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.
Some schools that still have middle school sports have realized that when a kid plays a sport, they learn new skills that they can apply to real life. For example, an article states, “Participants in middle school sports teams can develop interpersonal and leadership skills and increase their social circles.” ("Should Middle Schools
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).
After school programs help reinforce things children learn during the day at school and inspire them to do better in school. The valuable skills children learn while at an after school program are skills they can use in their everyday lives. After school programs help keeps safe, reduce childhood crime, prevent teen pregnancies, and help promote a healthier lifestyle along with many more benefits. In conclusion, even though some people do not feel as though after school programs are beneficial, many people believe their children greatly benefit from an after school
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
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.
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).
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
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
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...
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.
One hundred years ago, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a young man developing new insights about learning. He was one of a handful of constructivist-minded writers and educational theorists of the time. Learning theories open educators up to new ideas. They are necessary to expand our knowledge of how learning works. Piaget’s work is a well-tested and educators around the world should be aware of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive development in particular because it will improve the quality of their teaching. Once a teacher knows this theory, they can plan lessons appropriate to their students’ cognitive ability and build upon students’ earlier knowledge in a constructivist way.
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
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