Are the School Within A School (SWS) English classes better than the mainstream English classes? Fellow students often approach me with this question, curious if joining SWS will enhance their humanities education. This year, I decided to take both mainstream and SWS English classes, and as a result, I finally have an answer.
SWS is a small democratic program dedicated to giving students a voice in their education, with an emphasis on the English classes they take. Each student can take two semester-long courses from a range of topics they voted on the year prior. There are a plethora of classes to choose from this year, including Literature of Love, Dark Literature, Literature of the Plague, Writing for the Screen and more. These are all mixed grade level and discussion-based classes.
In mainstream English, each student is required to take the same year-long courses up until senior year: Responding to Literature, World Literature, and American Literature, with a few alternatives such as Future World Lit and Asian American Literature. In senior year, students in the mainstream classes can choose from a broader variety of year-long courses: British Literature, Fiction and Film, The Craft of Writing and more.
The core of an SWS class is the community it fosters. Each student, regardless of age, is deeply engaged due to the welcoming nature of each class. There is a stark difference in participation between mainstream classes and SWS ones. In my mainstream class, I can see a fear of making mistakes, which causes people to shy away from participating to their fullest extent. The community-building in SWS fosters safer relationships between students, which allows for richer class discussions and more voices sharing their diverse perspectives.
Due to SWS’ unique, student-led curriculum, some important units of study are not always covered as they are in the main school. Throughout the years of high school, many English classes will teach their students grammar rules or vocabulary words to build their writing technique and descriptive language. These valuable skills don’t always make it into SWS classes. Furthermore, many SWS students may take classes that don’t involve reading classics from the American canon, such as “The Great Gatsby” or “Song of Solomon,” that are so valued in the main school.
Often in mainstream English classes, a classmate’s writing is typically only read by the teacher and the occasional peer editor. In SWS, there are drafting groups where multiple students provide constructive feedback, giving peers the tools they need to grow as writers. Afterward, students read their writing aloud to their entire class. While this may seem frightening at first, for many students it quickly becomes one of the most cherished aspects of the class. Listening to other people’s work inspires the class to incorporate new techniques and ideas into their work. In turn, it also motivates each writer to put their best effort into every assignment, as they have an audience who will listen intently to each word.
While this can help young writers grow exponentially, it can also cause the class to go at a slower pace than the main school. Paper readings often take two to four classes depending on the length of each piece. In that time, a main school class may have read five chapters of a book or learned new grammar skills for the next paper. While it is important to hear everyone’s voice, it is also equally as important to move productively.
Although SWS and mainstream English classes provide different tools and areas of focus, they both offer strong education in differing ways. I recommend SWS if you are looking for discussion-based and student-led classes that emphasize everyone’s participation. However, if you enjoy working individually, allowing your teacher to take the reins and working on a more standardized curriculum, then sticking to the main school might be a better fit for you! Regardless of which path you choose, both will lead to a successful, robust English education.
