Finding Your Compass
As I’m sure you know, the COVID-19 crisis has changed everything.
While medical and political leaders are doing their best to control the outbreak with information and advice to the public, most of us are struggling to find our direction in all the confusion.
My heart goes out to those who are dealing with loved ones who are infected or exposed or working overtime, especially to those on the front line. Prayers for your safety!
As an Inclusion Coach, I want to look at the impact on education. As of today, 46 of our 50 states have closed all schools. For how long? Many started with two weeks. As we learn more about how the virus spread in other countries, we suspect it will be longer. What if schools are closed for a month? What if it’s for the rest of the school year? Kansas already made that decision. We have to map a contingency plan, folks!
It seems to me that this would be a great time to pause, reflect, and set our compass on true north. But what is MY true north, you ask? Well, true north may be different for different people. What’s most important to you? Let’s look at what the compass could be for teachers, for kids and families, and for school leaders.
Teachers: Suddenly, teachers are not face-to-face with their students every day. Some come to school every week with elaborate cutting edge, amazingly creative lesson plans; others pull out proven traditional teaching approaches that they’ve done for years. Whatever they use, those plans are now obsolete. Still, teachers are responsible for teaching students. Right? What will teaching look like while kids are at home? And how will teachers adjust to ensure that those who have special needs have equitable opportunities? What new systems will teachers (and students) have to learn? How will teachers maintain relationships with their students to encourage them and provide feedback? How could teachers create collaborative peer learning opportunities using online platforms so students can benefit from peer interaction and feedback? How can teachers strengthen powerful relationships with their colleagues so all could benefit from their diverse skills? What new thinking will teachers need to develop? What will professional learning look like? And finally, what will professional accountability look like if teachers are operating from home? In the middle of all these questions, what’s true north for teachers?
Kids & families: Kids are at home, doing what? This isn’t an extended snow day – they can’t make snowmen and snow forts. This isn’t spring vacation – they can’t visit relatives, hang out at malls, go on day trips, or have sleepovers. And they feel the uncertainty of not knowing when it will end. Then there’s the question of who’s supervising them… In a few cases, it’s parents who don’t work, who are used to spending quality time as a family. More likely, it’s parents who are trying to figure out how to work from home or parents who may be stressed about finances because their business has been closed. Maybe they’re dealing with crises ranging from toilet paper shortage to family illness. Many families are coping with loss of structured sports, music, and faith-based activities. So kids are stressed and families are stressed. Normal has been replaced with uncertainty. What’s most important here? What’s their true north?
And then, there are families of students with special needs… In addition to the issues that typical families face, add on concerns about whether students will regress in their progress without special education interventions or continued reinforcement of new speech skills, English as a second language, or new behavior patterns. Several professional organizations are offering webinars to address new guidelines, but how will those convert to action with these families and kids? What’s their true north?
School leaders: Principals and other administrators are now thrust into uncharted territory. Nothing in their leadership training prepared them for this scenario. How can we organize distance learning on short notice without supplies, without a thought-out strategic plan, without needed technology, and without a budget? And now some of their most creative teachers – those creative problem solvers – are at home, not on hand to talk through solutions. How can leaders pull faculty together via online meaningful meetings? Vendors have offered extended trial periods with “we’re just what you need” claims. Robyn Jackson reminds us that these strategic decisions should be based on the vision, mission, and core values of their school blueprint, not quick fixes. What school goals can still be achieved in new, creative ways? What is true north for school leaders?
This is an opportunity for families to spend quality time together (scheduled around their work responsibilities), sharing meal preparation, art projects, and neighborhood walks; exploring topics of interest to the children; and pausing to reconnect. Maybe they could discover the joy of getting to know each other at a slower pace? Imagine if families and schools becoming valued allies in educating “our” children?
This is an opportunity for teachers and school leaders to design systems to support teachers in new and exciting ways and promote collaborative problem solving beyond what is possible in the busy day to day of “normal school.” They could reach out to students and families in ways that would promote alignment on core values, like
We value the diversity of backgrounds, experience, and skills of our school community (including students, faculty, and families).
We promote equity by ensuring that everyone has the support he needs.
This is OUR school. Every action we take builds (or detracts) from our school community.
What if this pandemic turned out to be an opportunity for everyone to come together to create a brand-new educational system, grounded in strong principles and devoted to the well-being and healthy development of each child.
I invite you to respond to me via this survey link. What is your school doing? What are your thoughts? How are you coping? What are your struggles? What opportunities do you see? How could I help you? I’ll summarize your responses in a future post.
