Opinion
The Lockdown: Great Learning Opportunity For Educators
A Principal shares her views on the present situation of lockdown
As the entire world is in a state of lockdown, the wave of turmoil, fear, and anxiety has swept the entire global village. The uncertainty of what the future holds has affirmed that it will no longer be the same for all. The same unknown reorientation and change await education as well. In this chaotic scenario of the rise of the pandemic, schools have become suddenly unguarded places for young minds.
However, teachers, children and their parents are dealing with this situation from a more optimistic and positive lens. We perceived it quickly that schools may have shut abruptly, but not the minds of our children. Hence, learning must continue. The centre of learning was shifted from schools to their homes, the primary natural environment of every child.
Home is a composite of people living together in a family. This time where people are bound to stay at home, it gives everyone ample time to bond with their family which tends to be neglected in our routine life. Having meaningful times together with no urgency to reach someplace, helps create a series of memories and happiness to rejoice.
Families often indulge themselves in reliving past events of joy and contentment through old stories and photographs. This helps in keeping a consistently positive environment for children as well. Parents have also taken an initiative of homeschooling and took this opportunity to make household chores more fun and playful by involving kids and teaching them the errands of daily life.
Having said that, schools have taken up the responsibility to enable students to acquire knowledge, skills and competency required for decision making, problem-solving and collaboration. Thereby, the transition from classroom teaching to virtual learning has not only been challenging for all the stakeholders but also energizing and inspiring.
We are quite fortunate to be living in an era where technology is abundantly available and the wealth of resources for e-learning is plentiful. Many web platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, Hangout and Microsoft Team have smoothened the process of communication for education. Hence, presently, technology has metamorphosed into an important tool for teachers to impart education seamlessly. Technology, to educators, has proven to be an unfathomed window of opportunities.
In addition, to live in harmony with nature is probably the biggest lesson that this lockdown has taught us. Let us take this opportune moment to regain our connections and savour our relationship with Mother Earth. The list of to-dos is never-ending – there is so much to learn and do with our time in abundance. Let us, as educators, take our steps towards sensitizing our students and stakeholders towards the environment to move towards a brighter beginning.
Manju Rana: Principal/Director, Seth Anandram Jaipuria School (Ghaziabad)