SOUSAN ARAFEH
What will education look like after the pandemic? Well, what do we want education to look like after the pandemic? COVID-19 has brought hardship and heartbreak, but it also has brought a once-in-alifetime opportunity to change what is not working and seek better for our children, our society and our future.
Education is probably the most important activity we undertake in our lives. But our formal PreK-12 education system hasn’t been working well. Before COVID-19, discipline and absenteeism were up. Test scores, graduation rates and school climate ratings were down. High school and college graduates were not ready for 21st century jobs. Inequities in the education system were staggering and shameful. Yet, school leaders, teachers, staff and families spun straw into gold daily. While change was long overdue, the coronavirus brought more educational change in one month than had occurred in the past decade.
What are the big changes? A laser focus on avoiding COVID-19. Moving “school” to the household. Teaching online. School access equaling digital devices, software and the Internet. A deeper understanding of the non-academic role school plays in students’ lives and broader society. A letting-go of grades and assessments. Surprise that nearly onethird of students are not signing on, checking in or doing assignments. A refreshed realization of an almost unimaginable social and educational need for housing, employment, food, health care, support for students with disabilities, and domestic safety.
Much of the speculation about post-pandemic education is premised on a notion of school as we knew it. This includes a focus on meeting educational standards and scores on standardized tests. Plans call for students to attend school in waves, smaller classes or alternating shifts to maintain social distancing. Preparations have begun to create supplementary online and face-to-face compensatory classes to cover missed content, or weaving more review into curricula. College and university admissions criteria are modified since many high school juniors and seniors do not have grades and SAT scores. These scenarios make sense, but will they lead us to an educational system that is more successful, impactful and just?
Other options exist if we think outside the box. If we provide all families with devices and Internet connections, we could fully embrace personalized learning based on where a student is academically, not on age or grade. If we could change seat-time requirements and whole-class assignments, teachers and students could negotiate projects and deadlines so students can engage in more experiential learning or get hands-on experience through job shadowing or volunteer field work. If we loosen our reliance on standards and assessments as the sole metric of success, schooling could be not only more personally and culturally relevant, but personally and culturally engaging. And now that we can “do online,” teachers can guide and support students in new ways.
These are just a few things education could be in a post-pandemic world. Let’s not squander the opportunity. We may not have a chance like this again.