Abstract
Breakfast clubs are widely promoted as having a beneficial impact on children’s behavior at the start of the school day, which can be conducive to their learning within the classroom. However, the few available studies that have considered the impact of breakfast club attendance on children’s behavior have yielded mixed results and no studies to date have directly observed children’s behavior within the breakfast club setting. Using a combination of real-time observation and filmed breakfast club footage, the aims of the current study were to: (1) devise a set of observational criteria appropriate for use in the breakfast club setting; (2) investigate the occurrence of both positive and negative behaviors. A sample of 30 children aged between 3 and 11 years were recruited from 3, opportunistically sampled primary school breakfast clubs in the North East of England, UK. The behaviors they displayed within the breakfast club setting on two separate days were observed and coded for subsequent analysis. Results of the investigation showed that children’s behavior could be classified into three positive and three negative behavioral categories. Using these categories to code children’s behavior as they engaged in breakfast club showed that children displayed more positive than negative behaviors within the breakfast club setting and this was the case regardless of the type of activity (i.e., quiet or boisterous) children were involved in. Findings are discussed in relation to breakfast club policy, implementation, and evaluation.
Highlights
The amount of time a child spends concentrating on a task is probably the most important aspect of learning [1]; it is plausible to argue that persistent disruptive behavior has the potential to be detrimental to children’s long-term academic performance as it reduces the amount of time that children spend focusing on school-related tasks [2]
Positive behaviors were classified as those behaviors deemed appropriate within the context of the breakfast club; children’s engagement in these behaviors did not result in another person being hurt or upset and did not lead to children being reprimanded by staff
Comparisons made between the Breakfast Club Room and the Hall showed that there was no significant difference between the number of positive behaviors (Z = 1.49; p = 0.13) or the number of negative behaviors (Z = 1.49; p = 0.13) displayed in each room
Summary
The amount of time a child spends concentrating on a task is probably the most important aspect of learning [1]; it is plausible to argue that persistent disruptive behavior has the potential to be detrimental to children’s long-term academic performance as it reduces the amount of time that children spend focusing on school-related tasks [2]. Children’s behavior in the classroom is likely to be important at the start of the school day as this is the time that schools in the UK tend to teach core subjects such as English and Mathematics [3]. Prior to the start of formal learning in the classroom, some children across the UK choose to spend time in a school breakfast club. School breakfast clubs are a type of before school provision that typically take place on the school premises immediately prior to the start of the formal school day. Many clubs offer children opportunities to partake in structured activities before they move on to class for the start of the formal school day [for a review, see Defeyter et al [4]]. There is a common perception among some educators and advocates
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