The time has finally come: I’ve made it to the end of my studies to become a teacher. I will have my own class. I am now a newly qualified teacher (NQT).
Yet the circumstances surrounding this milestone are unlike what I envisioned.
In the midst of our final placement, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) notified student teachers that, from 16 March, our placements would end, as the Covid-19 outbreak worsened. Soon after, schools closed and our nation entered lockdown. Life as we knew it was entirely altered.
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Now, education has taken on a new normal to coincide with our isolated lifestyles. Children and teachers are taking up distance learning. On top of everything else, we face a cornucopia of ever-changing coronavirus news.
Nevertheless, one thing remains: we will be teachers. Irrespective of what teaching may look like (social distancing and online elements are likely to remain as schools prepare to reopen), we will be entering the same profession, and we are all going into this unique position together.
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Optimism coinciding with anxiety will be universal, and solidarity has already been forged through these emotions in my own university cohort. Those with more experience in the teaching profession will have the same feelings.
Then there are the children. The vast majority have not been in “normal” school or nursery since March. Some researchers believe that children may have resilience to overcome the impact of lockdown. Yet, the full extent and pressure felt because of the measures still remains greatly unknown, with a wide array of potential trauma and anxieties causing concern. How we deal with this, as teachers, will be crucial when we return to school, particularly for those most vulnerable even before the pandemic. Children, by their very nature, thrive with nurture, and this will be needed more than ever.
Optimism must remain and positives can be seen when we look out into the world around us: Denmark’s return to school has provided hope. Yet South Korea’s schools have been closed again due to an increase in coronavirus cases.
Stoicism must outweigh cynicism in times that appear bleak: we will be teachers, I will be a teacher, even if we all have to adapt.
But we must also be realistic about our own progress: we cannot replace the experience lost in a classroom. However, our vigour and hope as NQTs will serve us well.
Times may be unorthodox, but think of what we are learning during the pandemic and how that will help us throughout our careers. This is something I’m trying to hold on to as we may be facing changes that will last for the foreseeable future.
As an NQT going into my probation year in the current climate, my mixed feelings remain. On the one hand, there is happiness that I will have my own class, but there is fear of the unknown. Yet, through all of this turbulence, I hold on to what is concrete: that I will, through all the trials of this pandemic, still become a teacher.
Alan Macdonald is a newly qualified primary teacher in Scotland who will start his probation year after the summer holidays
