Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T04:54:52.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

School closures, amalgamations and children’s play: Bigger may not be better

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

John Evans
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Recent government decisions to close schools with small enrolments appear not to have taken into consideration the implications such a move might have for children’s out-of-classroom activities. Drawing on relevant literature, and accounts from teachers who have taught, or are teaching in small and large primary schools, this paper questions the prevailing belief that ‘bigger is better’ by pointing to some of the unique characteristics of small school playgrounds which provide children with opportunities and experiences not available in larger schools.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , 1998 , pp. 12 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barker, R. & Gump, P. 1964, Big School, Small School: High School Size and Student Behavior, Stanford Uni Press, California.Google Scholar
Blatchford, P. 1989, Playtime in the Primary School, NFER Nelson, London.Google Scholar
Blatchford, P., Creeser, R. & Mooney, A. 1990, ‘Playground games and playtime: The children’s view’, Educational Research, Vol. 32, No. 3, 163–174.Google Scholar
Blatchford, P. & Sharp, S. 1994, Breaktime and the School: Understanding and Changing Playground Behaviour, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Bunker, L. 1991, ‘The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s self-confidence and self-esteem’, The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 91, No. 5, 467–471.Google Scholar
Burke, C. & Jarman, K. 1994), ‘Disruptive and anti-social behaviour in the middle years of schooling: Approaching the primary-secondary divide’, Unicorn, No. 20, 52–57.Google Scholar
Donmoyer, R. 1981, “The politics of play: Ideological and organisational constraints on the inclusion of play experiences in the school curriculum’, Journal of Research and Development in Education, Vol. 14, No. 3, 11–18.Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1990, ‘The teacher role in playground supervision’, Play & Culture, Vol. 3 No. 3, 219–234.Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1996, ‘Children’s attitudes to recess and the changes taking place in Australian primary schools’, Research in Education, No. 56, 49–61.Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1997, ‘Rethinking recess: Signs of change in Australian primary schools’, Education Research and Perspectives. Vol. 24, No. 1, 14–27.Google Scholar
Evans, J. & Pellegrini, A. 1997, ‘Surplus energy theory: An enduring but inadequate justification for school breaktime’, Educational Review, Vol. 49, No. 3, 229–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finnan, C. 1982, ‘The ethnography of children’s spontaneous play’, in Doing The Ethnography Of Schooling, ed Spindler, G., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Glickman, C. 1984, ‘Play in public school settings: A philosophical question’, in Child’s Play, eds Yawkey, T. & Pellegrini, A., Lawrence Erlbaum, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Goodnow, J. & Burns, A. 1985, Home and School: A Child’s Eye View, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.Google Scholar
Hall, N. & Abbott, L. 1991, Play in the Primary Curriculum, Hodder & Stoughton, London.Google Scholar
Hann, C. 1993, ‘Schools: A modern battleground, Classroom, No. 7, 10–12.Google Scholar
Hughes, L. 1988, ‘“But that’s not really mean”: Competing in a cooperative model,’ Sex Roles, Vol. 19 (11/12), 669–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, B. 1992, The Bush Chalkie, School Dunnies and Other Stories, Essien, Hawthorn.Google Scholar
Kenway, J. 1997, ‘Bigger is not always better’, The Age (Education Supplement), April 8, p. 2.Google Scholar
King, N. 1987, ‘Elementary school play: Theory and research’, in School Play: A Source Book, eds Block, J. & King, N., Garland, New York.Google Scholar
Lever, J. 1976, ‘Sex differences in the games children play’, Social Problems, Vol. 23, 478–487.Google Scholar
Murphy, H., Hutchison, J. & Bailey, J. 1983, ‘Behavioural school psychology goes outdoors: The effect of organised games on playground aggression’, Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, Vol. 16, No. 1, 29–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindsay, P. & Palmer, D. 1981, ‘Playground Game Characteristics of Brisbane Primary School Children’, ERDC Report, Canberra.Google Scholar
Pellegrini, A. 1995, School Recess and Playground Behaviour, SUNY Press, New York.Google Scholar
Perkins, K. & Russell, H. 1993, ‘Let’s play it again: Children participate in the redesign of their primary school playground’, in Proceedings, Vol. 1, World Play Summit, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Perry, D. & Bussey, K. 1984, Social Development, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Peters, M. 1993, ‘Boys whistle, girls sing: School grounds’, in Proceedings, Vol. 1, World Play Summit, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Rigby, K., & Slee, P. 1991, ‘Bullying among Australian school children: Reported behaviour and attitudes toward victims’, Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 131, 625–627.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodwell, G. 1996, ‘Only by persistent effort in the face of discouragement: Eugenics and Australian civic and school playgrounds, 1900-1920, Melbourne Studies in Education, Vol. 37 (2), 129–148.Google Scholar
Russell, H. 1986, Play and Friendships in a multi-cultural playground, Australian Children’s Folklore Publications, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Sampson, S. (1992), ‘Who owns the oval? Girls and boys go out to play’, Education Quarterly, October, 9–12.Google Scholar
Siegal, M. 1982, Fairness in Children, Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Slee, P. 1995, ‘Bullying in the playground: The impact of inter-personal violence on Australian children’s perceptions of their play environment’, Children’s Environments, Vol. 12, No. 3, 320–327.Google Scholar
Sluckin, A. 1991, ‘The Culture of the Playground’ in Children and Their Primary Schools, ed Pollard, A., Falmer Press, London, 150–164.Google Scholar
Storrs, R. 1980, ‘Working in smaller schools’, in Primary Education: Issues in the Eighties, ed Richards, C., Adam & Charles Black, London.Google Scholar
Thorne, B. 1993, Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School, Open University Press, Buckingham.Google Scholar