Ten minutes between classes, let the child "move"

[Global Times special correspondent in Germany Aoki Global Times reporter Zhang Xueting] This year's "June 1St Children's Day", the Ministry of Education issued the latest "Regulations on the Protection of Schools for Minors", one of which stipulates that recess activities have attracted widespread attention - Chapter 2, Article 12 clearly stipulates that "students shall not be restricted from leaving the classroom between classes." "10 minutes between classes" is basically the consensus of school teaching in most countries, ensuring that students get a certain break between classes and allow them to concentrate more on the next class. However, different countries have different regulations for recess activities, and for some problems that may arise, schools are constantly improving recess arrangements to allow young people to play while ensuring safety.

Japan: Teachers supervise recess safety

Japanese elementary and junior high schools take a 10-minute break between each class, and similar to China, there is usually a "big class break" of about 20 minutes between the second and third classes in the morning. It is worth noting that unlike some European and American countries, few schools in Japan allow students to eat between classes. During the large class breaks of schools in some regions of Japan, the school also arranges broadcast gymnastics like in China. During the 10-minute recess, students usually need to prepare for the next class, so most people don't go out for physical exercise. However, the big recess is the most anticipated outdoor activity time for many primary and secondary school students, many students will go downstairs to the playground to play ball or walk on campus, and some students choose to go to the library. During the lunch break, in addition to lunch, it is also the time for the students on duty to do cleaning.

Because most students stay in the building during recess, Japanese elementary and junior high schools often have accidents caused by laughter and fighting, or have not returned to their seats after the class bell rings. In this regard, almost all schools will have a clear rule that "no running and playing in the corridors" and will be supervised by teachers and student committees. The 2019 Education Reform Report of the Central Education Council of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan stressed that a clear responsibility system should be established for the safety of recesses in primary and secondary schools, and all teachers have the obligation to supervise.

India: Striving to implement "4+1"

"Learning without playing can make a child dull and bored," is a local proverb quoted in the Times of India. In 2016, a 10-year survey conducted by India's National Council for Education Research and Training showed that the more schools had classes, the greater the number of recesses; at the same time, the greater the number of recesses, the higher the interest of children in learning. The survey raised a question that year: in most schools in India, there is only one 30-40 minute break in a full day, while a few schools have two recesses (10 minutes at a time, about 30 minutes at a time). In schools with two recesses, although students' time in school has become longer as a whole, the continuous learning time has been broken between classes, allowing students to be well prepared for the next learning.

India introduced a national curriculum framework on rest periods in 2005, which provides for a "4+1" learning model in schools, which guarantees 4 hours of study and 1 hour of recess. While most districts are able to meet this requirement, some schools have struggled to keep up with the "4+1" model for geographic and climatic reasons.

A 2017 report by the Uk's Modern Bio Publishing Group said that most Indian schools are not equipped with sports equipment that meets the needs of students, such as running tracks, cycling lanes and safety signs to match them. This has led to an increase in overweight and obesity rates among Indian adolescents. However, of the 16 schools surveyed by the group, there were 15 all play and public rest areas. Therefore, although Indian students cannot carry out very formal physical activities between classes, they can also exercise to alleviate learning fatigue. The survey also highlighted that in wealthy areas, students walking or cycling to school are also an important way to increase physical activity.

Europe: "Recess belongs to students"

Recently, a video of a Chinese teacher leading all students to dance between classes in a playground went viral on European social media, and many European netizens praised the school's approach and sparked a heated discussion among locals about recess activities in European countries. Although the class time and curriculum arrangement are different, the arrangement of recess activities in primary and secondary schools in European countries is more consistent. Generally, schools have a recess after two classes, ranging from 15-25 minutes, and a lunch break at noon, which lasts from about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Every morning, children who arrive early can play on the playground and cannot enter the unlocked classroom. This allows children to move more and energetically prepare for the day's lessons. The music bell rings 5 minutes before class and students enter the classroom. After two classes, German schools have a 25-minute recess time. In order to allow students to go out of the classroom and have fun, some schools lock the classroom doors during recess. On the playground, students can play football, basketball, rock climbing, jump rope, play "hopscotch" games, etc. There will be on-duty teachers on the playground to supervise on the spot, and even prepare medicine boxes with ice packs and various kinds of medicines such as bruises and bruises. On rainy days, the recess time is changed to the school gymnasium, or through the TV, the physical education teacher teaches everyone to do a few minutes of recess exercises together. Some schools in France also have 5 minutes of music and art appreciation before the first recess. After the first recess, the school is taught in two more classes, followed by a lunch break. After lunch, students are free to do things like physical exercise, or listen to music and read their favorite books. After two classes in the afternoon, students have another recess time, followed by interest activity time until school ends. In primary schools in countries such as Germany, the afternoon classes are mainly interest activities, and secondary schools may arrange cultural classes.

A variety of activities are offered for students across Europe. One is that the school cooperates with various local institutions to provide various interest classes on campus, such as music, painting, dance, chess, etc. The other is organized by off-campus institutions, such as football.

Dale Kemp, a basic education scholar at Humboldt University in Germany, told the Global Times reporter that European countries have very strict regulations on recess time, and if school teachers "occupy" recess time, they will be treated as "teaching accidents", affecting the assessment of teachers and schools. Primary and secondary school students in Europe also generally have the concept of "recess time belongs to students", as soon as the bell rings, they will consciously stand up. More importantly, recess time to get students moving is also conducive to health and teaching quality. Delkamp said that many european studies have shown that recess activities are good for the brain, can stimulate more blood vessels in the brain to support more brain cells, help students to concentrate more on learning and attention, and improve the teaching effect. Moreover, recess time is also conducive to students' communication skills and ensures children's mental health.

Author: Aoki Zhang Xueting

Source: Global Times