I’m sitting with a coffee reviewing some of the material my students have submitted online and digesting the events of the previous days, and, like many teachers, considering what the days, weeks and months to come will bring as we continue to navigate our way through the coronavirus pandemic.
After Tuesday’s announcement on reopening schools by education secretary John Swinney - or rephrasing of a previous announcement - many in education were left wondering what happens next. Will “blended learning” be needed in August? Will my school reopen fully? If it does reopen, will all my students attend? These are fair questions to ask and, at their core, all have the same answer.
With at best minimal notice, teachers went from “the way it always was” to a new world of digital-only learning. There have been many missteps along the way (and I’m only counting my own here!) but the progress has been incredible, with professionals across the country developing a range of new and invaluable skills. We now also have teaching staff with a variety of resources they can deploy in August.
Coronavirus: Scottish primary school leaders ‘are on their knees’
EIS reaction: Schools reopening announcement ‘was political’
Nicola Sturgeon: ‘Teachers will get a summer break’
John Swinney: ‘Green light’ for schools’ return needed by 30 July
‘I could have wept’: Teachers respond to announcement on schools returning
These resources were originally intended to support blended learning - a combination of school-based and home learning - something we may still need to do on a local or national level, but which can also be used to support other areas.
Coronavirus: Schools will benefit from online learning
Teachers have long had headaches over the best methods to support a student with poor attendance, how to support students with ASN (additional support needs), how to give students ownership of their learning. The digital learning that we have been planning for won’t solve these issues, but it can certainly form a huge part of the solution. This is a success and one we should be hugely proud of.
If we look at the planning that senior leaders across the country have been doing - a job I do not envy in the slightest in the current climate - these plans are not wasted either. Schools across the country now have plans of how they could potentially deal with a situation where they can only have students in for a portion of the time we would expect. Will this entire process have been hugely frustrating? Of course. Could and should information have been published more effectively? No doubt. But is the work wasted? Absolutely not.
Headteachers and deputy heads across the country will likely be extremely frustrated with how we got where we are, but the work done up to this point can form a part of school contingency planning for years to come.
With this all said, it is time to address the real elephant in the room. We have had a three-month experiment of learning in an entirely new mould, and it has not been a smooth or easy ride. There are many young people out there who have been unable to come on this journey with us. Local authorities and schools across the country have done their best to provide solutions for these families but the lack of a national plan has been a problem. It’s clear to everyone that more must be done. Provision of laptops and internet access are part of the solution, but we also need to consider challenges like bridging the digital skills gap and empowering those with ASN to ensure that everyone can access education as equals.
The future is far from certain and everyone needs a break - but be reassured that we now have the plans, materials and ability to do much better than go “back to normal”.
Brian Donlin is a secondary teacher in Scotland
