The Recess Debate: Summary

The Recess Debate
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The Recess Debate: Summary
This article, The Recess: a Disjuncture between Educational Policy and Scientific Research, presents arguments for and against the recess in childhood education. Recess is a break learners take after rigorous academic work. According to Pellegrini (2008), recess contributes positively to social and academic development. However, the naysayers have argued that recess is a waste of time because it consumes time students should use in other productive activities that would improve their academic performances. The author refutes this claim due to the lack of empirical evidence to support this perspective. The counter-argument on the significance of recess is supported by a large body of theory and empirical study. As such, the author calls for advocators of the elimination of recess to present their logic and empirical evidence against recess or admit that recess has a significant impact on social competence and academic performance. Therefore, the author supports the view that recess is necessary and should be allowed in school.
In this article, Pellegrini (2008) presents the different views on recess from the perspective s of critics and proposers. The author highlights that the politicians and school administrators devalue recess on two grounds. Firstly, they claim that recess wastes value time that learners could profitably use for instruction to raise achievement scores. In this view, critics believe that serious learning should continue in school, and involving recess compromises serious business in learning institutions. The author stated that this perspective has flaws because it does not provide evidence of how the absence of recess raises achievement scores or how its presence compromises learning. Secondly, they argue that recess exposes children to bullying and aggression. However, according to Pellegrini (2008), this statement has flaws because children not only get bullied on playgrounds but also in hallways, bathrooms, locker rooms or anywhere with limited supervision.
The author’s stance is that recess has a positive impact on the social, cognitive and academic development of a child. From an academic perspective, the author argues that children learn better and more quickly when given breaks during tasks. This has been seen in the ways children learn how to perform multiple school-related tasks like mastering vocabularies, math facts and text materials after recess. Additionally, the author noted that recess reduces boredom in t...