Reflections on Pandemic Learning
Part 1: Don’t Panic!
In March 2020, schools, nurseries and colleges in the United Kingdom were shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By 20 March, all schools in the UK had closed for all in-person teaching, except for children of key workers and children considered vulnerable. With children at home, teaching took place online. Students were encouraged to keep on studying at home with many parents becoming responsible for their children's education…..and so the panic began! Jules and I were spent the first lockdown watching the whole boxset of ‘Dad’s Army’ and soon I was quoting Corporal Jones in my work to reassure parents and learners; ‘Don’t panic!’
I was still teaching at this stage, with just four months to serve before retirement (yippee!) and had also begun to tutor a few children online. The world of education changed dramatically for teachers, parents and of course, for the children. With the closure of schools came the new concept (for many) of online and distanced learning. School work was emailed to each child’s home and it became the role of the parent to now become the teacher. For those of you who are familiar with the 1970s TV series, ‘Dad’s Army’ and to coin an expression from Private Fraser, “We’re doomed!” was the cry of many a parent.
It really did feel like we were doomed too. But in the area of education this was especially true. Some children struggled with the whole concept of distanced learning and Zoom lessons from the home. Parents had to juggle their work and family routines to fit in with in-coming Zoom lessons or to be on-hand to help with homework. It was no easier for the children of key workers either. The new problem of ‘pinging’ became yet another hindrance to any learning that was trying to go on in class. Children who were ‘testing positive’ would be isolating at home closely followed by the rest of the class who had shared a classroom with them. Result? More pressure on both parents and children. Parents were trying to work from home while penned up with children who needed teaching. All this and cancelled holidays, staff absences, supermarket queuing, masks, one outdoor walk per day, loo roll panic buying and Joe Wicks jumping around to help us stay fit!
Summer exams were looming, but ‘three weeks to flatten the curve’ was a distant memory and we were clearly on a war footing. The exams were duly cancelled. As a result, an alternative method had to be designed and implemented at short notice to determine the qualification grades to be given to students for that year. The standardisation algorithm for exam grades was produced which turned out to be a disaster. The damage to education since 2020 and up to today is immeasurable, ask any child! From the early months of distanced learning to the year that followed that, it has been a nightmare for children to both catch up and keep up with their learning.
By July 2020, I’d retired from a twenty-two year teaching career in the classroom and began to devote myself to the task of tutoring. The children came on board quickly and each one of them with a need and a common denominator, a lack of confidence. 2020 had already made its affects felt. Any disruption to the flow of learning can be quite a hard blow to anyone, if ever you recall having a long period of time off school yourself then you’ll understand the dent it made in your own confidence. Tutoring was going to have to a classic pincer movement, as Captain Mainwaring would no doubt say. I would have to motivate their learning and their self-confidence.
Part 2 to follow; stay tuned!
Cristoir Csorba
