hen nations first instituted lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in early March, school, as millions of children knew it, was abruptly halted. Worldwide, over 75% of students were affected by school lockdowns, and educators and policymakers scrambled to reimagine education. WISE and Salzburg Global Seminar were quick to respond to the crisis, assembling a large group of global voices in education in April, to discuss how the field could move forward in the presence of the pandemic. Through a series of three virtual conferences entitled “Education Disrupted, Education Reimagined”, leaders from around the world shared important insights for adapting to the “new normal” in their field. Now, as more countries are in the process of returning to schools for fall classes while continuing to fight COVID-19, these early convenings provide valuable insights for moving forward in education.
Nations’ experiences educating during the pandemic first and foremost underscore the importance of prioritizing student well-being in education. In his essay “Building the Future of Education in a Post-Pandemic World,” WISE CEO Stavros Yiannouka argues that the starting point of a good education should be the individual. When education systems focus first and foremost on students’ individual needs, the results can have a positive effect on student well-being. During this pandemic especially, prioritizing individual student needs might look more like focusing on safety and mental health before placing an emphasis on academic progress or standardized test scores.
Schools in San Diego County in the United States have offered several examples of what a focus on individual well-being might look like during the ongoing pandemic. School counselors at one middle school have hosted grief groups to help address student isolation and online discussions to teach students mindfulness and meditation techniques for coping with stress. One online school offers curriculum on social and emotional well-being as part of its learning program. And one elementary school in the area hosts “Mindfulness Mondays”— virtual classes which explain meditation and mindfulness techniques to children.
Educator and entrepreneur Daniela Labra Cardero argues that the pandemic has made it clear that social and emotional learning should be a systemic component of education going forward. In the future, Cardero argues that schools should implement articulated curriculum on social emotional learning for learners of all ages and provide extensive training in social emotional learning curriculum for educators.
The pandemic also offers educators an opportunity to think about the roles of different actors within a learning ecosystem. Teachers, specifically, have led the way in finding new ways to engage with students from a distance. One fifth grade teacher in San Diego County created a digital badge system, inspired by video-gaming, to give his students an incentive to complete assignments. And across the United States, teachers are using the popular social media app TikTok to engage their classes in everything from foreign language lessons to wellness tips.
Teachers’ positive experiences finding creative ways to lead their classes through crisis provide powerful lessons for the future of education. Gregory J. Moncada of Qatar Academy for Science and Technology notes that teacher strategies for educating during the pandemic are “ultimately shaped by…in-school ideas and experiences.” According to Moncada, encouraging teachers to use their experiences to guide their response to the crisis can improve student learning. By letting teachers lead the way to effective changes in classroom instruction, schools can encourage the creative solutions that education needs most during this pandemic.
As schools across the world re-open for fall instruction, these lessons learned earlier in the pandemic can help guide the way. A strong focus on student well-being will guide school responses to students who might be struggling in the middle of a global crisis. Additionally, a focus on teacher leadership will allow the members of learning ecosystems who know students best to respond to classroom challenges with creative solutions. When WISE first gathered education experts from across the globe to respond to the challenges the pandemic brought to education, many didn’t know where the field was heading over the next several months. These convenings, and the subsequent book that was produced as an outcome, have served as a real-time historical record of the education sector’s response to crisis and beyond. Now, even amid uncertainty, the knowledge educators have gathered in the past few months can help education move forward to a future more resilient to pandemics and other crises.
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How Early Meetings Helped Education Move Forward Against the Face of Crisis
Photo by Cristina Gottar via Unsplash.
September 21, 2020
W
hen nations first instituted lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in early March, school, as millions of children knew it, was abruptly halted. Worldwide, over 75% of students were affected by school lockdowns, and educators and policymakers scrambled to reimagine education. WISE and Salzburg Global Seminar were quick to respond to the crisis, assembling a large group of global voices in education in April, to discuss how the field could move forward in the presence of the pandemic. Through a series of three virtual conferences entitled “Education Disrupted, Education Reimagined”, leaders from around the world shared important insights for adapting to the “new normal” in their field. Now, as more countries are in the process of returning to schools for fall classes while continuing to fight COVID-19, these early convenings provide valuable insights for moving forward in education.
Nations’ experiences educating during the pandemic first and foremost underscore the importance of prioritizing student well-being in education. In his essay “Building the Future of Education in a Post-Pandemic World,” WISE CEO Stavros Yiannouka argues that the starting point of a good education should be the individual. When education systems focus first and foremost on students’ individual needs, the results can have a positive effect on student well-being. During this pandemic especially, prioritizing individual student needs might look more like focusing on safety and mental health before placing an emphasis on academic progress or standardized test scores.
Schools in San Diego County in the United States have offered several examples of what a focus on individual well-being might look like during the ongoing pandemic. School counselors at one middle school have hosted grief groups to help address student isolation and online discussions to teach students mindfulness and meditation techniques for coping with stress. One online school offers curriculum on social and emotional well-being as part of its learning program. And one elementary school in the area hosts “Mindfulness Mondays”— virtual classes which explain meditation and mindfulness techniques to children.
Educator and entrepreneur Daniela Labra Cardero argues that the pandemic has made it clear that social and emotional learning should be a systemic component of education going forward. In the future, Cardero argues that schools should implement articulated curriculum on social emotional learning for learners of all ages and provide extensive training in social emotional learning curriculum for educators.
The pandemic also offers educators an opportunity to think about the roles of different actors within a learning ecosystem. Teachers, specifically, have led the way in finding new ways to engage with students from a distance. One fifth grade teacher in San Diego County created a digital badge system, inspired by video-gaming, to give his students an incentive to complete assignments. And across the United States, teachers are using the popular social media app TikTok to engage their classes in everything from foreign language lessons to wellness tips.
Teachers’ positive experiences finding creative ways to lead their classes through crisis provide powerful lessons for the future of education. Gregory J. Moncada of Qatar Academy for Science and Technology notes that teacher strategies for educating during the pandemic are “ultimately shaped by…in-school ideas and experiences.” According to Moncada, encouraging teachers to use their experiences to guide their response to the crisis can improve student learning. By letting teachers lead the way to effective changes in classroom instruction, schools can encourage the creative solutions that education needs most during this pandemic.
As schools across the world re-open for fall instruction, these lessons learned earlier in the pandemic can help guide the way. A strong focus on student well-being will guide school responses to students who might be struggling in the middle of a global crisis. Additionally, a focus on teacher leadership will allow the members of learning ecosystems who know students best to respond to classroom challenges with creative solutions. When WISE first gathered education experts from across the globe to respond to the challenges the pandemic brought to education, many didn’t know where the field was heading over the next several months. These convenings, and the subsequent book that was produced as an outcome, have served as a real-time historical record of the education sector’s response to crisis and beyond. Now, even amid uncertainty, the knowledge educators have gathered in the past few months can help education move forward to a future more resilient to pandemics and other crises.
