Class size is a huge inhibitor to fostering creative thinkers. In a class of 30 kids, it is nearly impossible to facilitate dialogue among the children on a topic. Instead, the dialogue is between the teacher and each individual child who has something to contribute. Our school breaks kids down into ability groups of 8 to 9 kids during reading and math centers (with 3 to 5 kids going to a remedial teacher in another classroom), which helps with that dialogue during those times. But most of the day is about behaving, being quiet, listening, and "contributing productively."
The teachers value most the children who are able to behave and be quiet and comply. Kids who want to do things differently are disruptive when you have large class sizes. This means that the kids who are most successful in our school system are not the ones who will be most successful in life beyond school, where leadership, creativity, and critical thinking put you ahead.
This whole thread is depressing me, along with the thread on the parenting and advocacy board about the 3rd graders who've lost their fire for learning because of their school environments. Both threads are really hammering on the things I already don't like about our school. But I haven't been able to find a better school, and I've looked at a lot. Our current system has problems, I think people recognize there are problems, but we have a long way to go to solve them. For any parents on this board who had children in elementary school prior to NCLB, I'm wondering if there's a marked difference between then and now?
