The following blog was contributed by Clare Kilbane, Ph.D., a faculty member, senior learning designer, and Catholic school liaison at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. Follow her on Twitter @clarerkilbane
It is safe to say that none of us has experienced anything like a global pandemic before. Therefore, even the most experienced, capable educator should acknowledge that it is OK to feel like a first-year teacher again! There will be numerous challenges and struggles to overcome in the months ahead, but much like that first year of teaching, it can be expected that the experience will also bring spiritual growth, memorable professional learning, and joyful exchanges with students and their families. Although no prior education or professional development could have fully prepared teachers to make this transition to distance learning, the grit, resourcefulness, and diligence they possess will enable quick learning. It helps to remember that they are not alone—both their colleagues and the Holy Spirit will support them in living up to their vocation if they ask!
There are three distinct phases to progress through in the months ahead—each addresses specific needs, has particular goals, and offers unique gifts. Here is a look at them up-close.
Phase One: Emergency Remote Teaching
This phase challenges teachers to respond in an immediate way to their school administrator’s request to develop a short-term, “stop-gap” educational experience for students online or at a distance (i.e., if online learning is not an option). Doing so keeps students connected to their school and faith community, allows students to maintain a healthy routine (e.g., prayer, attendance, etc.), and prevents learning loss. Simple activities that can be performed asynchronously and using limited tools keep students engaged during this phase and enable an easier to transition to the uncertainty which will become the “new normal.”
The primary goal for this phase is a quick, basic response to the needs of students and families as they become more comfortable learning from home. For most, creating a sense of normalcy by sustaining schooling at a distance was most important. But for some families, educators played an important role in ministering to their spiritual, material, and emotional needs. Then and throughout the crisis it is important for educators to recognize their role as “first responders” of a sort. They are in a position to accompany their students as they encounter very real difficulties due to illness, grief, and financial or family instability. If teachers provide Christian witness and offer spiritual support (either personally or by referring to a member of the school’s pastoral team) it will be a great blessing to the students and the families they serve. A gift teachers will experience in this phase is the assistance of other people, including spouses, co-workers, and specialists, who help them find time, energy, tools, and other resources needed to prepare for emergency remote teaching.
Phase Two: Incorporating Strategic Planning and Capacity Building
This phase involves sustaining the activities of emergency remote teaching while gradually implementing additional activities that enable more powerful and sustained Catholic education at a distance. The primary goal of this phase is to create solid connections with students by: a) inquiring about the variables that influence student learning (e.g., access to materials, devices, internet access, other resources, parental support, etc.) and b) ensuring the students learn how to participate more comfortably and fully while being educated in this manner. This allows the teacher to develop and operationalize a successful, sustainable plan.
The use of personal phone calls, surveys, and other methods will enable the teacher to connect with families in an individual way and generate information that helps the teacher develop the most appropriate schedule, procedures, polices, communications, instructional methods, resources, and measures for engagement and accountability. It will also allow the teacher to understand how to best support the emerging needs of those they serve and provide opportunities for prayer, liturgy and worship among them as well.
It is not necessary that a teacher re-invent every part of their traditional teaching practice. Three strategic planning questions will be helpful to consider, including:
- What activities from my previous practice should I continue by using existing or new resources?
- What activities from my previous practice should I stop doing?, and
- What should I start doing to learn about and respond to the needs of my students and their families in this new context?
Some teachers will blame themselves for not engaging in planning earlier. They will benefit from remembering that the evolving nature of the pandemic made it difficult to anticipate the current reality. Because they are teaching in a crisis, it will help to develop new expectations for both themselves and their students. Crisis conditions are not only different but new and more difficult in myriad ways.
As it is possible, the teacher will want to implement activities to familiarize the learners with the modes of instruction (i.e. tools, pedagogies) and structures (i.e., schedule and processes) they will use when they move to Phase Three.
The students should be invited to try-out and learn new modes of learning in low-stakes, fun activities (e.g., a classroom meet-up) before they are graded or held to formal standards using them. This will reduce their stress and increase their well-being during an anxious time.
This phase can be extended for as long as it takes for the teacher to develop the best long-term plan. One of the gifts of this phase is the opportunity to practice creative problem-solving and the opportunity to learn along with one’s students.
Phase Three: Adjusting, Adapting, and Adding
In this phase, which continues indefinitely, the students engage fully in the plan for meaningful learning that has been planned for by their teacher. The goal now is to minister to the students and provide them a faith-based community in which to belong, learn, and grow for as long as it is needed. Over time, the teacher will gradually adjust and adapt their plan based on what works and what does not, new expectations, and new information. It will help teachers and students to remember it can take a long time to feel entirely comfortable with this new learning arrangement—they must be patient with themselves and one another. In time, more aspects of their Catholic school, including liturgy, service learning, clubs and extracurricular activities and opportunities for formal and informal interactions will be added and built up around them—allowing them to continue their schooling experience in a different but still wonderful way. There are many gifts to experience in this phase, not the least of which is the joy that results from being at the center of a an engaged learning community.
By working hard and leading well during this unprecedented time, Catholic school educators can remind everyone what a Catholic school really is. Students and their families will realize a Catholic school is much more than a physical building from which they must remain distant until the end of the pandemic. The environments, experiences, and interactions these teachers painstakingly create will demonstrate that a Catholic school is a special community of souls who learn of and live out the love of Jesus Christ.
