News
When COVID-19 caused schools across the country to close in 2020, many parents found themselves scrambling for an alternative to homeschooling or online learning. For some, the answer was learning pods or micro-schools. Now, nearly five years after the first school closures, this method of education is on the rise, with over 1 million U.S. students enrolled in some sort of micro-school.
What is a micro-school?
While there is no single definition for micro-schools, they usually have small class sizes and often unconventional learning methods. Still, these groups can come in many forms and follow any number of educational philosophies. And like the modern version of a one-room schoolhouse that many of our great grandparents attended, they have multi-age learning groups.
Some micro-schools are run like homeschooling co-ops and meet in homes or churches. Parents either serve as teachers or combine resources to hire a teacher. These may or may not be accredited or legally recognized as schools. Other micro-schools are operated privately by former public school teachers or by corporations. There’s even a movement in Catholic education to open micro-schools in underserved communities or in large cities like Los Angeles, where the diocese runs three of them.
It’s easy to imagine why learning pods and micro-schools formed during the pandemic. But why are they increasing in the U.S. today?
Benefits of micro-schooling
1. Smaller class sizes
Parents and teachers alike recognize the many advantages of smaller class sizes, including more one-on-one attention and fewer discipline problems. Because one of the main tenets of micro-schools is to provide specialized learning in a small class environment, parents don’t have to worry that their children will be one of 25-30 kids—even as micro-schooling becomes more mainstream. That would go against the whole small, learning pod philosophy behind these schools.
2. Multi-age learning
The multi-age classroom is a fairly foreign concept to modern Americans. However, not many generations ago they were the norm–particularly in rural communities. Multi-age classes tend to be less competitive and more individualized. This is because students are often allowed to work at their own pace and are treated as individuals rather than as a group. Multi-age groups are more likely to develop a family-like culture with older students helping and looking out for their younger classmates—a confidence booster for everyone.
3. A compatible learning philosophy
Micro-schools typically offer alternative learning methods to those found in a traditional classroom. Parents often opt for a micro-school because they are looking for a learning environment compatible with their family’s values or personal education philosophy. This could mean anything from a tech-centered school to an all-weather school to a parochial school. The point is that micro-schools are often designed for a specific clientele with specific values and learning goals.
4. A strong community
Because micro-schools are small and often comprised of families with similar values, they naturally develop into strong, close-knit communities. This goes beyond just sitting together at events or socializing outside of school. As a rule, the parents involve themselves heavily in their children’s education and often work together, as well as with the teacher, to ensure the best possible learning environment.
5. A great option for families and for teachers
For a teacher who still has a passion for education but who has become discouraged by the unmanageable demands of the modern classroom, starting or working for a micro-school could be a great solution. There are a multitude of resources online that address issues like funding, insurance, curriculum, and nearly anything else one might need to know to get started.
As with any curriculum or educational method, micro-schools aren’t for everyone. Families seeking a lot of extra-curricular activities or a large social pool will likely find the smallness of micro-schools unsatisfying. And because most of them favor unconventional approaches to teaching and learning, not every micro-school is a fit for every family. Still, one positive outcome of the pandemic was that it forced a lot of people to rethink what a good education can look like. And even though many micro-schools cropped up to fill a short-term need, with their small class sizes, individualized learning, and strong communities, it’s likely they are here to stay.
