Just two weeks ago, the most atypical school year we have ever experienced in the educational community came to an end. It was tough, intense, stressful and, at the same time, another challenge that this wonderful profession presented to us teachers.
During this period, I have seen students, colleagues, and parents get more overwhelmed than usual. The entire educational community has had to adapt to a new teaching-learning modality in record time. It hasn’t been easy for anyone, but we’ve achieved it together. It could be a clear example that when all of us who are part of educational centers —parents, students, and teachers— row in the same direction, everything is achieved much more easily.
The family in the educational sphere
Schools have been insisting for a long time on the importance of family involvement in the educational task of the centers. The truth is that I increasingly find more parents eager to help, to contribute ideas… and this stage may have been a key moment for all of us to understand that we must be very united to achieve the common goal which, from my point of view, is none other than to bring out the best in students, both personally and academically. While it is true that it is not always possible for various reasons, such as parents’ working hours outside the home or the erroneous consideration by some teachers that the presence of parents in schools is not very effective, perhaps it is time to meet, to reach that point of rapprochement between families and schools, which allows parents to be an active part of this educational process.
Teaching in times of crisis
Regarding teachers, I have been able to see firsthand our capacity to adapt to the situations that arise, to changes, to different methodologies… and to be self-taught. I have seen how my colleagues, not very keen on using technology to complement their explanations, have adapted to a new way of teaching, correcting, exploring, seeing their students, our students, through video calls. It hasn’t been easy. Nerves, stress, a certain helplessness at times, and even some tears. But also effort, research, full dedication to finish the school year in the best possible way and total availability for everything our students might need. I believe we have provided extra attention to parents’ needs so that combining teleworking with the need to participate in their children’s tasks was not so hard for them. I believe that, once again, we have put heart, body, and soul into it. And when you put all that in, you realize that effort always has its reward, which is none other than seeing your students grow in every sense.
Education and teaching during Coronavirus
It is curious, as well as true, the following analysis: the confinement period, which has distanced us all, has allowed us to get much closer to our students individually, even if screens are involved. We have been further away and at the same time closer than ever. And that is the goal that those of us who love this profession pursue daily. All methodologies have their good things and their not-so-good things, but what is clear is that the most effective one is that of Andrés, Jaime, Silvia, Beatriz, Elena, or Soledad. That is, the methodology that best suits each of our students. This is what I have always demanded and reproached everyone, including myself, but many times we have fallen into the stress and rush to finish the curriculum and meet the standards set by the curriculum. Of course, I predict that upon our return, we will have an important emotional work ahead of us. We will do it, and we will do it well. Looking at the positive side, perhaps this way, the administration will give education and the knowledge of feelings the importance it deserves.
I leave the last place in these lines to the students. But make no mistake, for a teacher, they always come first. And for the writer, even more so.
And what has happened to the students during this period? What was expected and, as always, something more.
Consequences of Confinement for Children
I consider them to be the most affected. Why? Because they have had to give up what is most precious and important to them: in-person relationships with their peers.
It is true that, looking at the positive side, they have been able to be with their parents day after day, which does not happen in a normal situation except during vacation time. Surely it has brought them closer, they have been able to get closer to each other, and that will always be positive for the student. But they have also had to adapt to this new class modality, of work, of study… And they have done it wonderfully.
Furthermore, as they have told me, they have learned to cook, bake, do household chores… also to understand, in a way, their parents’ jobs. They have learned to do things that perhaps in our “old normal” they would not have done due to the frantic pace of our lives and theirs. In short, I believe they have grown as individuals.
I don’t know about you, but when I was 12, my only concern was playing and playing again. And my only responsibility was studying. They, at that age or younger, have been aware that with their responsibility and behavior, they were saving lives. And I am very proud of how they have done it. Chapeau.
Finally, I wanted to refer to the title that frames these lines: Confined Education. As you can see, I have tried to summarize the feelings and actions of all participants in the educational community, but it hid a small reflection.
Today’s Educational System
I believe, humbly, that the educational system has been confined for many years, locked in by laws that change every four years, depending on who governs; a lot of methodology similar to always, and many people who want to advance, differentiate ourselves and, sometimes, we cannot or are not allowed to (I hope to talk about this on another occasion, as it’s a long topic).
To conclude, if you allow me, I propose an exercise: enter a classroom, close your eyes and listen. If that listening takes you back to your educational stage, if it makes you feel as if you were wearing that uniform and had that teacher, that friend, in front of you, you will be facing what I call confined education. If that doesn’t happen, take a seat and enjoy. Fortunately, more and more teachers are changing the method, the norm… As Rita Pierson, an American teacher, said, “Every kid needs a champion, someone who will make them feel important. We are educators, we were born to make a difference.”