Advantages of extracurricular activities for rural environment students

  1. Margarita Pino Juste 1
  2. Lucía Pumares Lavandeira 1
  1. 1 Universidade de Vigo
    info

    Universidade de Vigo

    Vigo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/05rdf8595

Liburua:
Search and research [Recurso electrónico]: teacher education for contemporary contexts
  1. Juanjo Mena (coord.)
  2. Ana García-Valcárcel (coord.)
  3. Francisco José García Peñalvo (coord.)
  4. Marta Martín del Pozo (coord.)

Argitaletxea: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca ; Universidad de Salamanca

ISBN: 978-84-9012-769-8

Argitalpen urtea: 2017

Orrialdeak: 679-687

Biltzarra: Biennial Conference of ISATT (18. 2017. Salamanca)

Mota: Biltzar ekarpena

Laburpena

Extracurricular activities refer to the activities that students undertake outside the core school curriculum. They are characterized by a structure, an organization and adult supervision. The extracurricular activities are expected to enrich students’ experiences, develop their abilities, help them to face different situations, etc. Therefore, many research studies focus on identifying the benefits derived from students’ participation in these activities. The present study is aimed at determining, through an interpretative approach, the advantages of extracurricular activities and their relationship with academic achievement for rural environment students. The sample consists of 321 students who reside in rural areas and are enrolled in the 5th and 6th year of Primary Education. The results of the study show that the majority of students (92.8%) attend extracurricular activities, the most common being academic activities and sports (26.8%). In addition, both parents and children find participation in extracurricular activities useful (98% and 90.9%, respectively) and report that, for example, these activities promote self-management, self-responsibility, autonomy, organizational skills (15.6%), as well as social skills (14.1%). Finally, attendance at extracurricular activities is related to a higher academic performance in the field of foreign language learning (p=.040).