Schools Should Be Small!
I don't know about this. I went to a small school and hated it. Everybody knew everybody - as Belshaw says - which meant that there was no social mobility. I was at the bottom of a very fixed pecking order; I couldn't just find another social group to hang out with, because there wasn't one (I eventually left home and completed high school at a large high school in Ottawa, Nepean High School - I was living in Hull, Quebec, at the time, but gave them fake address information in order to be admitted). What should be created? Something that gives people choice and mobility. A system with large schools and small schools, online schools and local schools, with specialized schools, experience progarms and general schools. The idea that there is one model for schools that serves everyone is absurd, and should be abandoned. Doug Belshaw, Weblog, January 31, 2008. [Link] [Tags: Schools, Online Learning, Experience] [Previous][Next]Comments
Re: Schools Should Be Small!
Hi there,
I teach music for the Center for Distance Learning and Innovations in NL, CA. Many of my students' schools are very small (<20 students k-12). I agree with you that there is very little social mobility for students in these situations. That being said, on several occasions I have seen students develop meaningful and longterm friendships with 'online' classmates.
In my teaching I try to create an environment that will facilitate social interaction between isolated students - there is much room for improvement.
Andrew Mercer
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Re: Schools Should Be Small!
Andrew makes a valid point about the whole world being a potential classroom. Schools can be small yet contribute to and be part of something much bigger.
How much 'social mobility' happens in schools anyway? It would take a very strong individual to be completely unlike his or her parents/guardians during their formative years. In my experience the 'social mobility' you talk of, Stephen, happens once an individual has left school. That's certainly the case with a good number of people I've reconnected with on Facebook... ;-) [Comment]
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Copyright 2008 Stephen Downes
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