As schools chart their post-pandemic course for the fall, the urgent need to address student mental health and learning loss might take priority over planning for extracurriculars, but that would be a mistake, writes Chad Lang for Phi Delta Kappan.
“Undoubtedly, the realities of post-pandemic life will require an all-hands-on-deck approach, as many schools will face budget crunches, lingering mental health effects among students and teachers, and learning loss among those who were disconnected from school,” writes Lang, who is director of school improvement and human resources for the Glenwood Community School District in Glenwood, Iowa. “But as school leaders come together to address these challenges, they must not neglect the important roles extracurriculars can play. Such activities often make powerful contributions to students’ well-being, their sense of connection to the school community, and their engagement in academics.”
For teens, in particular, opportunities for relatively unstructured social connections with peers outside of school hours are especially important—and maybe a blind spot for school systems. A 2020 survey of secondary students and teachers by Phi Delta Kappa International, for example, found that while teachers favored meeting the pandemic needs of students with strategies like “more counselors,” middle and high school students chose things like more opportunities to “socialize with fellow students” and “online clubs and other extracurricular activities” by large margins. For teens, the researchers found, the simple need for peer-to-peer connection was paramount, outweighing structured opportunities like self-care classes focused on mindfulness or coping with stress.
GETTING REAL-WORLD PRACTICE
Tending to students’ emotional well-being will be a priority in many schools and classrooms in the new school year, and Lang argues that extracurriculars are a natural fit for extending this social and emotional work beyond the classroom, helping to “reestablish normalcy after the pandemic, foster social connections, and maximize academic achievement,” so that students “see school as a place of safety and belonging.”
There’s research to back this up. In a 2017 examination of social and emotional learning outside of the classroom, faculty from the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that less formal out-of-school settings tend to offer “increased opportunities to develop the type of close, trusting relationships that enhance SEL.” The study also noted that SEL outcomes improved when children were given opportunities to practice SEL skills across settings—the classroom, after school, and even at home—and when adult expectations across all these environments are aligned.
That’s been a focus for the after-school program Wings for Kids for several decades. Founded 20 years ago with the purpose of bringing free SEL to at-risk kids in low-income communities, Wings provides a structured SEL after-school program—with lots of opportunities for unstructured and free play—in some Title 1 elementary schools in Georgia and North and South Carolina. To make the program affordable, the group partners with Boys & Girls Clubs and the YMCA to offer workshops and training for teachers and administrators, a community-based approach that Lang recommends for school administrators seeking ways to help fund and staff extracurriculars. Among kindergarten and first-grade students who participated in the after-school program for at least two years, a 2019 study found they showed improved self-awareness, self-regulation, executive function, and decision-making.
