximal processes such as enhancing school liking and encouraging social relationships when designing interventions to promote academic competence.
Children need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional capabilities to adapt to today's demanding, changing and unpredictable world. OECD countries and partner economies recognise the importance on the holistic development of individuals. However, there are big gaps between stakeholders' knowledge, expectations and practices on how to foster such skills. This paper presents evidence on the importance of social and emotional skills; on how policy makers and schools are currently enhancing and monitoring such skills; and, on the existing gaps between knowledge, expectations and practices to mobilise these skills. The paper concludes by pointing ways in which education stakeholders can do more to better develop and mobilise the skills that drive individual's well-being and social progress. The paper draws on findings and frameworks that are being published in a full OECD report entitled ‘Skills for Social Progress: the Power of Social and Emotional Skills’ in the first half of 2015.
This research is focused on a topic that has received little attention: the context of recess and its potential cumulative influence on children's social interactions and developmental trajectories. We present a qualitative analysis of a collaborative action research project focused on transforming the recess environment in four southern Ontario elementary schools. We describe the strategies we used and the rationale underlying our actions in order to highlight connections among context, socialization patterns, and developmental outcomes. Descriptions are drawn from iterative participation and reflection of students, administrators, teachers, university researchers, and university student volunteers. Four themes emerged from our analysis: children (1) are active and engaged, (2) take advantage of opportunities to develop responsibility and empathic relationships, (3) feel safe and accepted, and (4) are provided with opportunities to develop positive interactions and friendships. Collectively, the findings suggest that the supported context allowed children to feel connected to their peers during recess, which catalyzed playful, prosocial relationships. We discuss the potential implications of these findings on children's developmental and academic trajectories.
BACKGROUND
Recess is a part of the elementary school day with strong implications for school climate. Positive school climate has been linked to a host of favorable student outcomes, from attendance to achievement. We examine 6 low-income elementary schools' experiences implementing a recess-based program designed to provide safe, healthy, and inclusive play to study how improving recess functioning can affect school climate.METHODS
Data from teacher, principal, and recess coach interviews; student focus groups; recess observations; and a teacher survey are triangulated to understand the ways that recess changed during implementation. Comparing schools that achieved higher- and lower-functioning recesses, we link recess functioning with school climate.RESULTSRecess improved in all schools, but 4 of the 6 achieved a higher-functioning recess. In these schools, teachers and principals agreed that by the end of the year, recess offered opportunities for student engagement, conflict resolution, pro-social skill development, and emotional and physical safety. Respondents in these four schools linked these changes to improved overall school climate.CONCLUSIONS
Recess is an important part of the school day for contributing to school climate. Creating a positive recess climate helps students to be engaged in meaningful play and return to class ready to learn.
This longitudinal study describes playground games of children progressing across their first year of schooling. Boys, in comparison with girls, played more games, especially chase and ball games, and played a greater variety of games. Also, the variety of boys’ games increased across the school year. Girls played more verbal games than boys. The study found that facility with games forecast boys’ social competence and both boys’ and girls’ adjustment to first grade. Children’s groups remained ethnically segregated across the school year. Results are discussed in terms of the role of games as an important developmental task during middle childhood.
The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of a recess break on classroom behavior, specifically working, fidgeting, and listlessness. A southern urban school district with a policy against recess granted permission for 2 Grade 4 classes to have recess once a week so that subsequent behavior on recess and nonrecess days could be compared. A multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures and subsequent analyses of variance indicated that the 43 children, who were used as their own controls, differed on recess and nonrecess days, becoming more on task and less fidgety when they had recess. Sixty percent of the children, including all 5 of those with attention deficit disorder, and a balance of boys and girls benefited considerably. They worked more or fidgeted less (or both) on recess days.
A two-part screening procedure was used to assess school-age children's experience with bullying. In the first part 16,799 students (8,195 girls, 8,604 boys) in grades 4 to 12 were provided with a definition of bullying and then asked about their experiences using two general questions from the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (1996). In the second part, students were asked about their experiences with specific types of bullying: physical, verbal, social, and cyber. For each form of bullying, students were provided with several examples of what constituted such behavior. Results indicated that the general screener has good specificity but poor sensitivity, suggesting that the general screening questions were good at classifying noninvolved students but performed less well when identifying true cases of bullying. Accordingly, reports from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United Nations may underestimate the prevalence of bullying among school-aged children world-wide.
Reviews the book, Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood by Jean Piaget (1951). The current work by Piaget is another stimulating and provocative contribution to the literature on the development of children's thinking. In this well-translated volume, Piaget has as his basic goal an explanation of the evolution of "representative activity," which is "characterized by the fact that it goes beyond the present, extending the field of adaptation both in space and in time." Such an activity is essential in reflective thought as well as in operational thought. Two theses are presented by Piaget in the book: (a) the transition from rudimentary, primitive, and situational assimilation of experience to the operational and reflective adaptation of experience can be studied by the analysis of imitative behavior and play activity of the child from very early months of the life; and (b) various forms of mental activity--imitation, symbolic activity, and cognitive representation--are interacting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Low level acts of aggression in school are associated with a host of emotional arousal, social problem-solving, peer relationship, and academic difficulties. School-wide interventions may decrease aggressive interactions and promote cooperative play and social skills among students. In the current study, the authors used a participatory-action research model to co-construct a playground-based recess program in a relatively large urban elementary school. The manuscript illustrates the partnership process and how data was used to inform intervention implementation procedures. The role of psychologists working at the whole-school level is highlighted.
In this within-subjects design field experiment children's behaviour in the playground was charted as a function of gender and time in the classroom immediately preceding playtime. Playground behaviour was also related to post-recess classroom behaviour. Twenty-three 9-year-old children were observed for 14 weeks. Classroom behaviour (i.e., task relevant behaviour on standardised seat work immediately before and after playtime) and playground behaviour (i.e., social and non-social exercise and sedentary behaviour) were observed. Time in classroom before playtime was manipulated so that there was a shorter and a longer confinement period. Results indicated that children were less attentive to seat work as a function of time and that longer confinement resulted in more exercise for boys and more social sedentary behaviour for girls. Social behaviour at playtime and post-playtime attention to seat work were significantly related. Results are discussed in terms of Novelty Theory.
Impact and implementation findings from an experimental evaluation of Playworks: effects on school climate, academic learning, student social skills and behavior
- J Fortson
- S James-Burdumy
- M Bleeker
- N Beyler
- R A London
- L Westrich
Fortson J, James-Burdumy S, Bleeker M, Beyler N, London
RA, Westrich L, et al. Impact and implementation findings from
an experimental evaluation of Playworks: effects on school
climate, academic learning, student social skills and behavior;
2013. Available at: https://gardnercenter.stanford.edu/sites/g/
files/sbiybj11216/f/Brief%204_Playworks_School%20Climate
.pdf. Accessed January 20, 2021.
Playworks implementation in 17 schools from 6 US cities
- R A London
- S Castrechini
- K Stokes-Guinan
- L Westrich
- M Bleeker
- S James-Burdumy
London RA, Castrechini S, Stokes-Guinan K, Westrich L,
Bleeker M, James-Burdumy S. Playworks implementation
in 17 schools from 6 US cities; 2013. Available at https://
gardnercenter.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj11216/f/Brief
%203_Playworks_Implementation%20in%2017%20Schools
.pdf. Accessed January 20, 2021.
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Manual, Upper Elementary
- RC Pianta
- BK Hamre
- SL Mintz
Pianta RC, Hamre BK, Mintz SL. Classroom Assessment Scoring
System (CLASS) Manual, Upper Elementary. Charlottesville, VA:
University of Virginia; 2010.
Rethinking Recess: Creating Safe and Inclusive Playtime for all Children in School
- RA London
London RA. Rethinking Recess: Creating Safe and Inclusive Playtime
for all Children in School. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education
Press; 2019.
Impact and implementation findings from an experimental evaluation of Playworks: effects on school climate academic learning student social skills and behavior
- Fortsonj James-Burdumys Bleekerm Beylern Londonra Westrichl
Playworks implementation in 17 schools from 6 US cities
- Londonra Castrechinis Stokes-Guinank Westrichl Bleekerm James-Burdumys