What teachers learned from lockdown

There is a lot of talk about “the new normal” - that it will be a long time before life gets back to the way it was in the early months of 2020. But what do teachers at different stages of their careers, and working in different sectors, think the impact of the coronavirus pandemic - and, specifically, the period of lockdown - will be on their practice long-term?

As schools and colleges tentatively start making their way into 2020-21, Tes Scotland asked six teachers - covering primary, secondary and nursery, as well as the state and private sectors - and one FE lecturer to share their thoughts.

From all, there was a determination to learn from the Covid experience - to maintain parental engagement, to explore whether teachers could work more flexibly, and to support one another, not just emotionally but also professionally. One teacher noted that the sharing of resources nationally had taken off in her subject during lockdown - and if that could continue, it would have a tangible impact on workload.

Lockdown has had silver linings that may continue into this new school year, then, and has also crystallised for some what is really important, such as giving children more opportunities to do what they do best: play.

Here’s what the teachers had to say.

‘New skills are altering teaching for the better’

Andrew Leask, head of English and drama

The weeks leading up to and following lockdown were the busiest of my career. As it became increasingly clear that we were moving to distance learning, our e-learning plans had to be ramped up: staff and students alike needed to be upskilled on using Teams and accessing work remotely.

That carried on throughout lockdown: every minute not spent teaching remotely, marking work or scrutinising evidence to make GCSE and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) estimates was spent answering technical questions for staff, students and parents, or making “how to” guides and videos.

As busy as that all was, it was enormously rewarding, too: I learned a lot, figuring things out in order to problem solve with colleagues. Seeing the grit and enthusiasm with which the teaching profession faced these challenges, and embraced the possibilities that e-learning affords, I felt real pride in being a teacher (a feeling that’s easily lost to the grinding pressures of academic routine).

Initially, I did too much. Once I learned to be disciplined - moving away from the computer at lunch, setting myself a hard finish time every day - I found the work-life balance was much more achievable. Indeed, I came to love the lockdown routine - the lack of a commute and the ability to control distractions was, for me, enormously empowering. I could organise my day, and impose a structure that’s often impossible in the bustling chaos of a school. The proximity of the kitchen had its pros and cons. Pro: easy access to tea and coffee. Con: easy access to biscuits.

Now that we are finally back in school, the skills that we - and our students - have mastered over lockdown are fundamentally altering how we teach…for the better. In addition to a more flipped classroom and more independent learning, I hope that we can retain other positive elements of distance learning. Just as working from home has become more common in other industries, I hope elements of remote learning can be woven into 21st-century school life.

‘Sharing of resources can make our jobs easier’

Caroline McFarlane, design and technology faculty head

Lockdown actually started a week early for me because I’d had a wisdom tooth taken out. There I was, in school with a scarf wrapped around my face the day before we closed, making sure the kids were sent home with jotters, pencils, rubbers, rulers - anything they would need over the lockdown period.

The school also had help from the Aberdeen Football Club charity to provide laptops and dongles - we live in a rural area, so a lot of our students struggle with access to the internet or technical resources. But the move to digital for my staff - in terms of moving completely over to Teams - was smooth, as we’d been using it for years.

Our school introduced twice-daily check-ins for students - called “Squad”. Every member of staff was assigned around a dozen students and would check in with them at 10.30am and 2.30pm. It was mainly a chance for a catch-up, but it also enabled us to monitor student engagement.

Now we’re back at school, Squad is being maintained and we meet in the morning for half an hour. Soft starts are going to be just as important for seniors as they are for younger students.

The structure of our day is also changing to three periods of 100 minutes to help limit movement around the school. That does mean that our certificated courses will have 50 minutes less face-to-face teaching time each week, but we will be hoping to cover that using online platforms - blended learning is here to stay.

One good thing to come out of lockdown is that quality resources are now being shared among design and technology teachers across Scotland; that has the potential to make all of our jobs a lot easier.

My dad passed away during lockdown. Remote learning meant I was able to go and spend time in Glasgow with him before he died in May. I’ll always be grateful for that.

‘I underwent an IT revolution’

Judith Murphy, modern languages teacher

On Friday 20 March, I finished teaching at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh and one month later, on 20 April, I was due to start a new job at Kelso High in the Borders. But, of course, lockdown came.

The whole thing was overwhelming and I wondered where on earth to start. What ended up happening was I underwent an IT revolution in isolation, going from 1850 to 2020 in about three weeks!

I am reasonably IT-savvy but when it came to education and teaching, I was more of a traditionalist and the main reason for that - as will be the case for so many teachers - was time. Suddenly, though, I had time. So I would get up at 8am and get my domestic stuff out of the way and then I sat down and taught myself everything.

I did some council courses on data protection and the safeguarding of children now that we were working remotely. I got to know my computer and what it was really capable of. I learned how to use Zoom, Show My Homework and Microsoft Teams. I updated Windows and I am now a 52-year-old YouTuber.

I might have got to the end of my career without doing any of this but learning it all and experiencing success gave me a buzz, and it gave me confidence.

Those few springtime months proved that teachers can do worthwhile things from home, which could open up the possibility of more flexible working - especially with senior students. I loved the adult feel of the online tutorials I had with my Advanced Higher students. Lockdown also showed me how much more productive you can be working from home instead of in a school environment where there is always so much going on.

I don’t want all of this to disappear and evaporate. Now, in a new school year, I hope we’ve all learned from this experience.

‘Lockdown forced us to look at how we teach’

Jason Graham, legal services lecturer

If someone asks me in 20 or 30 years’ time how I would sum up the time of Covid, I’ll plagiarise Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Of course, nothing good can truly be said to come from a global pandemic, but, if pushed for some sort of silver lining, it has allowed/forced/pushed many of us in further education to really look at how we teach for the rest of 2020 and well beyond. During lockdown, I was able to road-test applications such as Zoom, Loom and Teams, and become comfortable with each one.

I predict the lockdown legacy will result in me focusing more on tailoring class time to students’ needs, becoming more aware that three hours is a long time to be involved in just one activity. I aim to split class time into two or three mini-lectures per class, complemented by case-study exercises for students to work on individually or in groups, with the opportunity to ask questions and provide their views.

None of us truly knows how long this could all go on for, so it is vital to let students know that the way they communicate, learn and interact in their course could be the future - not just a stop gap. They are, in effect, honing new soft skills at the same time as their lecturers.

I think the emphasis, in law anyway, should be more about how students learn rather than what they learn - words I never thought I’d say. My own style of teaching, more than ever, will be mindful of student confidence, participation and enjoyment.

‘I’ve been on a journey of empowerment’

Nuzhat Uthmani, primary teacher

I had no idea in March how long lockdown would last for. Initially, I was thinking about how online learning was going to be managed for my 32 pupils, but a very real concern was also the supervision and support that my own two children would require.

My immediate priority was to set a timetable for the household to ensure we all had space and time to work through our days effectively. I’m grateful that my children adjusted comfortably, and I’m proud of how they worked through their home-learning tasks, thanks to the excellent efforts of their own teachers.

As I settled into the routine, lockdown became a time for reflection. I sensed there was an opportunity to develop my interests as a teacher and to grow my networks. I was able to delve deeper into my specialism of global citizenship, and embarked on a journey of empowerment. I participated in a global education conference, I began to write blogs and articles and set up my own website. I recently hosted my first webinar on the need to diversify our curricula, and feel that I can now lead the way in this side of curriculum development.

I’m excited to see what impact this will have on my practice. I’ve returned to the classroom with a new sense of vigour, determined to provide a mind shift in learning and teaching, to a place that is more inclusive, diverse and antiracist. I can’t wait to see how my learners develop into true global citizens who will challenge stereotypes, break down barriers and push their boundaries.

I will continue to make heard the voices of those members of the teaching workforce who feel devalued and marginalised, subject to discrimination and prejudice. As teachers, we have a responsibility and the power to form the future through the citizens we develop in schools.

I can’t wait.

‘We must remember the importance of relationships’

Blair Minchin, primary teacher

If the pandemic has shown me anything, it’s that life is precious and that childhood is something to be cherished. It should be a time to create magical memories and embark on awesome adventures. There should also be plenty of opportunities for that thing that kids do best: play.

I’ve resolved to try to fine-tune my practice to provide all of these and more. Tapping into my pupils’ imaginations and curiosity, I hope to design purposeful and meaningful learning activities that challenge children and empower them to not only question and inquire but to follow through on their intuitions.

That will mean involving them in the direction that the curriculum takes and will likely require an even greater degree of observation than I had been doing before.

What’s more, I will really strive to foster impactful relationships with parents and carers. A whole term of remote learning was a wonderful opportunity to not only engage parents but also to actively involve them in their child’s learning. Unfortunately, this was, of course, not an ideal time for all families. Nevertheless, many schools have done an awesome job of working with families and hopefully we can continue to build upon this.

While it is absolutely fundamental that there is academic rigour and challenge within the school day, we must remember the importance of relationships.

And that doesn’t just mean our own rapport with individual pupils, but also their friendships with one another. Lockdown will have strained these connections.

Online gaming is a much more social activity than many seem to realise, but it is a poor substitute for hide and seek, tig and games of football played on wonky pitches. Children will need time to rebuild and reinforce relationships, and as teachers we should facilitate activities to this end.

Finally, it’s important to consider the value of strong relationships between colleagues - even from a two-metre distance. We need to remember how powerful a smile, an attentive ear and some supporting words can be.

‘I got my children involved in my work’

Sarah Hutchinson, peripatetic nursery teacher

I have two children who are 9 and 11, so, during lockdown, my husband and I were parenting, home working and homeschooling two children. It was definitely challenging.

I would be trying to have a Teams meeting and getting notes under the door from my son asking for a snack, or he would be knocking on the door wanting something - once he even crawled along the floor, thinking mistakenly he was out of the camera’s range…

The best thing was being able to get them involved in my work. My daughter taught me how to use Sway, which we used to communicate with our nursery families and to suggest activities that they could try at home.

I did sometimes have to put myself in front of the camera - something I’m not comfortable with - but I got my own children involved. I filmed myself reading a book to my son, and because he was commenting on the pictures it felt more natural.

I work across three nurseries and a big change for me is that I used to do two days in each one, but, because of the restrictions, I will now be in each setting for a week at a time.

The benefit of this is that I have more time in a setting to get to know the children and families and more time to work alongside the nursery teams to help support the children.

Really close relationships with families are what the early years is all about, but now we can’t invite parents in as much as we used to. Children have to be dropped off at the door, so we are looking at continuing to communicate with parents online, which we got really good at during lockdown.

My husband was shielding during lockdown - he’s immune-suppressed and the medication he is on put him in the shielding bracket - so, as a family, we laid low and went into isolation.

I was nervous about coming back to work but I feel OK now that I’m here. We have guidelines and risk assessments in place to support us. I’m enjoying being back and seeing the children and the teams that I work with face to face.

This article originally appeared in the 18 September 2020 issue under the headline “Lessons from lockdown”