The Year of Challenges

by John Hutton

 

By now we all know the pros and cons of education in COVID times. It is unprecedented to have face-to-face learning so severely disrupted. I feel the cons - in terms of our children’s education - unfortunately outweigh the pros. When the children did an essay on their opinion on Zoom learning in my Language Arts classes, they mostly expressed that they preferred coming to school to study, and naturally as teachers we agree. It has been a test of our relationship with technology to keep a high level of pedagogy online (hats off to our technical support staff who worked so hard).

 

Alas, 2020 has not been the most effective year for education - not only in our school and Hong Kong - but worldwide. Students need close contact with their peers and their teachers to experience full immersion in their school life. Many subjects need a hands-on approach and also, there is less motivation to succeed and be creative with all of the competitions and trips being cancelled. Group work, sharing and playing together are essential missing elements that computers just cannot provide (not to mention not seeing each other's smiles with our faces covered with the ever-present masks).

People say the world will have changed unrecognisably – and it will be different - after this pandemic, but I think we are resilient and resourceful. Humanity has experienced catastrophes before and we bounced back. We have rounded the corner from world wars and moved on. With vaccines being created in record time, we shall soon eradicate COVID-19… and move on.

However, COVID-19 and the year past in Hong Kong with its own political unrest, has taught us very valuable lessons about our humanity. At first I found it strange that the school year’s theme was “Connectedness”, when we spent so much time being apart from each other. Now it seems to make more sense as we have remained connected to our students and colleagues despite the challenges. Of course, nothing can compare to the true connectedness of being in the same place together and working towards our teaching goals.

As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” So let's hope we move on together and make 2021 the year our school, and schools all over, get back to a healthy, happy and effective teaching environment

 

Happy New Year!