English Composition II
The Recess Debate: A Disjuncture between Educational Policy and Scientific Research
In his study, The Recess Debate: A
... [Show More] Disjuncture between Educational Policy and
Scientific Research, Anthony (2008) provides a highlight of the importance of incorporating
recess within the school timetables. Unfortunately, his idea was never well-received. Recess
refers to the free time out of class when students should be allowed to students in between the
learning period. According to Antony, recess could be likened to taking a break after a long road
trip. To support his claim, Anthony put across the fact that most of the States in the USA have
instituted laws that define how long long-trip drivers and pilots should go without having breaks.
He uses this logic to show the reason why recess should be introduced in schools. Notably, most
American and United Kingdom schools had mandatory recess in school. However, school
administrators and principles saw recess as a waste of time and abolished it without scientific
evidence that recess wastes potential learning time. This essay supports this education policy of
the introduction of recess because I too believe recess will come along with several advantages
to students such as giving them time to bond as well as give them an opportunity for cognitive
absorption of what they have learned in class. This is essential in increasing their academic
productivity.
Anthony faced much criticism. In response to his critics, Anthony conducted research to
prove that that recess is beneficial to students. In his study, Anthony investigated the testing
criterion that the school administrators use in the assessment of learners. He found that the
procedures in the tests were full of flaws. The school administrators do not recognize the
importance of the modification of the testing environment. The research study found 90% of the
studied schools had recess sessions. However, it was not clear whether those schools considered
physical education as recess or was a standalone session. Notably, most schools in the United
Kingdom have uniformly structured than it is in the United States.
In the opinion of the writer of this, recess sessions provide golden opportunities for
learners with a number of benefits that are quite important in the improvement of their learning
skills. Refreshing in between learning sessions helps the learners to rejuvenate that brains and
therefore they will be in a position to grasp what will be taught in the next classes. Furthermore,
recess enables teachers and learners to interact. This is important because learners acquire, [Show Less]