A Revolution in Education

Some of us spend a lot of time looking for silver linings, and in the pandemic, I think we may have found a big and lasting one: a wholly unintended, completely necessary revolution in education.

There is little question that for many if not most parents and kids, the classroom is essential both for academics and for socialization, but for a significant minority, in-person learning actually is an impediment to both.

A recent survey of 1569 parents of students in grades K through 12 called “Parents perspectives: media use and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic“ found that 62% of respondents say they’re having a somewhat or very positive experience with online learning.

It seems to be particularly effective for those students who have certain learning disabilities including vision and hearing loss, profound attention deficit, bi-polar, and hyperactivity disorders, disruptive mood disorders, and/or being on the autism scale.

Being shy or bullied keeps a lot of kids from getting the most out of the in-school experience. It’s hard to focus on math when there are kids in the room who are more dedicated to making you miserable than to learning.

I’m fascinated by the subject of formal education, and have had a sinking feeling for some time that we may be negligent as a society in keeping up with other countries’ advances. After all, many of our ideas and curricula were formed in the early Industrial Age. This new world we’ve built, one where we adopt new technologies before we completely understand their implications, seems to demand that we rethink our educational priorities and strategies. The pandemic forced our schools to adapt on the fly. It’s probably unfair to say that we should we have had a pandemic plan since it really wasn’t on the radar for anyone outside of the infectious disease community, but if it happens again and we’re not prepared, it will be our fault.

For more insight , I turned to Monica Argueta, who happens to be both a special-ed teacher and the mother of a 7th grader who is on the autism spectrum. (Full disclosure: she’s also my daughter-in-law.) As is the case with many kids on the spectrum, my grandson is extremely bright academically, but suffers from the various social anxieties that are prevalent not only in in autistic kids, but the many others who for various reasons, find social situations challenging.

The Parents’ Perspective research cited above says many children who sometimes struggle in the traditional in-school setting are thriving online. The distractions are limited and focus is rarely lost. There’s no stress over public recitations and the other group activities that require interaction and quick social analysis and action. Even little things most take for granted, like easy conversation, can be vexing.

Both the study and Ms. Argueta agree that in-person learning is still necessary for both academic and social reasons, and that the hybrid model of online study melded with some in-classroom learning seems to be ideal for certain kids. It’s easy to envision a post-pandemic day when the best of both worlds is available to those who want and need it.

Before leaving the topic of special-ed needs, Let’s turn one more time to Ms. Argueta: “You can’t force socialization, and you might be pleasantly surprised to know that bullying is not a huge problem for kids on the autism spectrum. They are primarily treated with compassion by their classmates. We need more focus on academics than socialization, as that happens naturally over time.” She went on to say, “Schools are set up for ‘neuro-typical’ kids, since they are in the majority, but great schools are prepared for the ‘neuro-diverse,’ a population that includes attention deficit, socialization, and bi-polar disorders among others.”

Along with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, our modern world demands we teach media literacy. Training kids to spot a viral fake, to think critically, and to share their findings with adults is increasingly important. I’m alarmed at the number of totally fallacious things I get online from well-meaning but poorly informed seniors. (And, no, Aunt Clara, I’m not worried that the government is injecting 5G chips in vaccines.) Because they are not digital natives like the millennial crowd, people over 65 are the most internet-gullible, and thus most likely to give legs to lies big and small.

And while we’re adjusting curricula, we need to double-down on civic literacy as well. I was shocked (but not particularly surprised) when I heard former Auburn football coach, Tommy Tuberville, the new senator from Alabama, proclaim that the House, Senate and Executive constituted the three branches of government. Imagine all the arguments that would never take place if everyone—including United States Senators— had a middle school understanding of our government, from dog catcher to president.