One of the most controversial issues that relate to the school are the school times (or day) In Infant and Primary education, we are reading lately that the continuous day is 'gaining ground' in our country. To promote change, the vote of at least two-thirds of the School Board is required, and the vote in favor of 75% of the censored parents.
It is said that this claim of teachers has it easier now to get ahead, since educational administrations want to save costs. There are opinions for all tastes, and the conclusive studies about the academic benefits of both models are almost nonexistent. We commented in this post last year that, according to Rafael Feito, one of the most complete report on the issue indicates that there is between 10% and 20% more school failure in the centers where the continuous is taught, but this is not conclusive. In fact (to reinforce that it is not conclusive), I tell you that in the Valencian Community (characterized by high failure rates) the school day is split. Although I live this last closely by area of ​​residence, I can say that precisely the day can not be considered as the only factor (assuming we admit that it is related).
Among the experts who stand in favor of the day left are the Professor of Sociology at the University of Salamanca Mariano Fernández Enguita, who states that this distribution of time is the one that best corresponds to the natural rhythms of children.
For me, the big mistake is that with the enormous diversity of children there is, the enormous diversity of family structures and offers parallel or not to the school there is, it is intended to discuss what is the best solution for everyone. That, if we think of parents. If we think of teachers, it is simply a trade union claim, which seems understandable to me, but illegitimate: the labor demands themselves cannot be advanced on supposed non-existent pedagogical theories
For my part, I am aware that everything would improve if in our country the reconciliation of work and family life (and job opportunities adjusted to families) really exist, because a large-scale employee who finishes at 10 at night from work, or a mother who travels 120 kilometers daily to earn a salary, little can think of working days . The first is to eat, the second ... what really happens is that the emotional well-being of children is also important, but the air cannot be passed.
Paraphrasing Mariano Fernández Enguita: 'The worst hours of the day, in terms of performance, are the last in the morning. What happens is that this is not the only consideration '.
In addition it seems that the overload of teaching hours in the morning does not help the slow retention of knowledge.
Many argue the need to set up 'European days': for example in Finland the workload is concentrated in the morning, and in the afternoon children can receive extracurricular classes, creative workshops, etc. But let's not forget to include in the analysis the calculation of annual school hours that children charge: 650 in Finland, 810 in Spain (810 that have to be concentrated in the morning, added to other activities that the children attended for different reasons).
School times in Spain
According to recent calculations, The percentage of Spanish nursery and primary schools that have implemented the continuous workday is 62%. Among the Autonomous Communities that keep the day off are Euskadi, Navarra, Catalonia and Valencia (right now the possibility is being raised for parents to start voting to decide to change the day from the next course).
And it seems clear that while the public school moves towards the continuous day, the concerted commitment to keep the game (except in Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Castilla la Mancha and Extremadura).
Who benefits the continuous journey?
Of course teachers, but what other groups would win? In general all children if their parents were at home when they arrived, or when leaving the school canteen. It is clear that they would enjoy more free time (provided it is productive, of course) to play and organize school tasks.
That in the personal and family field, because we have already seen that on the academic level it seems that it is not very clear. In addition to the informative meetings with parents, it is usually talked about how advantageous the continuous day would be, without presenting results that support such affirmation.
Me and my children ... there are plenty of clarifications (it doesn't bother me to spend a lot of time with them, and there are clear rules in my house about times of study and use of video consoles and television).
But there are many families that perhaps the continuous journey will harm, let's see some examples (They are invented but based on situations that I know very closely).
Families with tight economic resources, in which the two parents work, and as a result of the implementation of the day see how the administration withdraws funding to maintain scholarships and dining aids. At the end of the school day, the non-obligation to invest economically in complementary services can be claimed.
Other family groups in which also work mother and father (regardless of economic level) and children are allowed to return home after school because they have a key. Can you tell me what children of seven, nine, 11 years old do from 2 pm to 6 pm alone? (I have imagined a mother teacher in another school, because others end much later).
A child who has difficulty studying or finishing homework, who also does not have the good fortune to have his parents by the side late, and who does not arrive to pay for an academy or teacher review (is similar to the first example, but it serves us).
If we add to these examples remoteness of the extended family, the attention to children worsens
I know that many claim that when parents are asked, they prefer the split day because adults prefer not to have children 'in between'. I believe that this argument may be partly true, It is a bit twisted; I don't care about two trips than four, What interests me is that children have free time to play / rest, and have an active presence of their parents to 'guide' them, and more taking into account that from the age of eight they begin to receive many more influences (and not all healthy) from abroad.
The continuous journey should be linked to ...
Maintenance of school canteen service under similar conditions, organization of extracurricular activities within the same center and that were affordable to the most impoverished families. And of course: tutorial attention by teachers to parents, something that today is not attainable for many parents since it is not always possible to meet with the teacher when the father or mother has just worked for the late, and on the other hand, how many companies give permission to attend tutoring?
According to the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Parents of Students (CEAPA) the continuous day can increase social inequalities, to the point that we are already hearing that it is the crisis that motivates votes in favor or against this school time. It seems that progresses more easily in economically depressed areas (With few resources, it is better to pick up the child at 2 and take him home to eat so as not to return until the next day), than in those more comfortable.
I think this is very relative, but I am also convinced that we not only have to think about days, performance, better schedules for teachers or comfort for families, since (I repeat) children they must be able to be taken care of in any of the options. I have the feeling that we have to adapt to the circumstances, instead of forcing them to change.
I leave you with an interview with Ana Romero (technician of the AMPAs Federation of Albacete), who affirms that the implementation of the continuous day in this province, dismantled the associative movement of parents and caused the disappearance of school canteen services. It's in Catalan, I'm sorry for those who don't understand it.
I know that I have focused on negative aspects of the continuous journey, I have done so because many of you receive arguments in favor in the educational centers of your children, and it is good that the information is contrasted. I don't know what you will think ...
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