I am, perhaps, going to become a secondary English teacher someday (I hope!), and as I have been looking over recent job openings for the fall, I came across something new. It is something called Smaller Learning Communities, and, as far as I can tell, it allows students to create a more intimate school experience, much like that of small schools. I, personally like the idea. It seems to have all sorts of great implications, such as allowing teachers to work more one-on-one with students, helping students to feel more cared about at the school (hopefully preventing more Columbine shootings and other such circumstances), etc. I can think of a few negative ideas that might go along with this, too, though, such as the power of smaller schools to create tremendous peer pressure and its tendancy to ostricize outcasts.
Here are some links with more information.
http://www.cnpschools.org/choctawHS/SLC.htm
http://www.cnpschools.org/curriculum/smallerLearningCommunities.htm
Maybe you are a teacher in one of these communities, or perhaps you were a student who experienced it. Or maybe, like me, the idea is new to you. Regardless your situation, what are your thoughts on the subject?
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My dad was in the military so when I was much younger some of the schools I went to were small. I think at one time there were only 8 of us in a class. It was actually wonderful getting more individual attention and those of us that were more advanced were encouraged to branch out in independent study and also help those that weren't as accelerated as we were. It also allowed us to have a different level of teacher/student relationship. The only misgiving we had was that there weren't other people around to buffer us if we had difficulties with another classmate.
ReplyDeleteI went to both large and small schools. I have also taught in both large and small schools. My personal preference is the smaller environment. I know that larger schools have more options for extracurricular activities and things of that nature, but I felt more a part of a community and thrived in the opportunity of doing a variety of activities that a smaller school provides.
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