Breaking the Mold: How Learning Pods Can Reshape Education

-- By GhaliaAamer - 23 Feb 2024

Institutionalization in Schools

Personal Experience

I remember walking single file with one finger up to my lips. I was five years old walking down the school hallway with the rest of my class. It was a simple gesture, but one that symbolized the larger framework of traditional schooling. This early lesson in obedience and silence was the beginning of a journey through a system that prioritized compliance over creativity, and uniformity over individuality.

Promoting Conformity

Whether it be silencing five year olds or assigning numerical grades to categorize children, the traditional school system promotes conformity to the ideal student stereotype. Some schools even go so far as to require children to wear the same uniforms every day, creating a visual representation of the conformity expectations. The pressure to conform creates a competitive atmosphere. Students become more focused on outperforming their peers rather than learning for the sake of knowledge (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8775910/).

Diminishing Creativity and Individuality

As I facilitated a speech program for a sixth grade class, I found the children brimming with enthusiasm, ready to share their ideas. The excitement quickly vanished as their teacher started handing back unit exams midway through the activity. Murmurs began with children comparing grades with one another and the class transitioned from a group of unique individuals to a herd of sheep, each vying to excel within the rigid confines of the educational institution. This abrupt shift highlighted the impact of traditional grading systems on students' motivation and sense of individuality as the focus shifted from collaborative learning to competitive ranking.

Impacting Children's Development and Sense of Self

The pressure to conform can contribute to feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem, as children may feel they are not good enough if they do not meet the expectations set by the system (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.690828/full). Often, this means that children with special learning needs or gifted talents in areas other than academics are left behind. As a consequence of a diminishing sense of self among these children, they get discouraged from pursuing their passions. The traditional school system both limits the potential of individual students and suppresses the diversity of talents and perspectives that could enrich the educational experience for all (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02366/full). As these same students then transition into the workforce, they carry on with those learned behaviors and struggle to become leaders. The professional world sees the similar negative impacts such as lack of diversity in leadership due to the ineffective schooling system that treats everyone as cogs in a machine (https://academic.oup.com/her/article/19/4/357/560320).

Learning Pods as an Alternative

But what could be a potential solution to this significant problem that has only piled up over centuries?

Learning pods are a unique alternative that are emerging in certain communities, particularly among homeschooling families. A learning pod consists of a small group of six to ten children who go through the curriculum with a designated facilitator. Children often study together in one home and participate in activities together. The close-knit, interactive nature of the learning pods encourages greater creativity, learning, and discussions. Compared to traditional classroom settings, learning pods can provide a deeper educational experience for children (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15582159.2017.1395638).

Socialization and Community in Learning Pods

Learning pods are small, tightly-knit groups allowing students to develop strong bonds, fostering a sense of belonging and support. Unlike traditional classrooms, where social interactions are limited by class size, learning pods encourage meaningful connections through shared experiences and collaborative learning. This close interaction allows children to develop essential social skills such as communication, teamwork, and empathy (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290310181_In_the_nexus_Learning_pods_as_learning_micro-societies).

Equity and Accessibility in Learning Pods

By their nature, learning pods can be more flexible and adaptable to the diverse needs of students, including those with disabilities or special needs. The smaller group sizes enable students to receive more personalized attention and support. Learning pods can also be used as a tool to facilitate meaningful educational opportunities in remote areas.

Criticism of Learning Pods

Economic Feasibility

Learning pods may be seen as homeschooling conducted by a group of parents. Such an arrangement is often perceived as financially out of reach for many families. However, many learning pod programs are emerging led by stay at home parents. If the government steps in to compensate parents fairly, the system can transform to provide smaller group learning for all students. While implementation will take time, it is possible with the reallocation of resources (https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/2204.04701).

Education Equity

In light of COVID-19, differences in socio-economic status exacerbated inequalities due to the lack of centralized and structured support (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261114). Learning pods can actually be the solution to addressing these inequalities. Furthermore, there may be concerns regarding the replacement of trained workers with uncertified parents as instructors. These issues can be alleviated by having learning pods regulated through the public education system rather than seen as a separate alternative such as homeschooling. By integrating a learning pod system into existing infrastructure by training the designated learning pod leaders, for instance, we can merge the existing system with a new learning pod structure while ensuring educational equity for all.

Convincing the General Population

Beyond economic feasibility, another challenge will involve backlash from those who are stuck in the traditional schooling system. These people have likely gone through it themselves and become convinced of its supposed effectiveness. Adaptive change will be necessary to garner the support of the population to create a new educational path. Successful adaptive challenge management will involve addressing the needs of various stakeholders.

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