Our Future School Days

There are ongoing debates about whether the length of a regular school day should be shorter or longer. An article was written in February 2024 by Oana Gavriloiu (Researcher from the Education Policy Institute, UK) about this particular topic. The Education Policy Institute is an independent, impartial, and evidence-based research institute that aims to promote high quality education outcomes irrespective of social or economical factors.

These were some of the key findings from the paper:

• As of the 2023/24 academic year, most schools in the UK already meet the government's expectation of a 32.5-hour school week

• An additional hour of school per week is linked to modest improvements in academic performance.

• The benefits of extended school time vary by subject.

• The effectiveness of additional school time depends on its use.

• Extending the school day may particularly benefit pupils from lower socio-economic backgrounds, who might lack access to additional learning resources at home.

This paper made some very good arguments for extended school days and it summarised all the evidence and research very beautifully with this sentence: Extending the school day is unlikely to have a lasting and significant impact by default. It matters when in the day the time is added, what pupils do in that time, and how the teaching is administered. So, in summary, making the school day longer is only beneficial if the time being added keeps students engaged with effective classes or teaching. But what counts as an effective class or teaching period?

I think the answer to this question is very subjective. Simply put, the effectiveness of an extended class is entirely based on the type of student in the class. You may have student A who is very physically active and dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Allocating extra time for a physical education class or a particular sporting exercise would benefit that student because it aligns with their goals. On the other hand, you may have student B who isn't very fond of maths and finds it difficult compared to other subjects. Increasing the time spent in a math class may actually make the student detest the subject even more, which likely wasn't the intended purpose of the extension.

I think that extending the school day can be very beneficial to students if the extension is allocated to a class or session that is required. And by required, I mean, required by the students themselves. Naturally, as teachers who are just trying to help, we would push to allocate more time to a class that we think a student may be struggling with or finding particularly difficult. We tend to think that 'practice makes perfect' so, of course, it makes sense that if more time is allocated to a subject, by default, there will be an improvement in the test scores and grades, right? By using my examples from before, you can see that this experiment can go one way or the other.

The key difference is student involvement!

Instead of going with our default way of thinking, we as teachers should work with students so we can find a beneficial middle ground. Student A's goals were clearly understood which made it easier to spot where the allocated extension would be most beneficial. Student B's teacher seems to have a 'practice makes perfect' type of reasoning, so they naturally opted to increase Student B's time spent in math class. For some students, this may actually help but for others (like Student B), it can have the opposite effect entirely. This is why it is important to work with students before extending their school day. We need to understand the student's goals, perspectives and concerns so that we can allocate the extended time to the place where it would benefit them the most. Now that's just step 1...

Step 2 would focus on what the student does in that extended period and, again, this would differ, depending on the type of student. Let's continue with our examples...

Student A's physical class will most likely involve additional warm-ups and repetitive practice of specific skills. This may work for Student A but a different student, let's call them Student C, may benefit from watching and analysing a game in that particular sport. Both student A and C may have the same extended physical education class, but student A seems to be improving through repetition drills while student C spends their time watching significant historical games and observing their game play. Student A appears to be a kinetic learner while Student C is a visual learner (I have simplified learning styles just for this example, they are more complex than a mere category).

Let's take a look at Student B, who has been moved to an extended English literature class after speaking to their teacher about their love for poetry and the desire to improve their writing skills and technique. After having a class, Student B has discovered that the best way they learn is by attempting to write their own poetry, receiving constructive feedback and rewriting their piece with the feedback received. They have done this process several times and the teacher has seen significant improvement in their English literature assignments.

There's another student in the extended English literature class too, we'll call them Student D. Student D would like to major in English literature in university and dreams of writing screenplays. During the extended class, they read through poetry by Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou and other well-known poets. They work with the teacher at their own pace to study the techniques and methods used in various poems. The teacher has also seen improvement in Student D's assignments.

These are just simple theoretical examples, but I hope they shed some light into the diversity of students and learning styles within the same class. In the end, a longer school day is only as effective as the intention behind it. It’s not about simply adding time, but about how that time is used - with purpose, partnership and a genuine understanding of each student’s unique learning journey. If we want to truly improve outcomes, we must design school days that meet students where they are and help them grow into who they’re meant to be.

What is your view on extending school days? Do you think school days should actually be shorter? Comment below with your thoughts.