Breaktime Project
Breaktime Project
Background
Breaktime can be contrasted with other parts of the school day in that there is little discussion or agreement about its value and function. For some teachers breaktime is simply a habitual, albeit much needed, break in a busy day, and little thought is given to a possible wider role. For many in schools it is a troublesome time that is a relic of an earlier age, and is best reduced or constrained. One main source of a generally negative view about breaktime is enduring worries about bullying in schools, which appears to take place on school playgrounds (Whitney and Smith, 1993). It is therefore understandable if one solution to bullying involves limiting the contexts within which it occurs most frequently. There are also more general worries about pupil behaviour at breaktime. This was the second reason given in the 1995 survey for changes to the duration of breaktime. School staff can be concerned about what they see as needlessly aggressive behaviour, and how time and effort can be expended calming pupils down after they have returned from breaktime. This concern is not new – it was documented in an early report (Blatchford, 1989), and the Elton committee of 'Enquiry into Discipline in Schools' (D.E.S., 1989) identified the lunchbreak as "the single biggest behaviour related problem that (staff) face." But it has gathered in strength and worries about lunchtimes have led to recent suggestions by Ministers that it should be shortened in order to keep pupils on site. A recent survey of secondary teachers has found they are concerned by bad behaviour in school and suggest further cutting back on breaktime to reduce conflict (Galton et al., 2004). Again the situation is not exclusive to the UK; Pellegrini (1995) has identified a strong anti recess view in the US, which has affected policy on the provision of recess.
However, there are also grounds for a more positive view about breaktime. This takes several forms. Breaktime, especially at primary school level, is often a time for vigorous physical activity, and this has an obvious function in the context of worries about sedentary life styles and childhood obesity. For a minority of (usually) primary school staff, breaktime is viewed more positively as a valuable opportunity for pupils to change gear, learn to interact, and let off steam. School 'recess' can also have important developmental and educational implications (Pellegrini & Smith, 1993). One strand of research has shown it is important in facilitating peer relations and friendships between children, which in turn are connected to later personal development (Parker & Asher, 1987). Life on the playground can also help the acquisition of many subtle social skills essential to later life (e.g., Sluckin, 1981).
It is a salutary finding that, despite recent reforms, students say that the best thing about school is the chance to meet their friends – and it is breaktime that provides the main forum for their social life and well being at school. Of course this can have a negative side. Social relations can be fractious, and the misery caused by bullying and harassment has to be recognised and dealt with. But breaktime is also a time when friends, not always in the same class, can meet; a time when they can have fun and at primary level construct activities in a relatively safe environment; a time when important social networks are formed; a time when they can fall out, but can also develop strategies for avoiding conflict. It is a rare time when they can find freedom and a social life independent of the classroom, where the rules of conduct are more their own, and where activities stem from their own initiative. The difficulties that staff know arise at breaktime can also be viewed positively in the sense that they can be the basis for discussion with pupils and greater involvement of pupils in school decisions and management (Blatchford, 1998).
The more positive view of breaktime stems largely from recognition of its value from pupils' perspectives. But a main worry is that because the value of this part of the school day for the child is only poorly understood by staff, it is being gradually cut down. This may be particularly marked in urban and disadvantaged areas where breaktime may be the main opportunity for meeting peers out of the classroom.
It is important to add that breaktime is often assumed to be a primary school issue. The term 'breaktime' is used here rather than 'playtime' to indicate that it is not. The value of play is more obviously understood in relation to primary aged pupils. Although teenagers may not describe their social activities as ‘play’, and its value may not be apparent to adults, their social lives are as important, and they also need time and space for contact. Interviews with 16 year old pupils showed that breaktime is very much an issue for them, and presents them with opportunities and difficulties, for example, difficulties with what is allowable, or where in the school they can go (Blatchford, 1998).
This research
The first national survey of school breaktimes, conducted in 1995, showed an increasing school day but signs that breaktime itself was being reduced, especially lunchtimes, in response to curriculum demands and concerns about pupil behaviour. This is worrying given that breaktime is a main outlet for informal social interaction. Opportunities for social contact out of school, away from adults, are also in decline. Since 1995 there are signs of further change, and wider social and policy changes, but there is still little systematic information. This project will provide a much needed 10 year follow up survey. Stage 1 will address breaktime duration, supervision and management, changes to school grounds and extended school services, and the perceived value of breaktime. Phase 2 will examine reasons for changes to breaktime, and will include a survey of pupil perspectives on breaktime. The project started in August 2005 and will run until September 2006.
This is an unusual project. It deals with a little understood and neglected part of the school day. It might be classified as educational research, yet it also has implications, more generally, for school aged children’s social, physical and mental well-being. It connects with a broader policy concern with environments conducive to healthy social and academic development.
The research aims to contribute by:
providing current, systematic and nationally representative information on a little understood and neglected part of the school day, and systematic information on changes over the last 15 years.
providing the basis for continuing debate about the role and function of breaktime in school.
providing information of value to national and school policy on breaktimes, school management of breaktime, and policies on children’s play and child services.
contributing to understanding of changes to download movies, movie trailers, new movies, mp3 download, download music, cheap marlboro cigarettes children's unsupervised and outside school experiences, and to wider changes to children's culture.