Over 48 million children in the United States are enrolled in the public school system alone. With this many children, paired with a shortage of teachers, the idea of maintaining small class sizes might seem impossible. It’s easier in private schools, but even then, teachers can struggle to get class sizes as small as they should be.
Small classes are crucial when it comes to children’s education programs. But why does it matter? What are the benefits of a small class size?
We’re here to talk about it. Read on to learn more.
Better Social Interaction Between Students
It might seem backward, but small class sizes are actually better for teaching students better social skills.
In schools with large class sizes, students have access to more people. That said, they won’t form close-knit relationships with most of those people. They’ll also have more opportunities to “pick and choose” students that they interact with, which reduces their exposure to different types of people.
In a small classroom, students must interact with each other regardless of their differences. This helps them build social skills that they’ll need for the rest of their lives.
This is especially true in boarding school classes where students will spend more time together. Click here to discover more about boarding schools.
Less Stress for Teachers
Many teachers are experiencing burnout. This is causing them to resign. It’s difficult to maintain a classroom that’s too full of students that all need attention.
Grading can take hours, especially if teachers want to give good feedback.
Small class sizes reduce stress on teachers and allow them to spend more time offering help to their students without burning themselves out.
More Attention to Individual Students
Not all students learn in the same way. Some need more individualized attention. In a large classroom, this isn’t always possible because teachers have to teach “to the majority.”
In other words, some children will fall through the cracks if they’re either too advanced or too far behind the rest of the class.
In a small classroom, teachers are able to spend time with individual students and adjust their teaching methods accordingly.
Better Participation
Students who are shy or simply unmotivated often resist participating in classroom discussions. Because there are so many students in a conventional classroom, this can go unnoticed by teachers. There’s no time for everyone to speak.
When class sizes are smaller, every student will have the opportunity (and perhaps obligation) to contribute. Teachers are able to improve student participation and shy students may feel more confident speaking up when there are fewer people around.
Small Class Sizes Are Crucial
With so many students, maintaining small class sizes seems impractical. Schools shouldn’t over-fill classes in order to accommodate more students. It’s bad for students and bad for teachers.
If you have a school-aged child, do your best to ensure that they go to a school with smaller class sizes. It will help them thrive.
For more articles all about education and more, visit the rest of the site.