Is combatting the Covid-19 learning loss vital to young people’s educational recovery - or are there greater things at stake for the pandemic generation?
It’s a happy fact that students are beginning to return to the classroom. Although many countries across the world are still dealing with peak conditions and the spread of Covid-19 is devastating in its progression, in the US, Canada and America there appears at least to be a reprieve that has seen many young people set foot in the schoolyard in for the first time in many months.
One phrase you may have heard mentioned in connection with this springtime classroom return is ‘Learning Loss’. Learning loss refers to the loss of general knowledge and skills that we might observe in a student who has spent extended periods outside education, or suffered from interrupted study. It’s not just a concept that’s arisen as a result of Covid-19 – the ‘Summer Slide’, as it has been called historically, refers to the period of learning loss happens over the school holidays – so it’s a natural response to a period where regular learning (and indeed, regular living) have been on hold.
Some students have adapted perfectly well to online learning programmes. Some have even preferred it, as many students with physical disabilities or anxiety problems and depression have found the ability to learn from their own home much more attractive than in-person learning, and it’s allowed them to focus on what really matters. But many students have struggled with online classes and suffered a slump in motivation due to that absence of classroom structure, peer socialisation and in-person educator support.
Some educators are beginning to worry about what kind of impact Covid-19 learning loss will have on these students and their educational attainment. It’s an unpleasant thought to picture a generation of young people disadvantaged in the job market and higher education options because of events that were so far out of their control – but are programmes like summer schools and intensive catch-up courses truly the answer?
An article by EdSource provides us with some interesting statistics and ideas about this Covid-19 classroom recovery, and explores some routes forward into post-pandemic education.
According to research by The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, more than half of the California students who responded to their survey reported experiencing serious stress, anxiety and depression at some point in the past twelve months. An increasing number reported having some form of suicidal thoughts, and there have been many cases of students simply disappearing from education altogether – not logging into their online classes or responding to emails. There is, evidently, another pandemic raging as well as Covid-19 when it comes to our mental health- and young people are one of the groups who appear to have been hit the hardest.
A report by PACE released early this year opined that well-thought-out surveys about student mental health should be at the heart of the return to in-person education, and that schools should be planning a comprehensive programme to address the socio-emotional needs of their students. Many educators agree that whilst learning loss is expected to be severe and perhaps the long-term impact of it might have an effect on a student’s academic futures, mental health matters too, and might in actual fact be more important than adding a few points here and there to student GPAs. It’s no new thinking that students who feel supported emotionally and have good mental health are well-placed to achieve academically – and there’s call for this logic to be applied to the ways that we address their educational recovery. This means more counsellors, more focus on mental health, and a greater appreciation of the hardships both social and emotional that have arisen as a result of a deeply turbulent year.
It’s been a stressful time to be an educator, and many students the world over have been greatly disadvantaged by the pandemic conditions that they’ve found themselves living in. Educators, too, have been teaching during a period of unprecedented stress and taking huge risks to their own health to teach in-person. Many are likely daunted by the prospect of reaching educational targets with students who are likely to be disengaged, who have fallen behind or are even still quite afraid of returning to their schools – so it’s likely that we’re going to need to focus on mental health throughout the education system, not just with students and young people. It’s likely that people won’t be able to catch up educationally unless they feel good emotionally, and re-forging these school connections, reassuring students and ensuring that they feel relaxed and safe in the classroom is top of the agenda for many teaching staff.
You can find a more in-depth run-down of the mental health and learning loss debate in Carolyn Jones’ article for EdSource, ‘Why Mental Health is the Key to Dealing with Learning Loss’.