From The Principal
Lessons from Lockdown: Shadowing a Student for a Day
by Matthew Bentley, Head of Teaching and Learning (P-12)
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird
One of the most powerful ideas conveyed in Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is the huge impact that empathy can have on our ability to understand and appreciate the experiences of others. While her story was published within the context of the 1960s US Civil Rights movement, her message still resonates today on a global level with hundreds of millions of people during our global pandemic. In fact, her message was a catalyst for me to spend a day with Yr 9 student, Lawrence Jones and his classmates. I wanted to empathise by learning more about what the world of Remote Learning is like from the perspective of our students. It was also another way of amplifying our focus on student voice at Redlands.
Day Commences: Thursday 19 August 2021. At 8:20am I found myself, along with Lawrence and his peers, in a Visual Arts lesson with Mr Yuncken. After a few minutes on lesson directions, we were promptly moved into Zoom breakout rooms and started to learn how to manipulate images of the Learning Hub in Photoshop, with the aim to create our own surrealist artworks. At the lesson’s end it was time for a quick stretch break.
9:15am – Next up was Geography with Ms Stewart. In this lesson we learnt about geographical social inequalities across Sydney and the ‘avocado’ and ‘Red Rooster’ lines that socio-economically divide our city. Quizzes were taken, student thinking recorded in the chat pane, documentaries viewed; all in our Zoom classroom.
10:30am – After recess, it was time for Tutor Group assembly. On entering the Zoom room we were greeted with the sounds of K’naan’s upbeat tune “Wavin’ Flag”. Ms Yanson, Year 9 Year Advisor asked all of us to reflect on the positive message of the lyrics and how we might be able to make a personal connection. Then we joined our breakout rooms for small group discussion. Inside the room students chatted, mixed ingredients under the direction of Ms Anson and created homemade lava lamps in glass jars. Creative yes, social yes, high-tech lamps – maybe not! (lucky I had food colouring and vegetable oil on hand.)
11:05am – Period 3 was English. More scene-setting music upon entry. This time it was the haunting voice of Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’. Facilitated by Ms Rothwell students were quick to explore connections with the lyrics and ideas by discussing Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Let America Be America Again’ as part of the study of protest poetry. Now, inside a Zoom breakout room with Lawrence and his peers, we discussed our ideas and questions, then as a group developed a Google share document, summarising our research on the poet’s context, use of language and overarching ideas.
12:00pm – last period before lunch. Maths was next with Mr Ockenden. Today was an online assessment. Using Zoom and our LMS iLearn, assessment papers were released, questions answered and tests completed. Phones were used to capture images, then to upload papers electronically, ready for marking. While I love technology, I felt like a clunky “digital immigrant” among a class of “digital natives”.
12:45pm. I ate my lunch and thought about the afternoon. It is quiet at home – not like the usual cacophony of sounds and student voices at Redlands campus – I reminisce.
1:35pm – Post lunch, and for our final lesson for the day, PDHPE. I could tell that Lawrence, who I know is a bit of basketball aficionado, was looking forward to it. Today was a practical lesson with Ms Howard. We focussed on the concept of wellbeing and recharging both the mind and the body. Something we all need more of during lockdown! We received a learning matrix and were given the choice of designing our own program. Yoga, meditation, Pilates, stretching, home workouts, running, walking and backyard sport were all on offer and eagerly taken up by members of the class, myself included.
After I’d returned from my brisk wellbeing walk, I had one more Zoom meeting to make before the end of the day. This one was with Lawrence. I asked him lots of questions about his feelings about Remote Learning. What more can we do to improve? How is he finding the workload and amount of home learning? How is he travelling in terms of motivation and wellbeing? What does he like most about Remote Learning? What can we do to further support our students?
Many of the types of questions I asked Lawrence were akin to the ones that we’d asked in the Junior and Secondary School surveys in recent weeks. What was different, was that by shadowing, or to paraphrase Atticus Finch ‘stepping into someone else’s shoes’ I’d developed a much deeper and authentic experience of remote learning for our students. I was reminded that a student day is tiring. That not seeing friends in person is challenging, especially for teenagers. That Zoom fatigue is real. I was reminded of the importance to make time on a regular basis for physical exercise. Extended time inside is a side-effect of lockdown that no one loves. And finally, that too much home learning is not helpful when you’ve been in front of a screen all day.
I was reminded that productive pedagogy and the passion of our teachers needs to drive student learning, not just during Remote Learning, but always. I was reminded that focusing on deeper learning, complex ideas and collaborative practices in our classrooms is so much more important than just getting through ‘lots of content’. Finally, I was reminded that the grit, resilience, and motivation demonstrated by Lawrence, his peers and our teachers can overcome the challenges of COVID. Together we are able to develop a positive growth mindset and continue developing 21st Century competencies in our students.
Thank you to Lawrence, his peers and his classroom teachers for sharing your day with me. I very much enjoyed seeing your learning world from the other side of the screen.
Photo Caption: Junior School students borrowing books from the Arnold Library