Rethinking Numbers
Let’s talk a little bit about numbers. In an average public school you have 500-1000 students. There are all kind of implications that result from this fact: Usually, you will see kids sit in a straight line in the class room, walk in a straight line from class to class, have a snack break at the same time, need to get a permission to go to the restroom, eat lunch at the same time while sitting in their chairs and having adults serving them food and even napkins, almost never clean their class and much more examples.
It is clear to me that there is no room for blaming the students: these are the rules dictated to them. Of course, there is no room for blaming the teachers: this is the system, and they play by its rules. I have a certain feeling that even the system that set these rules is hard to blame. After all, the main idea behind these rules is the desire to maintain order. If 300 students start going around to get their own food, there will be an endless mess, and this mess can be prevented in advance if you simply prevent the students from getting up.
But the result is so frustrating. What message does a 10-year-old student get when she sits like the queen of England every day at 12:30, and around her sweaty women rush to serve her food, cutlery and napkins? What does he learn from the fact that the class is messy and dirty by the end of the day and clean again at the morning just like magic? What does he learn about his own abilities, his independence, what is expected of him?
There is a huge difference between a school that has 60 students, or even 100 students, ranging from 1st grades through 5th grades, to a school with 600 or 1,000 students. By the fact that schools contain hundreds or thousands of students, they are committed to a very strict set of rules that’s hard to avoid: first, rules related to the security of so many students, and then to maintaining order. There are many discussions about the adult-students ratio, but in my view the basic number of students is a less discussed, but not less significant.
The Acton model is completely different. The basic idea is to have a much smaller school – a micro school – that includes all the grades starting kindergarten and up to 12th grade and that is divided into three studios: an elementary studio with up to 35 students, a middle studio with up to 35 students and a Launchpad with up to 35 students.Such quantity of students allows much greater intimacy. It allows high school students to be leaders of elementary students, and to act as role models for them. In this model there is no need for a large numbers of adults. In fact, Acton’s model is to have about 3 to 6 guides for each school. When there are so few students who grow up together from a young age, a kind of consolidated tribe is formed,which allows all its members to grow in a communal and intimate environment,almost like a large family. Research on tribe suggests that groups up to 35 tend to form as one coherent tribe, while groups of between 35 and 50 people will start splitting up into two tribes.
In a school with 100 students, it’s possible to allow any Eagle to eat when she is hungry. Students can be allowed to get their own meals, heat them up and serve them to themselves. It’s possible to let the students be responsible for the studio maintenance (including vacuuming and toilet cleaning!). It is possible to allow each student to progress at his own pace. Students can be grouped according to a variety of criteria and not only by the month of their birth. It is possible to form a community that includes the students’ families that spend time together outside of school. Students can be allowed to take a break whenever they feel they need one, without asking anyone for permission. Students can be given the freedom to learn while lying down on the floor or on the beanbag if it’s more comfortable for them, with or without headphones. It is possible to design a school that looks and feels warm and cozy like home.
I do believe that it is possible for each of these points to be implemented separately even in a school of 1,000 students, but it is much, much more difficult, and implementing all of them together is nearly impossible.
I feel that in the 21st century an attempt should be made to understand whether the model of huge schools containing hundreds or thousands of students, has led us into a dead end. We should ask if it is possible and appropriate to replace it with a new, smaller, more intimate and more tribal model.