Dear Editor,
Recently I had the opportunity to review an English university master’s thesis on ‘Study Support’ which, according to a 1989 publication of the UK Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), ‘Extending Opportunity: National Framework for Study Support,’ is “learning activity outside normal lessons which young people take part in voluntarily.”
In 2002, the UK Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) published a report ‘Learning out of hours: The quality and management of study support in secondary schools,’ which focused on activities that have the most direct bearing on learning in school, notably homework clubs, study clubs and support for examinations (much of what we call extra lessons), and among other things, it concluded that:
● Many schools invest heavily in arranging out-of-hours learning activities and many teachers contribute their time and expertise generously to them (teachers are usually paid to participate in these schemes).
● Out-of-hours learning activities can have a positive effect on attitudes, achievement and attendance.
● Study clubs, support for course work and examination revision and mentoring can have a direct impact on attainment.
● Individual activities are often very well organized, but the management of out-of-school learning as a whole is generally under-developed.
● In the best cases, study support is discussed with pupils, parents and community providers. It relates clearly to schoolwork, is built into school development\planning and is coordinated efficiently.
● To strengthen the contribution of out-of-hours learning activities, schools can do more to:
■ Audit the needs of pupils and the current provision within the community to make sure that the school programme complements existing activities.
■ Monitor the impact of the programme on individual pupils and modify the programme where necessary.
The purpose of study support “is to improve young people’s motivation, build their self-esteem and help them to become effective learners. Above all, it aims to raise achievement.” (DfEE, 1989)
Study support falls into two broad categories, which schools could mix to fit their requirements: curriculum extension and curriculum enrichment. The former activities are organized by way of homework clubs, revision schemes, and other types of curriculum support intended to improve the schools’ attainment targets at the various examinations such as GCSE and SATs. Curriculum enrichment includes the arts, sports, community service, etc, and is intended to broaden opportunities, develop personal and social skills, increase motivation towards learning and enhance self-esteem. As must be obvious, when considering core curriculum subjects like arts and sports there could be considerable overlap between these two areas.
Prior to the launch of the abovementioned National Framework for Study Support in the UK, one of the largest longitudinal studies found that the overall effect of participation in study support is on average one A-C pass more for students of equal ability who participated (MacBeath, et al (2001) ‘The Impact of Study Support’). Six years later, a similar study in the United States determined that: “regular participation in high quality after school programmes is linked to significant gains in standardized test scores and work habits as well as reduction in behaviour problems among disadvantaged students.” (Vandell, et al (2007) ‘Outcomes Linked to High Quality After School Programmes.’)
The benefits of curriculum extension activities are well documented. A US study of disadvantaged children who attended these activities discovered that the “time spent by nine-year-olds in academic activities was significantly related to positive teacher ratings of their behaviour at school and relationships with peers,” and that “students who regularly attended over a period of two years demonstrated significant gains in standard mathematics test scores and self-reported work habits compared to their peers who did not attend” (ibid). Indeed, one study even showed a correlation between participation in extra-curricular science activities and an ambition to study science or engineering courses in higher education (DfEE, 1989).
All of this makes such unsupported assessments as the “Dreaded ‘extra lessons’ come to curse a generation of our children. From the age of eight or younger children were made to suffer a double dose of schooling. It was truly an abomination.” (‘The legacy of Thomas Gradgrind’ Sunday Stabroek, September 26) and “Extra lessons hardly ever make poor students good. It normally makes good students better. Extra lessons, which is a thriving industry in Guyana, does not really help the weaker students because it is not a substitute for good schooling.” (‘Extra lessons are not the answer’ SN, September 4) resonate as essentially ideological. Recently, the Minister of Education was reported as slamming extra lessons, claiming that they would be unnecessary if the school system were working. (‘Education Minister slams extra lessons’ KN, Octboer 11). Given what has been said above about the value of study support to children in education systems that are far better provided for than ours, I am not at all certain that this was a particularly useful observation.
Japan is said to have one of the world’s best educated populations. Primary and secondary enrolment is nearly 100%, the dropout rate is about 3% and illiteracy is non-existent. About 50% of secondary students go on to university or junior colleges. Yet, while in 1996 the Japanese Ministry of Education reported that, “More than 40% of elementary school children in the metropolitan Tokyo area and 77.2% of junior high students attend juku (after lessons cram schools)” in 2009, one researcher noted that “juku attendance in elementary school years (especially grades 4-6) in Tokyo has increased massively.” I doubt that we would consider Japan as having an education system that is not working!
I believe that the difficulty lies in our constructing and acting upon a false nexus between the teacher’s responsibility to fulfil her/his work commitment and the desire for extra lessons. Quite apart from where they are needed to help slower learners, in our competitive times the desire for extra lessons will remain whether or not the curriculum is completed during normal school hours.
As indicated above, it is thought that one of the keys to the success of study support programmes is the involvement of teachers, parents, communities and the students themselves. Compared with our Caricom partners, our education system is already underfunded (as reflected in our comparatively poor national performance in examinations such as the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) and total government financing of a study support scheme may therefore well be problematic.
Better educational performance is however an absolute necessity, and notwithstanding the relationship between after school learning and competitiveness, we have seen that, if comprehensively planned and sensibly supported by the government and civil society, study support could reduce the financial burden on poor parents, remove the perceived negative relationship between teacher work performance and extra lessons and help improve educational outcomes.
Yours faithfully,
Henry B Jeffrey