Perhaps you are thinking about teaching in a boarding school in the future, or maybe you just started teaching in a boarding school during the current academic year If you come from a public school, you will find several differences between teaching in a public school and teaching in a boarding school. If you are a new teacher, we will raise several points and issues for you to consider.
Students who want to be there
Teachers want to teach. We love our subject. We want to share it with our students. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to teach when you are more concerned about maintaining order in your classroom than you are with actually teaching. Maintaining order is an ever-present issue when you have a large class of 30 or 40 students. On the other hand, teaching a small class of 12-15 students allows you to engage your students more or less constantly. It is very difficult for students not to be engaged when the size of the class is small. There really is no place for them to hide.
This video illustrates teaching at Lawrenceville School using Harkness tables.
Students attend boarding school for many reasons. Most of all, their parents want them to get a first-rate education in a well-supervised environment. Parents often have demanding careers that do not permit them to be available when their high school-age children are not