Small and Steady by Brooke

Small and Steady by Brooke - October 2014 Scholarship Essay

It's been years since I was able to enjoy a class that contained less than thirty students. With dozens of others vying for the attention of the instructors, it's difficult to form a professional relationship with my teachers and discover the answers to the questions that plague me. As classrooms increase in size, the personal time that instructors designate to each student has decreased, to the point where there is hardly any one-on-one guidance at all. For both teachers and students, the issue of growing classrooms is essential.

With smaller classroom sizes comes greater achievements for all students. An ideal classroom environment would be one where all participants are granted attention from their instructors, so that they may be taught in a way that is tailored to their individual needs, rather than a broad curriculum. Forcing every student to conform to a particular learning style can be harmful. For example, a student that does poorly on tests will not be receiving an education that is valuable to them, unless they are given the tools to succeed in other ways.

If the size of classrooms decrease, each teacher will be able to focus on certain individuals, and they will begin to understand and adapt to the learning styles of their students. It is in this way that students will absorb more information, will retain knowledge better, and will boost their likelihood of attending college. A welcoming environment that is open to any queries and accepts mistakes is required in order to provide students with a proper education. The distinction between visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning and how they fit each student is often made, but merely as an amusing exercise, rather than a serious evaluation of the best way to teach. In a smaller classroom, teachers would be able to use these styles and cater to students accordingly, massively improving their performance in academics.

Education is more than a vast curriculum that covers the entire spectrum of school subjects. Education entails growth in character, the expanding of horizons, and the ability to critically think and consider real world problems. The ideal classroom environment, to me, would be one in which a teacher is allowed to pay every single student with an equal amount of undivided attention. It would help me succeed in my education by providing to me the tools that I personally need to learn. Rote memorization and cramming will not assist me later in life, yet I am forced to resort to these tactics in order to earn high grades. Smaller classroom sizes provide the opportunity to fully immerse myself in each subject, and emerge with a higher understanding of each topic. With reduced classroom sizes, I will be free to learn in the way that benefits me most.