Extracurricular activities can play a central role in K-12 education

Schools are pivoting to rebound from the negative effects the COVID-19 pandemic created for student development, academic achievement, and school culture. As all school constituencies collaborate to reinstitute normalcy, support student development, and maximize academic achievement, extracurricular activities may become more essential than ever. Chad Lang proposes that educators include extracurricular participation in their overall school improvement vision by increasing stakeholder collaboration in goal setting, broadening student participation, and providing professional development for teachers and program sponsors.

Esports Program Development

This chapter is an overview of student interest in scholastic esports, as well as the ties between extracurricular participation and student success. The author provides resources for overcoming obstacles present in the implementation of a scholastic esports program. Student interest in esports is current and is only continuing to grow. By implementing an esports program, teachers and administrators can meet students where their own interests are and possibly create a program that rivals or surpasses interest in other activities at their schools. The author has assisted many schools in starting their own scholastic esports programs and addresses some common misconceptions, provides resources for further research, and outlines some concerns and obstacles that might be faced when starting a program.

Preparing Mass Communications Students for an Evolving Industry: The Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Extracurricular Involvement on Career Adaptability

Career paths of entry-level professionals in media fields are more ambiguous and complex than ever before. To make a successful transition into their careers, graduates must possess career management skills; they should be career adaptable. Grounded in a social psychological approach, a survey of college students ( N = 320) examined how emotional intelligence and extracurricular involvement influences career adaptability. Journalism and mass communications students were compared to other majors along these variables to bring insight into how career management training can be implemented. Results indicated a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and career adaptability, which was enhanced by extracurricular participation.

School Culture and Its Effect on Extracurricular Participation in Hong Kong

Extracurricular participation has displayed positive effects on student development; it is, therefore, worthwhile to investigate the factors that influence students’ willingness and ability to participate in extracurricular activities held by the school. Through a qualitative research design, this study hopes to reveal how school culture and other factors influence extracurricular participation among local high school students in Hong Kong. Focus groups were conducted with students from three local schools, and teachers and administrative staff were interviewed when available. The study focused on four main themes: school and student profile, participation requirements, activity availability, and school mission and academic emphasis. Hand coding and data analysis suggest that principal and school attitudes influenced the activities available, while timing and activity arrangement significantly affected student participation. Overall, there were mixed opinions toward extracurricular activities.