Concerns with Post-Pandemic Pedagogy
As schools gradually open and welcome children back,
there’s a sense of trepidation among students — “They have lost the skill of
socializing”, “they have become addicted to screens”, “there is no routine”,
“I’ve put on so much weight, will I be body-shamed?”, “Will everybody act like
everything is back to normal and how much will we have to catch up on our
studies?”. These are just a few of the
genuine concerns with which students are returning back to school. With the changing concept of traditional education, the rise of the internet and new technologies are taking place and quality education is becoming a concern for all. The metamorphosis of the education system in the aftermath of the pandemic is both a concern and an opportunity.
Areas of concern:
1. There has been a shift to the digital mode of education in the post-COVID-19 era, even at the primary stage of education. However, the severe income inequalities and rural-urban digital divide have led to many students being disadvantaged now.
2. The students have been facing extreme stress leading to severe mental health issues including domestic violence, over-dependence on digital media, video games, etc.
3. The problem of addictive behavior among students, has been identified during the past two years.
4. The COVID-19-induced lockdown had led to the dissociation of students from social and physical circles, and this tendency has further led to severe dependency factors among students.
5. There is a foundational issue of lack of digital infrastructure and digital literacy in India.
6. According to Mission Antyodaya's nationwide survey of villages, only 47% of households receive electricity for more than 12 hours a day. Additionally, only 24% of Indians own a smartphone, and only 11% of households own computers. On the whole, a scarce 24% of India's population has access to internet facilities.
My opinion:
Society wants all children to fit into and conform to its
iron-cast expectations. Pandemic or no pandemic, we want children to fit into
this box and fast! The last two-and-half years were extremely hard on them full
of fears, losses, and uncertainty. we know that Schools are ground for the
scrutinous gaze as children are weighed and evaluated against each other. It is
no surprise that most children preferred to keep their cameras off during
online classes. We need to understand that Each child is wired and
inspired differently. One size does not fit all. Children have
responded to the pandemic in myriad ways, some were described as “distracted”
as, like many others, they could not engage with online learning. Some were
considered “introverted”, and “shy, some had significant run-ins with
frustration as they could not meet their friends. We need to ask ourselves, Will, we learn to respect children’s diversity of wiring and
experiences, or would the coming months become a constant battle of
comparison, criticism, blaming, and shaming? Children are not passive recipients
of hardships. They respond, they muster skills, and they do what
they can to survive and sustain themselves through the most challenging
times. More and more classrooms need to build emotionally safe spaces
where teachers, children, and parents could discuss:
What steps did they take that helped them during the pandemic?
What did they realize that they really valued to them?
Which are the communities (doctors, activists, etc) that supported them?
How can they build this community in school?
What sustained them through the toughest times?
It might become
very convenient to pigeonhole children into single stories like “he’s become
addicted to the screen”, “pandemic has made her so lazy”, or “he’s really fallen
behind”. These are the words that will be woven into the stories of their life.
Over the years, they start internalizing this single story and believe there’s
something intrinsically wrong with them, that they are unworthy. “There’s
something wrong with me”, “I don’t deserve love”, “I feel invisible in my
classroom as if I don’t exist”, Memories shape our storyline and our storyline
shapes memories. The aim now should not be to graduate them from one class to the next but to help them mourn what was lost and make them feel safe again. We can offer school counseling services which can include psychotherapists, counselors, parents, and even some older students who with some basic training can become the first line of therapeutic relief to the students. Finally, We need to ask ourselves, what stories of the pandemic will
the children grow up with? After the anonymity of online classes, it could be a
daunting task to return to school after two-and-a-half years with the fear of
scrutiny, ridicule, and rejection. How could we welcome them back? I think They
need to be greeted with -
“I accept and care for you as you are. You are
unique, you are you. I’ll neither compare nor demand what might be difficult
for you”.Let’s start the schools with a new phrase,
“To be included, acknowledged, welcomed! As we make our
way out of this pandemic fog, let’s commit to a better world where no child is
left invisible”
Addendum:
Disabled children: 15% of the population
lives with some kind of a disability, of this 8% live in developing countries.
WHO considers disability as a human right issue. The global literacy rate of
the disabled is 3% with just 1% females, 90% of the disabled students do not
attend schools in developing countries says UNESCO, due to lack of adequate
infra, inaccessible reading material, and untrained teachers. 90% of the
disabled are unemployed.
Since the lockdown has made schools
rapidly migrate to online education this metamorphosis of the Education system has
far-reaching effects on disabled children. The solution here is online education
which provides both flexible and self-paced learning with techno aids and assistive
devices, it allows the review of the material, lectures, screen recording, text
magnifiers, speech converter software, sign language interpreters, and videos with subtitles,
etc.
LGBTQ+ community: As per the 2011 census
there are 4.8mil transgenders in India, with a literacy rate of 46% compared to 74%
of the general population. In 2020 there were only 19 transgenders who appeared
for 10th boards among the 18lakh students who appeared. A study by NHRC in 2017
stated that more than two-thirds of transgender children drop out of school
before class 10th. More than 60% of those identified as transgenders in India
reported experiencing physical harassment in high school, amongst these only
18% reported these abuses to school authorities.
What should be done? The national
education policy (NEP) 2020 recognizes transgender children as educationally disadvantaged
and recommends widening educational asses through the gender inclusion fund. But
we need to understand that access is just the first step we need to go beyond
that and the focus should be on enhancing awareness and acceptability of the LGBTQ+
community through education. The country of Scotland has become the first
country to have an LGBTQ+ inclusive school curriculum in 2021. Besides
inclusiveness and equity in access, integration of themes like identity,
diversity, and social justice is the most urgent need of the modern Indian
classroom. As children will go to school after a long gap of approx. 2 yrs.
filled with anxiety, we owe them an improved, safer, and more affirming environment
in our schools.
Various government Initiatives: DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing): e-Learning, E-Path Shala, SWAYAM Prabha.
For the differently-abled: For hearing impaired students, one DTH channel is available with sign languages. The study material has been developed in Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY), for the hearing and visually impaired.
Radio Broadcasting: The radio broadcasts focus on activity-based learning. For broadcasting content related to the National Institute of Open Learning – NIOS (grades 9 to 12), 289 community radio stations have been used. This mode of education is particularly useful for students who are living in remote areas, particularly for grades 5 to 1. Shiksha Vani is a Podcast of the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE). Shiksha Vani is used by learners of grades 12 to 9. There are more than 430 pieces of audio content for all subjects from grades 12 to 1, in Shiksha Vani.
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