Don’t rush teachers back to the ‘old normal’ – they’ve propped up the flawed system for years

It is not news to my teaching colleagues, those who prop up a flawed system with their overwork, that some students will be disadvantaged at this time.

Any perceived impact on student learning will remain minimal: as teachers we redress what is already widely discussed in the research literature as the ‘summer dip’ yearly.

Our PM said, “We know for some families and students … distance learning won't be possible and their education, what they learn, is at great risk of suffering this year”. This is true of a great many students, learning remotely or not, this fact will persist, unless desperate action is taken.

Our education system is above the OECD average in a number of depressing ways, notably the gap between those most advantaged and those who are disadvantaged. Our schools serve as cushions for these effects, but it is beyond the scope of education to solve these issues.

His further comment that “the loss of a child's education” is at stake is simply not supported by anything from education research or generations of teachers’ experiences. Any perceived impact on student learning will remain minimal: as teachers we redress what is already widely discussed in the research literature as the ‘summer dip’ yearly.

Whilst students are away over the holiday break they fall behind in terms of skills and knowledge recall, but every year this is quickly overcome by our competent and hard-working teachers. The fact that students continue to receive a world-class education from home during this time will mean that limited catch-up will be required.

So, rather than heeding the PMs exultation to rush back to schools, perhaps we ought to pause and consider how we might repair, rather than resume, our education system?

With NAPLAN cancelled, and ATAR likely heading in a similar direction or being significantly altered. We will soon discover our schooling system can function without such reductive simplifications of the complex, human work our students and teachers do to mere data points.

Concurrently, ‘remote learning’ is causing a dramatic improvement in the familiarity of most teachers to the range of digital pedagogies that exist. For the majority of teachers this is a titanic shift in what is possible. The metaphor of a teaching toolbox is being extended with new ‘power tools’ being added to teacher’s repertoires.

We look to the horizon, eyes ablaze to the possibility of a reformed Australian system where our young people’s disadvantage is seen and addressed, and schools are allowed adequate time and funding to support them. This may seem high-minded, but the starting point is very much earthbound.

Australian schools are also above the OECD average for time spent face-to-face in classes, leaving little time for students to exercise the skills that they are currently displaying. This intensive time commitment hamstrings teachers and students to fully exist as autonomous individuals with agency and original ideas.

What is needed is simply a long-term reduction in time spent in class.

Time spared for teachers will be used for moderation, modification and preparation for students’ complex needs, coaching, professional development and research into the science of learning.

Time spared for students will allow them to cook, craft, play, create, pursue passion projects and engage with their community.

Let’s not rush back to an old normal, take time to breath. Ponder what is possible.

Originally published here: https://educationhq.com/news/dont-rush-teachers-back-to-the-old-normal-theyve-propped-up-the-flawed-system-for-years-76542/
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