This chapter provides a review of the literature related to after school programs. The literature review is organized into the following categories: History of After School Programs, Need for After School Programs, Effectiveness of After School Programs, Frequency and Duration, and Middle School After School Programs. This section also reviews the theoretical framework for this research. Theoretical Framework Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own knowledge of the world we live in (Au & Carrol, 1996). Learning is simply the process of adjusting what we already know to accommodate new experiences. Constructivism can be traced to the eighteenth century and the work of Giambattista (Bhattacharya & Han, 2001). Bhattacharya and Han maintained that humans are able to understand only what they themselves have constructed. Many philosophers and educators have worked with these ideas, but the first to develop a clear idea of what constructivism consists of were Jean Piaget and John Dewey. Von Glaserfield (1990) acknowledged that constructivism means “knowledge is not passively received.” Piaget (1973) stated that students are not just “empty heads” that can be filled with facts from packaged curriculum that is given out my teachers. Constructivism does not depend on a standardized curriculum. Instead, it promotes using curriculum customized to the students’ prior knowledge. Also, it emphasizes real world problem solving, experiments, reasoning and communication (Au & Carrol , 1997). Constructivism gives students the power to make connections, reformulate ideas, and reach conclusions (Brewer & Daane, 2002). After school programs often focus on teac... ... middle of paper ... ...ved in 21st Century Community Learning Centers. The evaluation revealed that programs had difficulty recruiting and retaining young teens, and those that did participate attended inconsistently. The middle school students were less likely to participate in academic classes and more likely to be involved in recreation activities. Beth Miller (2003) stated that after school programs serving middle school children, must keep students engaged in the program by a variety of popular and engaging activities. She further noted that after-school programs are successful when participants have motivation to achieve academically. In summary, middle school learners benefit from frequent participation in quality after school programs that increase engagement in learning, provide a variety of recreational activities, and build key skills necessary for academic success.
The sixth-grade year is critical in terms of providing the foundation for a student’s middle school career (Clark, 2007). If students have problems transitioning to middle school, the outcome for students may be negative (Ruiz, 2005). Akos, Eccles, and Midgley (1993) state that the timing of these events in a student’s life can lead to lower motivation, lower self-efficacy, lower standardized test scores, higher rates of absenteeism, and behavioral issues. Developmentally responsive schools may be the key to alleviating the problems of young adolescents' school transition (Mullins, Emmett R.; Irvin,
The transition from elementary to middle school is a major event in the lives of students and parents. Most students will experience some emotional turmoil and social adjustment due to unfamiliar students, school staff, multiple sets of behavioral and classroom rules and expectations (Akos, 2002). The results of the middle school years affect young people through adolescence and adulthood (Greene, & Ollendick, 1993). Several studies have reported that this transition is the reason for declines in academic achievement, self-esteem, and interest in school (Kingery, Erdley, 2007). Therefore, these students need to receive assistance prior to, during, and after the move (Schumacher, 1998).
Young students today that are going through the middle school system are between the ages of 10 to 15 years old. They are going through a crucial stage of life in which many alterations occur such as emotional, physical, and mental changes. All of these changes that they must go through are essential to develop into healthy, fully functional, and self-actualized people. As a future educator, I need to see that middle school students are unique; they are too old to be considered children and too young to be considered adolescents. Middle level professionals have certain roles and responsibilities as it relates to the development of young adolescents. We must present ourselves as role models for the students and have the responsibility to make sure that as they progress through middle school they have enriched, meaningful learning experiences through challenging, exploratory, integrative, and relevant curriculum. As a future educator, I need to understand and recognize these changes, strengths, weaknesses, and diversities and be able to plan accordingly and appropriately for them in the classroom. I have developed my own philosophy for teaching at the middle level, based on this evidence and my understanding about the unique characteristics of middle level adolescents that will help mold me into a great middle school educator!
We live in a society that is rapidly changing and where we are becoming lifelong learners. A lifelong learner is someone with aspiration and ambition to improving knowledge and skills with a personal, social, work related and civic outlook. Constructivism is the theory of how a person constructs knowledge when new information presented and it combines with existing knowledge that one gains through experiences. In a review of the constructivism theory through a student’s view, teaching and learning are the implications through hand-on, experiential, collaboration, project-based or task based projects. Learning is a continuous active process of gaining knowledge through experiences and interactions within the world. Learning occurs when an individual encounters thoughtful challenges, naturally occurring or in a problem-solving activity. Most importantly, it is worth noting to state that learning is a social
members of the government should help increase funding for afterschool programs. Students need after school activities. They are helpful to children developing. After school activities are beneficial to students' achievements because they can help children gain skills to do better academically, provides alternatives for getting into bad things, and gives structured time to work on social skills with peers.
Adolescents age is a very important phase since this is the breaking point for them to learn what is consider bad or good. At this age puberty is involved and many adolescents are individually driven at this age and are peer motivated by social status. During puberty "adolescents are learning how to handle new demands in school and social life while learning to deal with new, intense emotions and to do so without adult guidance" (Yeager 2017:74). At puberty many changes occur mentally and physically. One SEL program that stuck out of the many presented is the Becoming a Man (BAM) program that helped increase graduation rates for adolescents. The BAM program "did not tell young people what they have to do but helped young people find ways to maintain their status" (Yeager 2017:78). Programs like BAM are ideal for schools. Teaching to motivate instead of direct orders is the best method: "SEL programs give them mindsets that will harness their motivations" (Yeager
Mark, a fourth grader at Springfield Elementary came home and explained to his mom about the friend he had made during band class, and the teamwork he was involved in during volleyball practice. Mark failed to mention to his mom anything about his regular school day. “Extracurricular activities serve the same goal and functions as the required and elective courses in the curriculum. However, extracurricular activities provide experiences that are not required in the formal course of study. These after school programs allow students to apply the knowledge that they have learned in other classes and acquire concepts of democratic life” (Lunnenburg 2). Mark like many children usually forget the essentials from the normal school day curriculum like mathematics or sentence structure, but remember everyday lessons learned during after school programs. These programs or extracurricular activities include sports, clubs, dance, music, arts, drama and such, all programs that benefit elementary students. Today, in the United States when elementary schools do not have enough funds for these programs, the extracurricular activities are the first eliminated to save money. Elimination of these programs causes more harm than good to the students because these programs are just as beneficial as the normal school curriculum. Therefore all of these extracurricular programs must remain as an option in school districts.
Early childhood is a time full of curiosity, exploration, creativity, excitement, and rapid development. During these formative years, children develop attitudes about education that remain with them for the rest of their lives (Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, 2011). High quality early childhood education programs and highly effective, passionate teachers or care providers will not only promote young children’s development and academic achievement but will also foster a lifelong passion for learning. ECE programs and educators utilize learning centers to contribute to young children’s acquisition of literacy, numeracy, creative thinking, problem solving, and motor skills as well as a number of other skills and knowledge (Jarrett, 2010). The benefits of learning centers are many. Learning centers teach important concepts, build interest, integrate subject matter, and allow for inquiry (Jarrett, 2010). These well organized and defined interest areas provide children with choices, hands-on learning, meaningful progression of skill acquisition, self-direction, and the ability to make connections (Kostelnik et al., 2011).
After school, from 3 to 6 p.m, is a critical period of time in a child’s life. After school programs help keep kids safe and inspire them to learn during that period of time. After school programs are organized programs that youth can participate in outside of a traditional school day. Enrolling children in after school programs would provide them with benefits that unenrolled children would not receive, such as reduce risky behavior and promote physical health. After school programs provide a safe environment for children, while positively impacting their academics, safety, and their future.
I never went to after school programs there just not for me. I think in my opinion that it is a waste of time going to after school programs because I rather be home eating or playing video games. Growing up thinking about high school I believe it is the same as middle school and elementary just more proper and more skills you have to learn. At the start of the school year I thought school was going to be easy but it really isn't. I believe it is easier to learn when your simply paying attention. I never thought that it was going to be hard like this but now I know that it is hard and there isn't no way of passing it unless you
Children in middle childhood are growing psychosocially at a quick rate. During middle childhood they become industrious, develop a self-concept, and learn how to be friends, amongst other things.
Among many teaching styles and learning theories, there is one that is becoming more popular, the constructivist theory. The constructivist theory focuses on the way a person learns, a constructivist believes that the person will learn better when he/she is actively engaged. The person acts or views objects and events in their environment, in the process, this person then understands and learns from the object or events(P. Johnson, 2004). When we encounter a certain experience in our life, we think back to other things that have occurred in our life and use that to tackle this experience. In a lot of cases, we are creators of our own knowledge. In a classroom, the constructivist theory encourages more hands-on assignments or real-world situations, such as, experiments in science and math real-world problem solving. A constructivist teacher constantly checks up on the student, asking them to reflect what they are learning from this activity. The teacher should be keeping track on how they approached similar situations and help them build on that. The students can actually learning how to learn in a well-planned classroom. Many people look at this learning style as a spiral, the student is constantly learning from each new experience and their ideas become more complex and develop stronger abilities to integrate this information(P. Johnson, 2004). An example of a constructivist classroom would be, the student is in science class and everyone is asking questions, although the teacher knows the answer, instead of just giving it to them, she attempts to get the students to think through their knowledge and try to come up with a logical answer. A problem with this method of learning is that people believe that it is excusing the role of...
As a student, besides they need to pay attention on their schoolwork, they also should participate in after-school activities. Being involved in after-school activities like attending tutoring, joining school sports and volunteering in the community are good ways for students to learn and develop. There are so many advantages of being involved in after-school activities; these can help students improving their problem solving abilities, time management, responsibility, and other necessary skills. There are many advantages of after-school activities that could help the society. Above all, after school activities are beneficial to students.
Hirsch, Barton J., Megan A. Mekinda, and JulieAnn Stawicki. "More than Attendance: The Importance of After-School Program Quality." American Journal of Community Psychology 45.3 (2010): 447-52.
Rizzolo, Allison. "PUBLICAGENDA.ORG - Survey: Sports, Arts, Clubs, Volunteering -- Out-of-School Activities Play Crucial, Positive Role for Kids." Survey: Sports, Arts, Clubs, Volunteering -- Out-of-School Activities Play Crucial, Positive Role for Kids. Public Agenda, 16 Nov. 2004. Web. 5 Mar. 2014