Follow us
Learning to Learn - Differently
  • Home
  • What's the Difference?
  • 21st Century Governance
  • L2D2 Open Forum
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Resource Bank

What's the difference?

Thoughts on making a real difference in the lives of learners...

View all Blog Entries

Start Summer Early? You have got to be kidding! (V-Day +12)

4/13/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Read any school website in any city, province or country and you will find something like: "We work in partnership with parents and extended families to maximize the learning experience of our students". Traditionally that has meant some combination of regular communication, encouraging parent volunteerism, an open door policy and numerous school community events.

Until the past month, it has never meant "parents we need your active help in teaching our kids". With its emphasis on remote and virtual learning, education in the age of pandemic has come to redefine the school, family partnership. All of a sudden we have been thrust into a new paradigm. Students stay home, teachers reach out, parents, extended family members, and caregivers help to deliver the goods. This is not what any of us signed up for. The greatest joy in teaching has alway been the daily face to face connection with students. Personal satisfaction coming not from laying on a curriculum, but rather from seeing, first hand, the growth in student knowledge, confidence and productivity that comes with careful and deliberate instruction, support and personal connection.

So how does that play out in the new virtual learning environment? For us it means, as much online face-time as possible. It means regular meetings, office hours, one on one time with a tutor, small group instruction in a virtual classroom. It also means, for the first time for everyone, that families can have a front-row seat in the learning process. No longer is the home school partnership defined by the limits of emails, phone calls, and occasional parent/teacher/tutor meetings. It has become a legitimate team effort in real time. Teachers delivering programme, and families providing emotional support, gauging when their child needs a break, or a snack, or simply to disengage from their screens. It's not the model that we are used to, and it has totally redefined, perhaps forever, how schools and families define their partnership.

The perennial question, "what did you do at school today?" has been flipped. No longer is it a dinner table conversation where an account of each child's day is prodded by strategic parental questions. These days it is found in an end of the day chat on Zoom, or Hangouts, or Meeting or whatever other platform teachers are using to connect with their students. For the first time in their careers, teachers haven't spent the day with their students,  but parents have.

This morning, a local education reporter commented that the current situation was too stressful for parents and teachers and that the government should simply declare that summer holidays should begin immediately and put this remote learning experience out of its misery.

There may come a time when that will happen, but to even pose it now only demonstrates a basic ignorance of what is actually happening in homes and school communities. The days have structure and focus, students are connected with their peers, and teachers, and tutors, in most cases, face to face every "school" day. Parents are engaged in student learning in a rare and positive way, not just task masters at homework time, but as partners in supporting and connecting with their child's school experience.

Is it perfect? No. Is it better than attending school? Well, much has been lost, but some interesting things have been gained that are bound to inform educational practice, and parenting, in the future. Anyone who thinks that our kids would be better off if we ended this experiment really has no idea what they are talking about!

Nobody asked for this. As a life-long educator, I have never seen anything like it. It has been an amazing revelation both as a teacher and as a parent. The years of lip service to the school/home relationship are over and a new reality has set in. It's still rough around the edges, but it is working.

So, thanks to all of the dedicated educators that I work with every day, and especially to my own children's teachers who strive to make every day a challenge that is manageable and often quite fun! But especially thanks to those families out there who, in the middle of a global pandemic, are working tirelessly to maintain a sense of normalcy in their child's lives.

​I cannot think of a better partnership.












1 Comment
Chief Leanne Joe
4/13/2020 11:49:50 am

Dear KGMS, I understand the challenges others may be having regarding virtual learning. I’ve heard some stories from others in our community that are in the public school system. However, this transition for us personally was quite easy as we are privileged to have the resources, strategies and tools to get through it. It was very challenging that first 1.5 weeks and then we seem to find out stride. It is going to be hard in different ways everyday. But we found new ways to communicate, listen, learn from each other and to truly see how my son learns. I am forever changed for the better because of this shift. He does more work now than I’m sure he does in school. We are mixing what we want him to learn to meet the curriculum. This has provided us the space to test run this hybrid program. We think it will be very success for our son. It’s hard work but it’s worth it to see my son work hard at his learning. Albeit, he really misses the in person space and I wish that he will have that again. Thanks to KGMS for all the hard work to get us here for our kids. It is working and I’m to share that with others.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Dr. Jim Christopher is the Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Education
    Homework
    Independent Schools
    Learning Disabilities

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.