Ready or not…here they come!
Our amazing educators are missing the ‘old days’ and the face-to-face connections with their students. The majority of K12 teachers talk about how much kids want to return to the classroom. Parents are worried about their children's lack of social opportunities while learning at home… lack of routine… missing their teachers. How much do we know about what the students are thinking and wanting?
Imagine the virus is no longer a threat and the school doors open. Who is returning? …and are we ready for them? We hear often about “the new normal” or returning to things “the way they were”. But have we taken time to think about who will be returning to the schools and what their needs will be and how they will adapt to the return. When I have conversations with teachers, it seems they are envisioning that students will snap back like an elastic band and conform naturally back to the ‘old ways’. They will file into their classrooms, sit in their rows of desks, absorb the teachers’ instruction, and play wildly at recess soaking in the socialization they have been missing. Does this really describe the droves of children that will return to the K12 classrooms?
Students may have had the time to make major adjustments toward remote learning. Sure, they see the pros and cons and could list easily when asked, what is different and what is ‘not working’ for them. However, there were probably things ‘not working’ for them prior to COVID when they went to school each day. Do we really know what they want when they return and are we asking them what they are missing about in-person school and contemplating what they will need when they return? What if students aren’t used to sitting still for extended times or holding their attention for a full class period on an instructor-led lecture. What if students have developed different social norms.
Why is it that we so clearly saw the need to prepare students and teachers for the great shift to remote teaching in March of 2020 but are not taking the time to prepare for the potential adjustments that may be needed when learners return to the classroom?
Consider students returning with new habits that don’t conform or new expectations that can’t be met in the traditional brick and mortar classroom, are we ready? It is inconceivable that they will merge back into the classroom after a year or more away without the need to adjust and yet because it was the old normal we assume they will and they can and aren’t preparing for helping them when the time comes. Shouldn’t we be proactive and not reactive…perhaps there is no problem….perhaps planning is already happening…perhaps the plan is to wait until it’s a problem and then to address it.
Do we prepare now for students’ adjustment back to the classroom or do we prepare new learning environments for them to come back to…
Is this an opportunity to radically change education, think outside of the box, and design to the edges that Todd Rose has been calling for?
