Affiliate News - May 2021 (Plain Text Version)
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THE COVID-19 EDUCATION METAPHORS Erin Henriksen, English Teachers' Association of Israel (ETAI), Lecturer in English at The David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem, Israel
Testing Initial Covid-19 tests were invasive and unpleasant. The growing variety of test types offers a better model for education. Like antibody testing, summative assessments operate as “passports” allowing students to attempt more advanced materials when they are ready. Alternative assessments allow multiple ways to demonstrate learning. Researchers developing new kinds of Covid-19 tests should inspire educational innovators as well. Let us find better—and less painful—ways to measure the efficacy of our instruction! We can also learn from non-test health checks, like measuring temperatures before school. Similarly, assessment shouldn’t only be used as a one-time, gatekeeping device. Rather, it is a tool, which changes in response to circumstances and lets stakeholders know where things stand. An educational analogy is an entry or exit ticket, a bite-sized task or question to instantly assess learning. Contact Tracing Contact tracing reminds us that we need to trace our students, to ask, “Which child is not in the Zoom lesson, or has their camera and microphone off?” While face-to-face learning is best for nearly everyone, it is critical for children with familial, social, or emotional challenges. Often teachers are the first to notice when something is not right, and without daily, in-person interactions, that responsibility is far more difficult to fulfill. Despite this difficulty, we need to regularly investigate how each student is managing. Personal Protective Equipment As with testing, there is a variety of protective equipment for different roles and purposes. Educators must ask, “who is at risk, and what do they need to succeed?” What will help a student feel safer and better prepared? What kinds of supports—the educational equivalent of masks, gloves, gowns, and even hazmat suits!—do they need? Fortunately, educators have a powerful model for managing heterogeneity: differentiation. Teachers set a learning goal, mark out different routes to reaching it—with differing kinds of “scaffolding”—and devise multiple ways for students to show what they know. Capsules Having organized capsule systems to minimize risk as we return to the classroom, we should apply the capsule concept to the curriculum as well. Map it out. The first task is to make teaching and learning visible to provide a clear plan of study. When students can see at a glance what ground they will cover, including the topics and skills they should master, they are more likely to succeed and maintain a sense of control, connection to the course, and progress. Organize material into micro-units. Micro-units can be organized as “mini-courses.” All tasks are completed during the course meetings, with the focus primarily on tasks that support long-term, independent projects. This system alternates lessons with blocks of independent work time. Allow students to master the material. A capsule curriculum enables students to “close” a unit effectively even without face-to-face interaction because each one is compact and highly focused. One difficulty of distance learning was the feeling of time passing without the customary markers of academic progress—tests, projects, and feedback. Learners need to see their progress. A capsule system preserves that sense of progress and closure even without traditional landmarks. It also allows students to master what they are learning because it is more manageable. Avoid exposure load. The term “exposure load”— describing how healthcare workers carry a greater risk of infection—can also be applied to learning. Many schools provide an avalanche of lessons, broadcasts, online activities, and games, across multiple unfamiliar platforms. For students, it is unclear which and how many of these tasks are required, how they should work, and how they would be assessed. One way to counter over-exposure is to build in time off—no Zoom, homework, or assignments. In this block—whether an hour each day or a day each week—students can choose to study (at a more relaxed, self-directed pace), but also play, read, exercise, and rest—the very things from which children learn the most, but are often neglected to cover material for tests. For older students, I suggest a short cycle in which they spend a week in directed learning, followed by a week of independent work supported by consultations with peers and instructors and a final week in which they produce evidence that they have met learning goals (a project, essay, or presentation). Superspreaders Just as we have learned of “superspreaders” who pass the virus to many people, education also has “superspreaders”: individuals saturated with innovative ideas, enthusiasm for their craft, and willingness to improve it who infect those around them. They build powerful educational networks that spread their ideas and inspire better teaching. We need to cultivate and support educational superspreaders more than ever. Let us be inspired by the intensive, cooperative, data-driven work of the scientific community seeking better answers and solutions to the Covid-19 crisis. Let us keep our “educational antennae” up, looking for better ways to teach and learn. Biodata Erin Henriksen Losebashvili is a lecturer in English at The David Yellin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem. She writes about English literature and pedagogy. A version of this article originally appeared in Etai Forum, a publication of the English Teachers’ Association of Israel and TESOL Affiliate. |
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