24 months down the lane, the world was hit by the most unexpected pandemic. Education, especially schools were never perceived as places to “work from home”. However, the wave made us all float in the new normal, where within no time we accepted that “change is the only constant”.
Schools and teachers quickly adapted to the new mode of digital teaching, the curriculum was altered. Writing shifted to typing, chart papers got shifted to PowerPoint slides; physical classrooms got moved to break out rooms.
Now, that the schools are reopening after two years, young children seem to have forgotten how the real school actually looks like.
PREETI BHANDARY
Founder and Director
Little Elly Preschools
The school and the staff have to be prepared for the challenges that may arise post reopening.
- School teaches us many social skills like sharing, caring, and listening to others. Due to lockdown, children may be facing difficulties to manage their social behaviours.
- Staying at home has brought the students into the comfort zone. They do not have a regular routine to follow. It might be hard for a few to follow a six hour routine immediately.
- Covid restricted the social interaction and children’s physical activities. This led to anxieties and fears of even interacting with new set of people, like class mates and school staff.
- Children may be facing anxiety due to bereavement of loved ones and those coming from broken families have their own built up anxieties and trust issues in social settings.
- Even in the same grade, children may be at different learning levels due to the lack of technological infrastructure.
- There could be a few developmental delays in children like speech delays as well.
We need to create a support system for children where school is no longer a synonym to anxiety and fear. The school first of all has to follow all the Covid protocols, so that safety is ensured first. Teachers and school personnel should examine how kids are performing before imparting new academic topics to them. Children may have trouble concentrating at first or want additional time to get back into the learning process. The teachers may have to make differentiated lesson plans for the varied levels of learners in the class to encourage differentiated learning.
A lot of time should be invested in counselling children and help them build social and emotional skills. To reconnect and sustain a sense of community and fellowship, it is critical to assist kids develop perseverance and support one another.
In the last two years, schools have learnt to be more adaptive, resourceful and resilient. Now, while we reopen, the process won’t be easy. However, patience, perseverance and sensitivity shall be our keys to combat the unknown. Any change takes time and so shall this journey of being back to the normal shall.
