Microschooling's "Jobs to Be Done"

A new report by longtime innovative schooling enthusiast Thomas Arnett of the Clayton Christensen Institute offers an analysis of extensive interviews with families who choose to enroll their children in a microschool. "This paper provides a strategic playbook for microschool founders to help them understand and then align their programs with families’ “Jobs,” Arnett explains.

And the findings can, in fact, offer a useful base of understanding for founders that lays out three main "Jobs to Be Done," driving the decisions these parents make to choose a microschool.

In its opening section considering, "Why Do Parents Switch Schools," the report explores a variety of the most consequential factors leading to the decison they make.

Job 1 can be summarized to the effect of "Help me find a schooling alternative for my child when I am feeling underheard, which will honor my values and perspectives.

"Families and educators will only take the leap to enroll or start a microschools if the Pushes and Pulls they are experiencing are stronger than the Anxieties and Habits," explains Adam Peshek, Senior Fellow with Stand Together Trust.

As microschool leaders work to communicate to prospective families what it is they can expect to get out of the experience they offer their learners, the findings presented here can provide a valuable tool for messaging and explaining.

The second job Arnett describes is summarized as, "When my child is unhappy, unsafe or struggling at school, help me find an environment where they can regain their love for learning." Instilling love for learning is a major motivating purpose for microschool founders in different settings across the country, and the "Pushes" and "Pulls" will resonate with what they hear often.

Finally, job three, "Help me find a balanced educational experience for my child when their school is too focused on academic milestones, and neglects other learning," will prove just as familiar.

You can read the full paper online here.