Because of the structure of Muncie Community School's academic days, the city's public elementary students are allowed only 8.33 minutes of non-instructional time, which would include recess, class parties and other extended breaks, every day.
The scant reserve exists because Indiana's Department of Education mandates its public schools instruct for (an average of) 300 minutes each day. Stephen Edwards, assistant superintendent of instruction for Muncie Community Schools, said the Muncie public schools instruct for 330 minutes. According to his math, 15 minutes of non-instructional time remain each day. But, after subtracting 20 hours, which are tied up in required faculty professional development and parent-teacher conferences, the students are left with 25 hours of non-instructional time for the entire 180-day academic year.
Or, after basic division, 8.33 wonderful minutes of non-instructional time per day.
Lengthening the school day, though immediately appealing, is not feasible and, Edwards said, is not an option Muncie's educators are discussing formally. Pat Kennedy, a teacher at Muncie's South View Elementary School and president of the Muncie Teacher's Association, said the state is not ready for such an extension. An already-strained education budget would not have the resources to pay teachers for the additional time.
Now, even if extended breaks and recesses are scarce, the students do get a chance to rest; Kennedy said, "Teachers are doing a lot of creative things for breaks, like reading time on the beanbags." She also said teachers will supervise while students play organized games like checkers or chess.
Muncie Community Schools superintendent, Marlin Creasy, in an article from The Star Press, said, "There are breaks throughout the day ... as they change from subject to subject, go to the restroom, water fountain -- stand-and-stretch breaks."
So the kids do not have their noses in textbooks all day. That's great; especially when the state mandates adult employees receive one 10-minute paid break for every two hours they work, according to Senate bill 306.
But the 8.33 minutes of non-instructional time students are allotted per day are usually left unused by a teacher who, Kennedy said, is encouraged to "bank" them so students can have a few recesses a week.
And while the occasional, short breaks most of Muncie's educators use do benefit the students immediately, some professionals think a lack of sustained social activity is harmful to students' development.
Donna Williams, an instructor of elementary education at Ball State, said, "Students learn much of what (educators) are trying to teach through play, not to mention learning social development that can be undermined by not having recess."
It seems that Muncie's teachers are doing the best they can. But standing and stretching, or visiting a drinking fountain, does little to rejuvenate a tired mind, and it does even less -- as students are most certainly told to stay quiet -- to contribute positively to a developing personality.
Muncie's educators should have high expectations and should push their students to excel, but not to an extent where they are creating a generation of uncreative workaholics. They need to make sure they are giving students all that they need, and children need to laugh and talk with their classmates and to think on their own. Keeping them stuffed in a classroom eliminates one of the standard purposes of public education: socialization.
Give the students a break; let the kids be kids.
Write to Allyn at aswest@bsu.edu
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