The idea was first implemented schoolwide in 1981. In the MicroSociety program, students collaborate with parents, community members, and teachers to build a miniature community in the school and establish a center of commerce and governance in which every child and adult participates.
Children create and manage business ventures that produce goods and services.
They also run agencies that handle governmental functions and lay the groundwork for organized accountability. They assume management or employee responsibilities in businesses, agencies, and nonprofits. In their work places, students apply technology, think critically about authentic crises, prepare and analyze budgets, resolve ethical issues, and develop cultural sensitivities. These experiences often raise profound issues such as the fairness of democracy, the rewards of entrepreneurship, cultural differences and similarities, the role of law in society, how to humanize institutions, and how much tax an individual should pay. Where most schools rely on teachers to discipline children, MicroSociety promotes development of internal self-control.