Teachers Around the World Tell Us Reopening Is Tough, but Joyful
In countries where infection rates have stabilized, schools are reopening. When we asked how that鈥檚 going, over 600 teachers responded.
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Go to My Saved Content.It was Dr. Anthony Fauci who pushed back, in the early days of the pandemic, on the understandable desire for timelines: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline,鈥� he noted tersely, in . The implications of that simple statement have become clearer as the crisis drags on, with no definitive end in sight.
But if there are still plenty of unknowns, there鈥檚 also a pattern of forward momentum as countries around the world鈥攁nd more to the point, various communities within those countries鈥攂egin to open the doors to their businesses, schools, and other institutions. One dictum has given way to the next: Just a few days ago, Fauci appeared to in the U.S. in the fall, particularly as the viral activity in some areas decreases. 鈥淚n some situations there will be no problem for children to go back to school,鈥� said Fauci. 鈥淚n others, you may need to do some modifications.鈥� Schools in rural Montana may look nothing like schools in New York City in the fall, in other words, and it wouldn't be聽surprising to see some physical schools closed as the traditional school year starts.
To get a sense of what the new normal looks like across the world, we read global news reports聽and then reached out on social media to teachers who are back in school. We received a torrent of responses: More than 600 teachers from over 50 countries joined the conversation, with many leaving detailed descriptions of their schools'聽reopening policies. We followed up with email and Facebook interviews with 20 of those teachers, generating about 50 pages of further documentation.聽
Here鈥檚 our synthesis of the responses we received from educators worldwide鈥攚e hope it helps.
The Big Picture鈥擳hings Are聽Going Well
While more than a few educators told us that they worry about new outbreaks, a clear聽majority of teachers聽reported they are happy to be back in school鈥攁nd so are the students.
Despite all the new rules and restrictions, younger students 鈥済et out of cars or off the bus in the morning with gigantic smiles鈥� and are delighted to see friends and teachers, said Laura Landers, a primary school leader in the Netherlands. In China, high school biology teacher Christopher Noordhoek鈥檚 students 鈥渨ere really struggling with anxiety and depression during the height of the pandemic.鈥� The return to school has 鈥渘ot only brought them a sense of normalcy and routine but also a network of friends and teachers to keep each other grounded.鈥澛�
The return to school has been far from perfect. Teachers reported that it has left them 鈥渆xhausted鈥� and anxious,聽and the learning curve for remote teaching remains steep. Some felt like they had been asked to come back聽too early. Still, most of聽our respondents agreed that聽kids were learning effectively in classrooms, that the return to school was a good idea, and even that technology integration, while challenging, was improving pedagogy around the world.
Alternate Day Attendance Is the New Normal
The complicated logistics of social distancing鈥攖he choreographing of arrivals and exits, in-school transitions, and seating arrangements, for example鈥攖end to break down when there are too many bodies in motion. Kids crowd each other as they line up to exit a classroom or get their temperatures checked, admitted several teachers. Younger children forget rules quickly. In Auckland, New Zealand, high school teacher Constance McCombe told us that social distancing is 鈥渁n impossible task for teenage girls. They get close, they touch, they hug.鈥�
Being realistic about the limitations of rules and protocols is crucial, then, and in our interviews it was clear that many schools around the world鈥攊n Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Canada, and Cyprus, among others鈥攈ave addressed the overcrowding at the root of the problem by splitting classes in half and going to an alternate day schedule.
In the Netherlands, explains primary school leader Laura Landers, echoing an approach that has been adopted around the globe, 鈥渉alf the class attends school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays, while the other half does distance learning from home. Then we swap.鈥� On Wednesdays all students learn remotely, the building is deep cleaned, high-needs students receive more individual attention, and educators plan lessons and hold crucial meetings to address emerging issues and kinks in the system.
There are some variants on the alternate day theme. Some schools, for example, tried splitting the student population into morning and afternoon sessions, but we suspect that鈥檚 a more complicated solution鈥攁nd Landers agreed. In Singapore, an employee at the Ministry of Education reported that the student groups attend class on alternate weeks. And in Australia, at least initially, some schools initially brought individual grades back for only one day of the week.
No Matter What You Do, You鈥檒l Need Good Technology
There appears to be no clear path to reopening without some form of online learning. A bewildering array of factors globally forced the issue.
In Canada, a staffer who works with students with special needs reported that medically fragile students were staying home and required online support. In the Netherlands, wrote primary school teacher Erin Comaskey鈥攖here were similar stories from countries like New Zealand, Germany, and Israel鈥斺�渁pproximately 50 percent of families chose to continue with distance learning instead of returning to campus鈥� when schools opened back up. Vulnerable teachers in several countries said they stayed home and taught via Zoom to a classroom monitored by another staff member. In a school in China, a handful of educators resorted to distance teaching when they were trapped on the other side of the country鈥檚 closed borders.
But that鈥檚 only part of the story. Staff meetings are held online to protect vulnerable members of the community, and school assemblies often occur as synchronous broadcasts to classrooms across the building. Flipped classrooms and blended approaches are emerging as new, durable models around the world. In Greece, writes secondary school teacher Erato Kostopoulou, in a burst of excitement, 鈥渨e even tried an online debate tournament in which we competed with a local school in Thessaloniki, and it worked very well!鈥�
Perhaps most importantly, a strong technology foundation can provide flexibility and continuity if the virus re-emerges and postpones reopenings or forces another round of school closures鈥攁s it has already in France, Israel, and South Korea鈥攐r when, as we heard from China, remediation or extended hours are needed to make up for significant learning loss among students.
Watch for a Special Case of Teacher Burnout
It鈥檚 tempting to think of the new teaching paradigm as short-term, and of solutions as mere Band-Aids to get you to the next phase of reopening鈥攂ut that appears to be a recipe for early teacher burnout.
Worldwide, educators who responded to our questions reported that they were struggling to manage both distance and in-person learning simultaneously. The 鈥渇ace-to-face teaching hasn鈥檛 changed,鈥� according to Charlotte Holmes, a teacher near Adelaide, Australia, but 鈥渨e have had added teaching to do in the form of online content. As to be expected, this has increased our workload.鈥� If a hybrid model is to work well for any period of time, close attention to this issue appears to be vital鈥攁nd models that recognize and seek to reduce the workload for teachers are likely to be much more successful.
What can be done? In Luxembourg, middle school teacher Emily Lewis Agraz says that she uploads virtual lessons on Monday for the week, and then holds virtual and in-person class for all students at the same time. Virtual breakout rooms allow for grouping across the divide, but they鈥檙e imperfect鈥攁 鈥渇ar cry from the normally dynamic, interactive lessons many teachers plan.鈥� Secondary school teacher Michelle Kaszuba from Frankfurt, Germany, takes a similar tack: Some lessons allow for a 鈥渉ybrid learning situation where you are engaging the entire class in both realms,鈥� she writes, 鈥渨hile for others it might be best to work directly with the kids in the room, while those at home are working independently鈥攁nd then they will flip tasks the next day.鈥�
Not far away, in the Netherlands, school leader Laura Landers says that assigning a greater proportion of independent work is a key, since 鈥渢eachers are busy in the classroom and cannot do as much online support.鈥�
She also implemented an all-hands-on-deck policy, pulling in staff who are not classroom teachers to lend a hand with distance learning. Other leaders have temporarily reassigned faculty members from larger classes that cannot yet meet, like band, chorus, and theater.
Yes, the Play Goes On
Teachers (and parents) are especially worried about kids losing outdoor playtime. 鈥淚 would not want my young child sitting at a desk all day, no recess, lunchroom break, or moving classrooms,鈥� posted New York high school teacher Leah Dyan on Facebook鈥攁nd more than 500 members of our audience expressed agreement. 鈥淭hat would be terrible for children.鈥�
But teachers told us that play continues during the pandemic. In Busan, South Korea, for example, where classrooms are back to full capacity following a six-week shutdown, kids have playtime at their desks for now and do solo activities like origami or classroom games. For young kids, of course, that鈥檚 unlikely to suffice for long.
And there鈥檚 better news, too. In our review of comments and in our interviews, we found that outdoor recess remains an integral part of the school day in countries from Germany to New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands鈥攅ven as adults enforce playground rules around social distancing and post-recess hygiene.
Monkey bars, slides, and other playground equipment are still in use, though the structures are frequently cleaned, writes Jodi Hirsch, a kindergarten teacher in Israel. Games that involve tossing balls back and forth or frequent touching, like the game of tag, are discouraged. Already, teachers report, kids have invented an alternative in which the shadows of their peers are tagged as the game progresses.
Other rules that appeared frequently across the globe: staggered times for recess to eliminate congestion, and designating areas of the playground for each class to discourage unnecessary mixing of groups.
Still In Motion at Some High Schools (and Middle Schools)
While a CDC report on school reopening did advise that schools 鈥渞estrict hallway use through homeroom stays or staggered release of classes,鈥� there were not detailed guidelines for how that might work. The report did note that 鈥渘ot all strategies will be feasible for all schools鈥� and that 鈥渓imiting hall movement options can be particularly challenging in secondary schools.鈥�
We found that middle and high school students in countries like China, Germany, New Zealand, and Luxembourg are, in fact, transitioning between classes鈥攁nd while it involves a fair amount of preparation and staff oversight, teachers say it鈥檚 mostly manageable. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a team effort,鈥� says middle school principal Carol Wallace from Stavanger, Norway. 鈥淭he one meter rule is by far the hardest for our middle and high school students to maintain. They need constant reminders.鈥�
Around the world, hallways are taped off to keep kids in lanes; lockers are mostly off limits; arrows direct the flow of student traffic; and teachers are positioned at critical spots where kids tend to crowd or bump into each other. That last part can be challenging, according to Luxembourg鈥檚 Emily Lewis Agraz: 鈥淲e also have to clean desks after each class, so the combination requires some smooth moves.鈥�
Even on Health and Safety, Changing Protocols
There鈥檚 plenty of publicly available information on health and safety protocols in schools鈥攆rom mask-wearing to testing for sickness and elevated temperatures. Unsurprisingly, we found that the rules and regulations were already shifting as communities around the globe entered new phases of the pandemic.
Frequent handwashing and cleaning of high-touch surfaces like door handles, desks, and classroom materials to mitigate viral spread remains the mainstay globally. In fact, we heard from some teachers that handwashing is such serious business, it鈥檚 included in their daily schedules, often between five and 10 times a day.
Our teachers expressed concern about wearing masks鈥攎any wondered if they could breathe effectively, and language teachers thought the masks would be a particular burden. 鈥淗ow do you communicate clearly to young children while teaching wearing a mask?鈥� asked Jen Judson Grantham. 鈥淚 hate that we cannot share smiles.鈥� In many locations, masks were still required for both students and teachers鈥攖hat鈥檚 the as well, though they hint at exceptions for students鈥攂ut masks are no longer frequently worn in countries like Australia, Norway, and New Zealand, for example, and even in China, where the virus first struck, a decline in cases has meant a relaxation of the standards around mask-wearing.