Lengthening the School Day - Article Example

Lengthening the School DayTeaching and learning is a fundamental practice in today’s society. This practice is subject to the influence of many different factors, all of which affect students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders in one way or another. Education undergoes vital changes and transformations from time to time, with a primary aim to promote general student welfare and academic performance. Subsequently, education develops careers and professionals who influence the society in diverse and dynamic ways.

Amid this progress, the length of the school day remains a contentious issue among different educational stakeholders in the contemporary society.Proposals to lengthen the school day emerge and subsequently spur public controversy from time to time. The common denominator, however, is that such a move exhibits both advantages and disadvantages. Consider a proposal to lengthen the school day to the hours of 8.00 am to 6.00 pm. Following this proposal, students would be required to be in school for up to ten hours.

Such a school day length comes with a number of advantages with regard to the role played by the different educational stakeholders in the academic setting.A longer school day provides students with adequate time to engage in both curricular and extracurricular activities (Boxall 235). the number of hours available in the current school day are highly prioritized towards curricular activities. this gives teachers less time to introduce students to extracurricular content and/or activities. time limitation factors could, therefore, be addressed by lengthening the school day.

Over and above increased time for both curricular and extracurricular content, parents would no longer need after-school childcare. Students will be in school up to the time parents leave their workplaces. The proposal to lengthen the school day, therefore, creates new opportunities for students, teachers, and parents. Moreover, time with family after the school day would enhance family interactions and relationships. Students would have less homework because the school day is long enough to take care of academic activities.

Contrary to the benefits of longer school day, lengthening the school day is not without its disadvantages. A longer school day would negatively affect students’ attention. Extra time in school, according to Sprague, Douglas, and David (434), could result in attention deficit, fatigue, and subsequent ineffective curricular activities within that time. On the same note, longer hours at school do not necessarily translate to improved teacher productivity or student performance. In that regard, scores may fail to improve as school day hour increase.

Most importantly, a longer school day requires additional funding due to an accompanying increase in supplemental resources.In light of the above discussion, the cons of lengthening the school day outweigh the pros. A longer school day would be an additional individual, social, financial, and academic burden to almost every stakeholder in the education sector. Instead of lengthening the school day, proposers of this move should consider making the current school day more effective and efficient.

With student concentration, teacher productivity, and education costs at stake, it is important to ensure that the current school day operates to its full potential before considering additional hours.Works CitedBoxall, Marjorie. Nurture Groups in Schools: Principles and Practice. London: SAGE Publications, 2010. Print.Sprague, Jo, Douglas Stuart, and David Bodary. The Speaker's Handbook. London: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.