Tackling Parents’ Concerns When it Comes to School Size

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Angeli Zhao attended the British School of Abu Dhabi (BISAD), comprised of approximately 1,400 students. 

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Isabella Cao goes to AISB Hope International, an international school in Beijing with a total student body of around 100.

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Q

Do you think it was easy gaining leadership roles in your school?

Isabella: Small schools teach us how to become more independent, responsible, and how to be a leader. Small schools give everyone a chance to be a leader, and no child is left behind. With fewer students in each class, the students can get comfortable with everyone, making it much easier for shy students to try out for leadership positions. With more focus on learning in the classroom, students will participate and engage in the subjects more, and increase overall productivity in and out of school. Summing it all up, it’s very easy gaining leadership in small schools.

Angeli: No, I’d say it was comparatively much more difficult. Of course, I was a different character then, and that could’ve also been a factor that made me less enticing to be voted for “House Captain” or “Head Girl,” however, the hurdles to gain “elitist” leadership roles were especially apparent. Our school followed an overtly democratic system of voting for most leadership roles, and this engendered the conceptualization that only the “popular” students could gain these roles. Truth be told, this is not dissimilar to what the real world is like, but to an 11-year-old who saw everyone centralizing themselves around the notion of being “popular,” it did lead to some self-doubt and lower self-esteem at times.

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Do you think your school had a strong sense of unity and community?

Isabella: Small schools have a really strong sense of unity. Everyone knows everyone, it’s normal for middle schoolers to be good friends with high schoolers, and everyone will be friendly to you. You won’t get lost in the crowd, and most importantly, you won’t get bullied. As we have few students, it’s easy for teachers to spot a problem going on between students. Fewer people in classes means more unity and teamwork. In all grades, everyone is close and comfortable with each other, and almost no one is shy during a presentation, answering questions, and participating in the class. Everyone is like one big family.

Angeli: Due to our school being so big, it would be senseless to think that all 1,400 students, 3,000 parents, and 500 staff could be unified ideologically and physically through our school’s moral values and curriculum. Nevertheless, there were distinct, subcategorized branches of groups allocated, almost entirely by your ethnicity. If you were a Korean parent of a Korean student, for example, you would find yourself in a Whatsapp group with all other Korean parents of the school within the first few days of your arrival, where you could voice opinions and conduct discussions on almost anything regarding the school. If you had a complaint to make in a big school, it’s almost guaranteed you would need the support of your circle to gain bargaining power. These subcategories also made it difficult for interracial interactions. I remember the first few days I arrived, I was asked multiple times whether I was Korean from parents and older students whom I never interacted with after I voiced that I was in fact, fully Chinese.

Q

What were some difficulties you faced going to your school?

Isabella: One of the difficulties a lot of small schools have is that there are not as many opportunities for after-school activities. Small schools still have a lot of after-school activities, but some children might not find the exact activities they want. As a result, a lot of parents don’t really give small schools a chance. They pay more attention to big schools because of their opportunities, bigger facilities with impressive swimming pools, big gyms, and big libraries without paying attention to what’s more suitable for their children.

Angeli: Fitting in was hard, in fact, I don’t think I ever did. It had to do with everyone else being cliqued together by either ethnicity or regionalism and most importantly, my introverted personality. I had two really nice Korean friends with whom I stayed, but there always seemed to be a divide linguistically and ideologically. There were only three other Chinese people in my entire school in different years, and so I couldn’t bond with them either. I felt displaced at times and never made wholehearted friendships. My grades were neither stellar nor deficient, but this didn’t help with the fact that I felt like I was simply part of the majority, the undistinguished, average student, and this catalyzed me being unmotivated to pursue my interests. I think this was largely due to the teachers having to tailor their classes to larger groups of students, and so not many regarded individualism as that important, only a few at the top.

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Do you think your school was able to provide diversified opportunities outside of school that was equivalent to other schools of different sizes?

Isabella: Obviously small schools don’t have as many opportunities outside of school as big schools have. However, we still have a lot of them and still participate in most of the sports tournaments, art exhibitions, and musicals. Small schools usually have all the sports the big schools have such as soccer, volleyball, and basketball, and are still pretty active with the art and music departments. In my experience, I feel like I had a good amount of opportunities outside of school, and participated in all sports and had ISAC tournaments, and had quite a few art exhibitions, and musicals. I’d say we have quite a lot of opportunities in small schools, but just not equal to bigger schools.

Angeli: Our extracurriculars were very diverse, and looking back, I realized I missed a lot of opportunities due to laziness and nescience. Looking over the wide range of Co-Curricular Activities (CCA’s), there were collaborations with Julliard for performing arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for STEAM, and competitions hosted both at home and at other schools for sports. I think one of the main advantages of bigger schools is that they offer opportunities for a wider and more sophisticated range of subjects. I was never deprived of opportunities, I just felt unmotivated to accomplish them.

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Did your school make you more open-minded through multiethnic and interracial dialogue?

Isabella: Since my school is an international school, it definitely makes us more open-minded through multiethnic dialogue. We might not have a lot of students, but there sure are a lot of different cultural backgrounds. Since everybody knows everyone, you will get used to all the people from different countries, which will make you more open-minded about different races. You won’t be judged for where you came from, or where your parents are from, because, as I said before, we are like one big family.

Angeli: Yes, but I think I credit the entirety of my environment and not just my school for making me more open-minded. Living in a Middle Eastern country, the weather, the heritage, the people, and the international expat community allowed me to gain insight and challenge my existing beliefs on many short-sighted ideas that I carried. I witnessed the increasingly cosmopolitan city, the rapidly increasing population, and the diversification of the economy and workforce in the city which all added to my values and outlook on the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, and Abu Dhabi.

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Do you think the amount and variety of facilities and equipment in your school coincided with your interests?

Isabella: Small schools, or at least my school, definitely do their best to provide us with equipment and facilities for our hobbies and interests. My school has all the sports equipment we need for soccer, volleyball, basketball, and more. When we need equipment – whether for art, science, or physical education – they most likely have it. They sure meet with our interests and do their best to provide for our needs. So, we don’t really have to worry too much about small schools not having enough equipment for a student’s needs.

Angeli: In terms of facilities and equipment, I believe large schools definitely have the benefit. Our school was complete with a library, drama studios, three music suites, science labs, playing courts, playing fields, on-site coffee shop, and a sports center which consisted of an indoor semi-Olympic sized swimming pool, a large gym, and a huge covered and air-conditioned multi-purpose hall that can be used for basketball, volleyball, tennis, and other sports. It was certainly the most facilitated and well-equipped school I had ever attended and in hindsight, is incredibly beneficial to any student. As for coinciding with interest, I believe the sheer degree of extensive equipment makes it near impossible to not be able to find something that tickles your fancy.

This article appeared in the jingkids 2021 July-August issue

Images: Mina Yan, Pexels

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