Schoolyard Conditions and Recess Practice: Canadian Principals’ Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The present study employed a cross-sectional mixed methods survey design to examine 123 elementary school principals’ perspectives on recess – more specifically their perceptions of the value of recess, major recess-related challenges, organizational and environmental constraints, supervision practices, policy considerations, and factors that may support higher quality recess experiences. The study applied a mixed-format design using both closed and open-ended items in an anonymous online survey. The open-ended items were analyzed via an inductive qualitative thematic analysis informed by Braun and Clarke (2006, 2019) and others. Results of quantitative frequency analysis was reported alongside the following three interconnected summative themes: (1) the developmental importance of recess; (2) the organizational, environmental, and relational conditions shaping recess experiences; and (3) the broader institutional structures influencing how recess was supported within schools. Collectively, these themes positioned recess not simply as a break within the school day, but as a complex developmental, relational, organizational, and institutional environment shaped by interactions among supervision practices, physical environments, funding structures, institutional policies, and opportunities for student participation and engagement.