Education is famous for being an incredibly slow moving body when it comes to change. But if anything good came out of Covid, we learned that we can adapt and learn new ways of doing things.
Teachers: Learned that they can utilize technology to reach their students in new ways. They learned to experiment in their classroom to find out what works. They learned that it is ok to make mistakes and to not have all the answers.
Students: Learned that learning can be more engaging and that learning does not have to begin at 8:00am and end at 3:00pm. They learned to be empowered to learn on their own.
Schools: Learned to give more freedom to teachers to explore possibilities in the classroom. Learned that education can happen in a variety of ways. They learned that procedures and policies of the past are not applicable in post-covid school.
What does this mean?
Education pre-covid had not really changed in several decades; we were basically doing education like we did since the 50s. Now is the chance to redefine
- What we need from education
- What we want from education
- When, where and how education is delivered
Those schools that truly explore these questions will not only survive, but will pave the way for learning to finally transform into the modern era. This is true for K-12 as well as higher education.
The assumptions, traditions, policies, procedures, and priorities that existed pre-covid–toss ’em out the window and start fresh!
Let’s ask, explore, and figure out what assumptions, traditions, policies, procedures, and priorities we can embrace and develop so that education reaches students in ways unlike we ever have.
What does innovative and engageing learning in this new world look like?