The reading by P.J. Nelsen involves the issue of removing facets of “play” from aspects of school policy. These aspects of education have been disregarded for their “Unpredictability and seeming purposelessness”, in favor of practices viewed as more “measured” and “Rationally justifiable” (Nelsen, 1). Nelsen, along with a number of other scholars, view this as a mistake, and a movement that ultimately places unintended restrictions on the literacy, and self discovery of a number of students. Nelsen helps the reader to understand that “Alternative literacy practices” aren’t necessarily welcomed in many school environments because these certain methods or subjects don’t align well with success in the “test prep classroom”, or any sort of quantitative notion of success that many schools have run with (3). Nelsen concludes that “prescription and rigidity” do not control the uncertainness of schooling (16). In a nutshell, Nelsen is arguing that, in a desperate attempt to close a gap in achievement between students, schools removing aspects of play may in fact be hurting their students’ progress.
In a more personal example, this type of action by school administration was something that I had the displeasure of experiencing in high school. From my sophomore through my senior year, my school cut a number of programs related to the arts and music, as well as teachers in those areas. There was a general notion that this was because the administration felt that these particular programs didn’t necessarily contribute to their agenda of higher SAT and ACT scores throughout the school. I’ve always been very interested in art and music, so cuts like this stung a little more. These cuts didn’t necessarily result in drops in my academic success, but it did for some students, because many of them no longer had the activities available to them that they loved, and that meant they didn’t have much else to look forward to while in school. It really kind of cut the motivation of these students down quite a bit.
I do have to question, it seems like most of the time, the people making these decisions aren’t involved in the programs they are cutting or defunding. It seems unethical to make a decision like this without consulting or including those who rely on these programs or teach these programs for input before making up their minds.
Hello! You did a great job reflecting on both sides of the argument on whether "play" should be included in early education, or if it is purposeless. I personally agree with both you and scholars like Nelson that play and classes that stimulate creativity should not be removed from curriculum. Taking away these opportunities of (like you mentioned) self discovery is a mistake. I think it is critical to personal growth to have a variety of education at such a young age. Education does not always have to look measured or designed to improve test scores.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience in high school of a class that I felt would lead to personal growth get cut from my schedule. I had an outdoor sports class on my schedule in the middle of the day, which I strategically did based on the opportunity to get a break in my day from strategic thinking in typical math, science, etc classes. I was excited to learn how to play different sports, while also getting a workout in. I unfortunately had to remove the class from my schedule because in order to graduate, I had to add another math class. This was super disappointing because I felt like I had no breaks in my day to play or get some sort of break.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi there! I agree with Caleigh that you did a nice job reflecting on this reading. I think that you did a good job of playing "devils advocate" in a sense because I agree that in situations of defunding or cutting extracurricular activities such as the arts or music classes, the people in the positions of power who are getting rid of these types of things may have no direct line of involvement with them. Thus leading for no emotional effect on getting rid of said classes or activities.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I never have experienced this kind of struggle myself, I can clearly see the negative effects that can be associated with the cutting of programs mentioned. If i'm not mistaken, I do believe that things like the arts, music, and sports all have a direct correlation with students performance in academics, as well as their mental health. During my time in high school, there were certain requirements for graduation - as I'm sure every other high school in the nation has, however, things like taking a certain number of credits in physical education, arts and humanities were required. Did you have something similar where you went to high school?
Great post!