We are Stronger Learners when We Have Options

We must be careful not to let traditional school districts control the conversation when it comes to young learners and their ability to learn virtually. If you would just listen to the traditionalists, then you might get the feeling that every kid struggled with out of school learning over the past two to three years, and that the right thing to do is to get them back into traditional classrooms as soon as possible.

But some kids have thrived during remote learning, both academically and emotionally. Why might that be?

Back in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic and when most kids were sent home from their traditional school campuses, Edutopia, an online newsletter published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, ran an article that chronicled why certain kids were doing well out of school.

Edutopia’s Nora Fleming wrote at the time:

“All school year, Montenique Woodard’s seventh period, her last class of the day, has been her hardest. ‘I feel like I don’t know what to do with them,’ she said of her middle school science class when Edutopia first talked to her back in the fall. One boy in particular, the ‘class clown,’ was a persistent challenge, and his behavior influenced his 23 peers, 15 of whom are boys.”

“But reconnecting months later during the coronavirus closures, Woodard shared some surprising news: the same boy was ‘thriving’ during remote learning. ‘I think not having those everyday distractions in school has really allowed for kids like him to focus on the work and not necessarily all the social things going on because some kids can’t separate that out,’ said Woodard, who teaches in Washington, D.C.”

Fleming continued:

“We’ve been hearing that a lot. Increasingly, teachers in our audience are reporting that a handful of their students—shy kids, hyperactive kids, highly creative kids—are suddenly doing better with remote learning than they were doing in the physical classroom. ‘It’s been awesome to see some of my kids finally find their niche in education,’ said Holli Ross, a first-year high school teacher in northern California, echoing the sentiments of dozens of teachers we’ve heard from.”

But Fleming offered balance when she reported:

“That’s not to say it’s the norm. Many students are struggling to adapt to remote learning: Digital access and connectivity remain a pervasive equity issue; stay-at-home orders have magnified existing problems in familial dynamics; and, universally, teachers and students grapple with how to replicate the engagement and discourse from an in-person classroom.”

Clearly, though, Fleming found some promise in out of school learning when she wrote:

“But it’s not a tiny handful, either, and the unplanned break from the physical classroom may be bringing to light hidden reasons some kids struggle while others succeed. In the responses we gathered from our educators, we found recurring themes—like social situations and the inflexible bell schedule—that simply don’t work well for all kids. For a few of the teachers, at least, it’s inspired them to consider making permanent changes when they return to the classroom.”

Fleming pointed to five factors that could make a difference when you see a young learner succeed with their learning outside the traditional classroom (the notes behind the five factors are mine):

1. The importance of self pacing – allowing the learner to define, plan, execute, and evaluate their learning goals, with support from adult learning leaders, i.e. coaches

• Time to rethink the overextended kid – applying the “less is more” adage and allowing the young learner to spend time learning what they want to learn, when they want to learn it

• Lowering the stakes – allowing the young learner to have some negotiation rights when it comes to their learning

• Reducing the chatter – traditional school folks want us all to think that all kids have suffered from being absent from in-person connections and relationships, but some kids have blossomed from not being bullied or intimidated about “looking good” or fitting in socially

• Getting enough Z’s – young learners seemed to be getting extra sleep while out of school, when they weren’t faced with early start times produced by mostly adult decision-making on traditional school campuses

Let’s be careful not to put all our young learners in the same basket. Some young learners do well inside schools. Some learners do not. Some learners do well outside of school. Some learners do not.

The key to success is to provide an effective learning plan for all young learners with the right amount of flexibility – in school or not. This learning plan should be supported by a set of adult learning leaders.

What doesn’t help is to demand of our families a choice between in school or out of school. We can do, and should do, better than that.

Friday News Roundup tomorrow. SVB