Lessons from Lockdown
As High School pupils head towards exams they will be put to the test in all that they have learned academically over the last two years. No doubt the school reports that teachers will be busily writing will largely focus on their performance in these practise assessments, the areas that they need to improve in, and the likely grade that they will achieve.
But as they edge closer to leaving high school, it is important to reflect on the wider education that they have received during their time in education. As Albert Einstein famously said “Education is that which remains, if one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”
This is particularly pertinent when considering what these pupils have been through in the last twelve months. The shifting between online and physical learning combined with the uncertainty around how they will be assessed in their exams has caused considerable anxiety for many. It is important to reflect on how these experiences may have impacted upon the young adults that they are developing into.
Schooling is, of course, about more than just learning to pass exams. School is where you develop all those really important other things like character, personality and networks that make you a successful adult — sometimes that learning comes naturally, and is enjoyable and sometimes those lessons are more challenging.
Over the past year, at times it may have felt to pupils that education has been stripped back to its’ basics — lessons taught and work submitted.
But in the school that I work in, I have seen something different. I have seen a virtual school where all those other important lessons are still being learned — pupils developing autonomy and self-efficacy, solving problems successfully for themselves, at times directing their own learning and their own time independently.
Perhaps most importantly, over the last year schools have learned just how important community and connection is to everyones success and wellbeing — that by working together and caring for each other we are also caring for ourselves.
However challenging things have felt over the last year, pupils worldwide should reflect on all that they have achieved despite the circumstances.
I asked the 18 year old pupils in one of my classes what they thought they had learned throughout this stressful period of their lives. Their answers were revealing.
‘Over the lockdown period, I have learned that I can consistently apply myself independently. Previously, I found that hard without adult supervision’
‘I feel that I have built up my resilience and will be able to cope with future challenges. I will certainly be more equipped to expect the unexpected!’
No one would have chosen to go through what we have all lived through in the past year. But we will all have learned important lessons and developed our resilience; something that will serve us all well for the future.
‘You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.’ — Brian Tracy