Okay, so maybe in a lot of ways, time has not stopped at all. We are busy, we are tired, and we are each juggling a number of extra responsibilities that we may not have had pre-COVID-19 (PC). It might be hard, in this moment, to conceive of pressing a metaphorical pause button and actually stopping or, at least, slowing down. I will say, however, that as I reflect on PC moments, I recall saying out loud to a friend or colleague or thinking to myself, "if only I could stop time or hit the pause button for a moment I would…or I would be able to…" For me, filling in the blank usually included reimagining something I was working on, trying a different approach or coming up with something new altogether new. Unfortunately, the demands of the day, objectives on a syllabus, the requires assessments, and other measures in place meant that I could not take that moment and so, I continued on, business as usual.
Here is the thing. As an educator and mom, I feel like I am and we are, individually and collectively, kind of in one of those moments. If I do not lift up my head, look around, and pay attention I will miss it. I went for a great run this morning and was listening to a podcast and two professors were speaking about reimagining education and what it is to learn. It got me thinking. Is this a chance to change the current teaching and learning model? To essentially set aside the structures and systems like accountability and high stakes testing that usually dictate how and when kids and schools learn? Could families, students, and teachers actually stop, even for a moment, worrying about getting ahead, falling behind, or scoring well on upcoming state tests?
Please do not misunderstand me, I believe that there is a place for accountability and measures of success outcomes. But, could this be a chance to reimagine what learning means? We have just that kind of opportunity right now. Unfortunately, because of the immediacy of this shift from face-to-face to online teaching and learning, many schools (and families) are trying to replicate school in a classroom instead of thinking about the context and goals for the last few months of the school year. I am/was one of those educators and parents. I found it pretty easy to shift my own students to focus on what was really important, to narrow our focus to critical objectives and assessments for the last months of the semester. Now, granted, I work in an online program already so that was the easy part. The examination of my course just required me to think about what students could really take in during this crisis, what they needed to learn, and how I could best support them socially, emotionally, and academically.
It took me much longer to effectively transition to this new way of learning with my own kids. In past blog posts and podcast episodes I have already shared my worry and insistence on keeping a schedule, and I did, for a while. Then I worried that our kids would or were falling behind or we were missing something crucial to their learning. Then, the stress and anxiety of keeping up with some invisible standard got worse when our school started distance learning and our son needed to access google classrooms, complete worksheets and writing prompts daily, and participate in health activities three times a week. I was a bit overwhelmed and frustrated trying to teach and help our son. And remember, I already teach online. What was bothering me, stressing me so much?? The expectations - the misalignment of expectations.
Today, during that great run I mentioned earlier, I decided, no more - I put on my researcher hat and asked myself about the purpose. What is it that I want my kids to learn while they are home with us? What does learning look like for us in COVID-19, at home, with two working parents?
That is when I realized that I was doing this all wrong. I was trying desperately to recreate my son's elementary school context at home and I just cannot do that, especially when I am NOT trained as a k-5 educator, we have two five-year olds added to the mix, and I am still trying to do my job, and take care of our household.
This week, I am working on my "research" questions. That is to say, what kind of learning do I want my kids to engage in during these last few months? What skills and knowledge could increase? What are their curiosities and how do I leverage those topic areas? How do I create learning that sparks their curiosity AND fits into all of our schedules?
Education is not a one-size-fits-all proposition and now, more than ever, this moment represents an opportunity (yes, I said opportunity) to change our definition of learning and our views on and approaches to educating our kids. Why do we let old systems, structures, and policies dictate how we learn and teach? Let’s ask new questions and try other approaches and see what happens. Why not press the pause button, create a few new ways, take them out for a test run, get some feedback, and try again. Those new systems were invented and designed by us, why not create something new?