What COVID is teaching about schools
During the COVID pandemic schools try to keep learning going. Here is some of what we’re learning.
About students
Schools haven’t been able to widget their way through the pandemic to powerful learning
eLearning and gamification are not the answer
human connections and relationships remain critical for learning
students’ interests need to be stimulated and they need to be recognized.
Teachers need
to feel physically and mentally safe
support for their work and to be recognized and honoured for that work
working conditions that make it possible for them to succeed
School Boards / Districts need to:
move away from top-down edicts
invite teachers, students, parents and community members as partners in the redesign of the systems and structures that affect them
talk through what the school is trying to accomplish as part of the community — not just about what knowledge/ content young people should possess
talk through what skills, competencies, capacities, and qualities students need to develop
then, and only then, talk about how teaching, learning, policies, procedures, and systems can be reimagined and redesigned to support the cultivation of those qualities.
WE HAVE LEARNED THAT .....
1. One size doesn't fit all. Some students have actually liked not being in school —
Some were miserably lonely at home and couldn’t wait for school to reopen.
Some found the lack of social pressure and anxiety made it easier to focus on learning
Others have really liked being able to type into the chat instead of talking
Some have thrived in the small groups afforded by virtual breakout rooms.
2. Schools should be more human.
COVID forced more schools to talk to students and parents — consider their life circumstances and how those align or conflict with school expectations.
The purpose of school is to partner with families to raise successful human beings.
Students have appreciated later / flexible start times; some studies show that teenagers’ mental health actually improved last spring, and researchers think one of the most likely explanations is that the students got more sleep.
classrooms with strong relationships and warm communities tended to do well
classrooms that focused on compliance struggled without the structure, discipline, and repercussions that physical school provides
Students were happier in online classes when they had options like: choosing music during breaks, having one-on-one check-ins, and having more agency, choice and purpose in their work. Synchronous distance learning raised some interesting challenges, like whether students should have cameras on or off. Students who discussed and developed rules for this new online-classroom experience had agency and ownership.
Teachers and students connected learning while at home to the major events happening around them: Covid-19, as a way to connect with biology, data management, epidemiology, civics, political leadership etc.; George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, as a way to explore institutional racism, civic responsibility, or the power of organizing.
Many high schools moved away from semesters with four-period days to octomester or quadmester systems where students take 1 or 2 subjects at a time.
class sizes of 30 students are organized into 2 cohorts of 15. These cohorts take turns alternating between attending school in-person one day and learning-at-home the next.
Students engage in one subject for one full day of learning at a time.
This frees teachers to focus on fewer students (reducing their loads to 25-60 from 80-90).
This gives more time to build the relationships that students need — particularly in a pandemic.
3. Schools need to be better for ALL - adults and kids: better for administrators, teachers, students, and parents - not just students
Positive, meaningful, and lasting school change begins and ends with the front-line workers - at the interface between educator and student.
need to stop blaming teachers and their unions as standing in the way of progress.
students succeed when teachers succeed
COVID has brought classrooms into living rooms providing a better understanding of the importance and complexity of the teachers' work.
the public education system curriculum is bloated - it has been expanded over the years - it needs trimming
teams of teachers and administrators have worked together to focus on curriculum that matters - They’ve decided what is essential to keep and what can be pared
COVID has highlighted the inequities between have and have-nots - teams of administrators and teachers need to restructure school expectations by removing barriers and open opportunities
