Twenty students sat riveted in Omar Hakim’s “Theory of Knowledge” literature class at Detroit Country Day as they studied motifs in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Hakim engaged the students in conversation, often peppering them with questions even if they hadn’t raised their hand. “David, what do you notice when you look at that picture?” he asked as he showed the students works of art to help them explore the concept of motifs. “Jessica, what do you notice? What do you think I’m trying to demonstrate?” Hakim previously taught in a public high school where he had six class sections with some 30 students in each, making it difficult to focus on any individual teen. At Detroit Country Day, not only does he teach four sections with a maximum of 20 students in each, he was also able to create his own course, “Contemporary Multicultural Voices.” At an independent school, he says, “you have the opportunity to use your creativity to create something new without the barriers in place in public school.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/03/what-if-america-didnt-have-public-schools/552308/