I have asked 40 teachers if they think the Mobile County Public School System should adopt the "Year Round" school model that is currently being tested at Fonde. 10 teachers have been for adopting year round schooling, while 30 have taken stances against implementing this practice system wide. I have heard the arguments for and against, but I also have my ideals about going to school year round and I would like to hear the input of incoming educators.
Thank you for your time and effort,
Michael Stafford
I think year round school is a interesting idea and I can't wait to see the progress that is made at Fonde. That being said, I wouldn't want to be one of the first teachers to try it. I would like to see how it works and what everyone else thinks first. I can see the benefits of students not forgetting what they learned over the summer and trying to fix the achievement gap. I also know that teachers and students need a break and we look forward to our summers off. I will be interested to here how it goes next year at Fonde.
ReplyDeleteMost teachers I have talked to are against it for mainly academic reasons, with a touch of their own personal reasoning added in. They all pointed to the available research showing not much improvement or negative effects, over our present system. Systems on the year round schedule in the U.S. also incur at least 10% higher operating costs and extracurricular programs like band, athletics, and social clubs suffer. There are also few countries on the year round method and it is thought that the improvements some of these countries have shown is corollary, due to cultural differences, not causal, like in Japan, China, N. Korea, S. Korea, Australia, and Nigeria, where higher value is place upon education.
DeleteThe personal reasoning given was the same every time. Teachers end up with zero down time and no more pay, so they end up working more for the same amount of money. Educators will be teaching or in Professional Development for almost the entire year, with no time to evaluate or recharge their batteries.
I have always thought year round education with the appropriate breaks in between was the best model. The proof is in the success of the schools around the world that implement to system. While we all agree students, parents AND teachers need breaks, having two weeks off every 2-3 months is the perfect amount of time. How many of us have had to occupy our kids or pay for summer care? I know most kids are bored by the end of summer. Imagine if teachers didn't have to spend weeks reviewing what the kids have forgotten over the summer? the continuous progress forward would allow the kids to catch up with the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI also think that with the appropriate breaks having school year round could have it's benefits for everyone. It would be good for the mental health of the students. I know to them, summer is important because of relaxation time and hanging out with their friends. But as Aimee suggested, 2 weeks off periodically throughout the year can seriously benefit both teachers and students. An entire semester worth of stress, reading material, and grades can really be overwhelming. Taking a 2 week 'cool down' period actually makes more sense when you consider that the brain functions like a muscle. If you work your legs on Monday, you should give those muscles a day or so to heal and get stronger. (Leg day, every day can wind up doing major damage to your muscle tissue.) Allowing students and teachers to take the 2 week cool down period could produce a more efficient education system for all. I think we could potentially see more students grasping the difficult concepts because they have more time to let the information sink in.
ReplyDeleteBefore going to year-round school, I believe it would be important to understand how could education in that situation be most effective. Would certain subjects need to be taught year round while others could be taught in quarters? The idea of going to year-round school without considering how to improve the school day for kids and its effective use would be in my opinion damaging.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the year-round schooling, only if the same amount of break time is given though. For example, even though students will not have the 8-10 weeks off, they should still be allotted that amount of time in the school year. This in my opinion would be the only way for it to work, since students will get tired of going to school constantly. But, for me at least, spring break or fall break is enough to recharge, so if we had maybe one week off once a month I believe students will be able to handle it.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not think the year round approach is a good idea. I understand that it works for adults in college, but I do not think that would be the case for children. At some point students will be uninterested in school and some, more than others, may just go through the motions and not really retain the information as they should. However, I think that the summer break should not be two whole months. I think maybe it should be a month to a month in a half. This gives the students a break, but not too long of a break that they forgot everything that they learned in school the previous school year.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that teaching is not a 9-5 job or even a 5-9 job for that matter. It is more or a "when I get out of bed very early until I pass out with papers on my chest late at night" sort of job. Most teachers already feel they do not have enough time in the day to get their needed work done and end up working most weekends and holidays. Much of their summer is consumed with closing out the year, professional development, and then preparing for the next year. This overload of work is directly linked to class sizes which are very large in America.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, most research shows that class size is also the top factor influencing a teachers ability to achieve positive outcomes with their students. Countries with better educational outcomes have smaller classes, which allows for teachers to reach every student and actually teach. When classes become over crowded it stops a teachers ability to reach the individual needs of the students and creates so much content related work, that a teachers time is further consumed with administrative work. As future educators we should be focused on methods and policies that make us more effective teachers. I find it interesting that employed teachers, who are already in the trenches doing the work are against expanding the year, while upper administration and government are for extending it. I find this extremely contrary given that comparative studies and research show that smaller class sizes and increased resources are keys to solving education problems, not spending more time doing the same faulty processes.
I do not think going to school year round would be a good idea. Many businesses depend on the students to work during the summer and I think it would really hurt them to not have the extra help. Cities like Gulf Shores and Orange Beach see alot of traffic during the summer and it really helps them to have the extra hands. While I see that there are some beneficial aspects to the students, I do not think it would be enough to change to year round school.
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