At the end of my book Learning is Natural, School is Optional: the North Star approach to offering teens a head start on life, I shared my dream that current schools transform into the equivalent of community centers or community colleges, based on voluntary attendance. I wrote that I didn’t expect this sort of change to happen anytime soon, perhaps not even in my lifetime, as the structure of schooling has remained fairly stable for over a century. Well, sometimes social change can happen suddenly, and I felt thrilled to read to a recent New York Times article proposing Safe Centers for Online Learning (SCOLs.) This simple idea of using the school as a voluntary resource center instead of as a compulsory attendance program offers an extraordinarily useful response to COVID-19.
The premise of SCOLs is simple:
Allow schools to offer only virtual classes this fall, and convert schools and other large unused spaces into Safe Centers for Online Learning. We could call them not schools, but “SCOLs.”
The vision for the space sounds like what I have been proposing for years:
In addition to schools, we could create these centers in many large venues that will sit vacant this fall, such as convention centers, stadiums, performing arts centers and parks.
The author suggests that these centers could fulfill some of the urgent needs many families are facing: a safe place for children to spend the day; welcoming and professional adults to help with the academics; reliable free internet service; breakfast and lunch for those families relying on school meals; counseling services for those facing difficult times; and special education services for students requiring such support.
At the same time, attendance would be voluntary, and local schools might be able to space out students and staff in ways that feel safer than if all students were required to attend.
I understand that schools would expect students to be completing their school’s online curriculum and assignments, but I wonder if it would be possible for these centers to welcome students who have legally chosen homeschooling and are working on other curriculum or projects.
Of course, students and staff spending time in SCOLs would have to abide by COVID-19 policies, such as wearing facemasks and observing social distancing expectations. Further, students would need to comply with the general building rules around behavior.
Just close your eyes and ponder this vision for a moment: School is online for 2020-2021, and most students will be utilizing their public-or-private-school-assigned-curriculum. The school building is open for a limited number of students who may come for part or all of the day to work on their curriculum in the building. Students spending time in the school will behave as if they are in a library or a community center, finding reasonable adults and resources to help them complete their assignments.
This vision seems powerful and simple to me. I feel a wave of relief and a bit of surprise as I run through this scene in my imagination. Schools as resource centers for those who want it, staffed by adults who find the situation manageable and therefore safe. As a bonus, I don’t see how this would cost any more money than trying to run regular schools. I would hope that students, parents, teachers, administrators and lawmakers could work together to solve the logistical challenges I am overlooking smoothly and effectively.
SCOLs offer a public solution to a public problem using public resources. Simply tweaking compulsory attendance to voluntary attendance is the key element towards a solution.
In addition to SCOLs, the news has been full of articles about the emergence of “Pod Schooling” as a private response to COVID-19. The idea is that local families might join up with others who share a curriculum and interests, and who also are responding to the virus in a similar way.
These families can then work together following a public or private school online curriculum, a homeschooling curriculum, or follow a more relaxed unschooling approach together. In some cases, these families will pay significant amounts of money to hire teachers for their pods, while in other cases the parents will manage on their own. I love the creativity and grassroots response of families working together to invent a solid option for themselves and their neighbors. I am confident that “Pod-schooling” will work quite well for high-functioning families and those with means.
However, I can imagine any number of teens and parents I have known over the past several decades who would not do well participating in this sort of informal structure, for any number of reasons. The parents do not possess the initiative on their own to find or create a Pod; students will not want to attend a pod; and many families will be left out or overlooked, just for starters. Sustaining a small group learning experience, such as a homeschooling coop, is much harder than we wish. One of the reasons many lifelong independent homeschoolers join North Star is because they find it difficult to find and maintain a suitable group learning group on their own.
Also, many Pandemic Pods will focus on reproducing school at home, using a full-time curriculum with paid teachers to establish a familiar experience. While such a goal is entirely legal and understandable, the vision of small groups banding together to keep school-like learning proceeding on their own does not send inspirational shivers down my spine. My colleague in self-directed learning, Julie Mink Schiffman, lives in California near the center of this “Pod” energy, and has offered her own helpful summary of Pods vs. Homeschooling.
Our society will need all of these solutions, and I do support and encourage all sorts of experiments by parents, students, teachers, and even school boards in response to the life- threatening challenges of our current situation. Let’s see a thousand flowers bloom and appreciate the results. I encourage those with resources and confidence to keep an eye out for their neighbors and find ways to be inviting and inclusive as they create their favorite options.
In other news:
I was saddened and shocked to learn about the sudden passing of North Star alumnus Michael Brooks last week. Michael was a member of North Star during our first two years, 1996-1998, when we were known as Pathfinder. He enjoyed political debate when I met him at age 12, and he was a strong contributor to Social Issues class, among other groups. Michael had gone on to co-host a well-known political show called The Majority Report, and he also had his own show, The Michael Brooks Show. He was well-loved by his colleagues and listeners, as demonstrated by this written remembrance and this video testimonial. We send best wishes and fond memories to his family, friends, and community.
