Teacher Perception about Excessive Amounts of Extracurricular Activities that Interfere with Regular Classes

Abstract

This article addresses teacher perception regarding how excessive amounts of extracurricular activities could interfere with regular lessons and, ultimately, affect student academic performance. A survey probing personal opinions regarding this phenomenon was completed by thirty teachers from public and private primary schools and high schools in the Costa Rican province of Puntarenas. The main objective of this study was not only to determine teacher perception, but also to compare collected data with already existing theory on this subject. Results show that even though some of those activities are relevant in training students to become good citizens and future professionals, an overload of extracurricular activities will negatively impact their achievements and knowledge acquisition.