Page 57 - Issue 112 May-June 2021

promotional content It’s good to be back! John Floyd, Headmaster of Bruern Abbey School reflects on some of the less discussed tangential benefits of getting pupils back into the classroom once again. The reopening of schools raised tensions in many ways but for the vast majority of teachers it was wonderful to get their pupils back into the classroom. For pupils and teachers up and down the country removing the ‘tech barrier’ was a great relief. The pandemic showed how successful digital learning can be for those lucky enough to have the necessary hardware and broadband speed but even for those fortunate souls it laid bare a few factors that our current digital age cannot yet easily surmount. The first was that schools are the best environments in which to learn and for many of our pupils blurring the boundary between the protective bubble of home and the public sphere of school was a discombobulating one - is my parent now my teacher? Isn’t their role a supportive one, not an instructional or enforcing role? “I want a parent not a homework dragon!” These feelings run both ways - we advertised in March for a new teacher and teaching assistant I was not surprised that no parents applied! Secondly, learning online requires active listening for our pupils; this taxed their processing and working memory aspects of their brains in a way that being present in class does not. Being present in a classroom allows you to experience the teaching and learning - not simply to watch it. I have no doubt that most parents have endured a monotonous online meeting in the past and for many of our pupils watching a teacher is a relatively passive process which imitates this regardless of how much effort the teacher put in. It often reminds me of the well-known comment - ‘you had to be there to really get it’. Thirdly, and most importantly, successful teaching and learning is built on relationships. Judging someone’s feelings, be it excitement, nervousness or simply their levels of engagement are all key in maximising outcomes and doing this when you can only see their heads and shoulders as a few square inches is nigh on impossible. Spotting a nervous foot tapping or frustrated pencil twiddling online is simply not an option and therefore our teachers’ emotional literacy of their pupils was hampered. Please don’t conclude that it was all bad - online learning is here to stay in some scenarios. It will decrease the levels of disruption temporary absences cause to pupils educational journey as they will join in lessons from afar. The now endemic use of tech also allows Bruern to teach pupils with specific needs in partnership schools regardless of physical geography. There’s plenty to be optimistic about and the pandemic has pushed technology within education forwards at an eye watering pace but I don’t think the classroom is redundant quite yet. To learn more about Bruern Abbey School, please visit bruernabbey.org 57 senmagazine.co.uk SEN112