Who doesn't love recess? At a school, recess is the time for play, socializing with friends and running around joining pick-up games of Four Square or soccer. Recess is the 'dominant cultural model' used to describe the downtime period after lunch. When I ask my students what their favorite part of the day is, the answer is often an emphatic, "RECESS!!" [In a different context, the meaning of 'recess' changes. My niece is a bailiff for Hartford Superior Court - recess to her means the period of time when the court's proceedings are temporarily suspended. During a court recess, she may not leave the courthouse.] Connotations of this recess include freedom, choice, anything goes. Not the case at our school. We have a long list posted near the cafeteria exit door enumerating the "DO NOTs" of recess: Do not play football. Do not sit on the monkey bars. Do not twist the swing chains. Do not hang from the soccer goals. A bit of a conflict, no?
Another cultural model that is at work in my school district is that of art. In Connecticut, most public schools employ some form of art education to their K-12 students. Painting, drawing, design, craft, sculpture, music, dance, and more, are explored by our youngsters. The standard cultural model of art in the public schools looks something like this:
The following is a video of the grade 1-2 performance synthesizing their work with resident artist Rachna Agrawal.
"High School Arts Take a Back Seat to Core Classes." CJ375 Reports. N.p., 9 May 2014. Web.
Abbott, Julie. "Assemblies." Life in Room 19. N.p., 4 May 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014.
Gee, James Paul. Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses. London: Routledge, 2012. Print.
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