The Influence of a Recess Intervention on Children’s Sense of Belonging and Enjoyment

Abstract

School climate has long been understood to influence student success, yet the social climate and playspace of recess is often overlooked in overall school improvement efforts. The Recess Project is a collaborative action research project that aims to improve the social climate of recess through fostering a sense of belonging and enjoyment. We report a mixed-methods exploratory evaluation of the project based on survey data from 784 students in grades 4-8. Quantitative analysis compared scores for belonging and enjoyment between children who attended Recess Project (RP) schools and those who did not No Recess Project/NRP. The RP group reported more enjoyment than the NRP group, while sense of belonging was not significantly different between groups. Belonging and positive affect were positively associated with enjoyment scores in both groups, however, these associations were stronger in the RP group. Qualitative analyses revealed children enjoyed recess for the opportunity to socialise and to have autonomy over their activities. Children who did not enjoy recess reported boredom, bad weather and experiences of victimisation. We discuss the implications for further research and future work on improving the quality of the social climate of recess.

Victimization, Physical Activity, and Affective Outcomes During Recess in Students with and Without Disabilities

“…Previous research has established that children with disabilities tend to be more vulnerable in social situations than their non-disabled peers, and the results of this recess study also underscore this (Kavale, & Forness, 1996;Lindsay & McPherson, 2012;Lavoie, 2005;McNamara et al, 2018a;Nowicki et al, 2014). Since it is well-established in the scholarly literature that social and relational dynamics start in childhood and cumulatively shape development across the lifespan (Stewart, Sun, Patterson, Lemerle, & Hardie, 2004;Umberson & Karaz-Montez, 2010), there is concern that children with disabilities are at a considerable disadvantage and vulnerable to the cumulative influence of negative during recess (Kavale, & Forness, 1996;Lindsay & McPherson, 2012;Lavoie, 2005;McNamara et al, 2018a;Nowicki et al, 2014).…”

“…The same two items were adapted slightly to assess general enjoyment of inside recess. These two items were adapted for recess from an established enjoyment measure with validation evidence (Motl et al, 2001) and have been used previously to assess general enjoyment in recess settings (McNamara et al, 2018a(McNamara et al, , 2018b. Physical activity level during outside recess was assessed using a four-item physical activity scale with the wording modified slightly from previous uses such as physical education (e.g., Lodewyk & Mandigo, 2017) to apply to the recess setting of this study.…”