This may be a difficult one to process, because while there is nothing good about alarming death tolls, schools and economies being shutdown due to a global pandemic, is it possible that we have been stirred toward something good in the long run? This is a question I ask focusing mostly on the direction in which education has been stirred over the last couple of months.
It, without a doubt, has been quite a nightmare bringing education to a halt for a while, and then quickly making contingencies on how to continue with education, then realising some of the contingencies are not universally applicable due to various reasons that range from access to practicality. But, is it possible that this is the sifting and shaking up that education systems have been needing for a while now? Is it possible that governments have been talking for the longest time about improving the learning experience and the current situation has forced them into a state of action that will bring a lasting change to how learning occurs in this century? Is it possible that educators and institutions have been talking about embracing technology and modern methods of learning which were not fully in play until a circumstance came upon us that pushed for certain technologies that we were shelving for later to be rolled out and used?
The conversation on abandoning the classroom mentality approach when it comes to teaching has been around for a while, advances were made in terms of engaging certain technologies that allowed for teaching and learning to continue outside of the walls of a building and we started conversations about virtual classrooms. What remained a challenge for some educators was that the physical classroom still exists, they still have to go into a room full of students and dispense knowledge (we will addressing the problem on dispensing knowledge in future blogs). This created some kind of safety net, if the new things prove a bit too difficult, we can always do things the old way. This obviously slowed down the progression to more modern and advanced ways of teaching and learning. Even now in this pandemic, there is an alarming focus on, how do we get the learners back in the classroom, when there should be an even greater focus on how can we facilitate teaching and learning to continue in a virtual manner that does not compromise but fosters modern day learning outcomes.
The world is changing, at an exponential pace, likewise education systems and curricular should adjust, teaching and learning methods should follow suit. If we fight hard to maintain the status quo, go back to what we were doing, what are we going to do when the next pandemic comes knocking on our door. When we were preparing for the worst that could happen to an education system we were focusing on keeping funds rolling, making sure the education machine stays well oiled, the last thing we were preparing for was a disease falling on us and just bringing the machine to a stand still, we were blind sighted.
So, maybe this is a wake up call, which we should not shy away from, but embrace, challenges and opportunities afforded us. We are going back to the drawing board but with a brand new outlook, our contingencies need to be better, more accommodating, more practical and relevant to the modern day. Our practices as educators are going to have to change, our technological knowledge will be challenged but we will have to catch up. Learner mentality is going to have to shift tremendously. The difference between what we have just gone through and whatever global problem that we have to deal with in the future should be how prepared for what comes next, this is preparation time. Something good can yet come from our current struggles in the education arena.