"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

A longer (21-hour?) school day?

Sent to the Telegraph (UK), Jan. 7

It is inspiring to read about Education Minister Truss' desire to lengthen the school day ("Schools should adopt Chinese-style lessons, says minister," Jan. 3). Her proposal to add an extra 30 minutes for "enrichment" and an extra hour for homework, however, fall far short of what is needed.
Let's push ahead and consider an even longer day.
A study published in the Journal of Irreproducible Results in 1991 concluded that a 21-hour school day is optimal, with continuous classes and no breaks, except for two breaks for meals and one lavatory visit.
Among the many advantages would be fewer discipline problems and quieter classrooms because of sleep deprivation, which "lessened the students' rebellious impulses."
The researchers also intend to do studies to determine whether food is really necessary for school children.
Stephen Krashen

original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10549462/Schools-should-adopt-Chinese-style-lessons-says-minister.html


Source: THE 21-HOUR SCHOOL DAY
Robert O. Neal, Ed.D. and Louis deJour Hicks, Ed.D.
The Magnun University Graduate School of Education
Magnun, Tennessee
Published in The Journal of Irreproducible Results, 36 (6): 17 (1991)
available at:
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_news.php?id=781

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