This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other
Some examples of how the world of education has responded to the pandemic.
This article is part of our latest Learning special report, which focuses on ways that remote learning will shape the future.
A fall semester unlike any ever known is underway in America.
The coronavirus is lurking around every corner like a ghoul in a Halloween cornfield, waiting to leap out and frighten — if not sicken or kill — anyone who dares pass by.
It has created chaos in the world of education, as some schools refuse to open while others do, only to close again as cases rise. Some are online, while some are in person — or both. The pressure on students, teachers, administrators and parents is immense and has aggravated educational inequalities. Schools, after all, do more than deliver an education: they are a source of food, socialization and internet connections to the rest of the world — along with child care providers for working parents.
The instability for so many who depend on all that is grim.
But wait. In every dark time across history some people rise up and cope — more than cope really. They demonstrate resilience, creativity and an ability to innovate.
Some experts look at these efforts and hope that many will change — for the better — how students are taught and learn in the future.
Chris Cerf, who started his career as a high school teacher, served as the New Jersey education commissioner, deputy chancellor for New York City’s Department of Education, and is a founder of a nonprofit called Cadence Learning, is one of the optimists.
“I absolutely believe that we are going to come out of this pandemic having learned a great deal about how to deliver quality instruction to students,” he said.
You’ll find a handful of examples — snapshots, if you will — here and throughout our Learning section of creativity in a time of crisis.
#Coronavirussyllabus
It developed, as many things do these days, on Twitter.
In March, Anne Fausto-Sterling, an emerita professor of biology at Brown University, tweeted that professors should “teach the virus” whatever their discipline. CONTINUE READING: This School Year Has Been Unlike Any Other - The New York Times