The greatest pandemic in over 100 years has raised many questions about its longer-term effects on young people. One of the most prominent concerns has focused on learning losses. Most of the world’s children have missed at least a few weeks of regular schooling, some young people have missed an entire year or more, remote learning alternatives have often proved problematic, on-site learning with physical distancing has sometimes diminished or disrupted the regular learning experience, and millions of young people fell off the educational radar altogether, when their schools shut down.
Many have claimed that these losses are resulting in serious shortfalls or losses in skill and competence in literacy and mathematics, depressed test scores, widened achievement gaps, gaps in knowledge needed for access to post-secondary education and employment, loss of lifelong income, increased social inequalities, and damage to the global economy. In response, they recommend summer learning programs, extra school hours, and additional tutoring and special education support to help students catch up and close achievement gaps.
The learning loss narrative has a number of flaws, however. Some children actually made gains in learning by having more opportunities to learn and play outside, by being relieved of high school examination preparation, and by being shielded from threats and harms such as in-person bullying.
Second, learning losses and catch -up requirements are typically calculated in relation to pre-pandemic benchmarks of mainly tested literacy and mathematics that are really somewhat arbitrary norms or averages of proficiency for their time, rather than absolute standards that must be retrieved at all costs.
Third, learning gaps have widened, in part, because of learning gains among some young people in more privileged or affluent families, who have gained support, encouragement and even a bit of competitive nudging from on-hand family members during virtual school.
Fourth, the narrative of lost learning also tends to focus on losses in easily tested core skills that form part of students’ learning experience, but that are far from other aspects of it such as deeper learning, problem-solving, social and emotional learning, learning in nature, digital proficiency, and learning to be democratic citizens.
The more important priority is addressing the fact that millions of children became disengaged from their learning during COVID-19 – tuning out when the online teacher was talking, turning off their devices, or walking away from learning altogether. After the pandemic, our first priority must be to re-engage all these young people with their education, and, for the first time, to engage upwards of the 20-30% of students who, according to OECD data, are already often disengaged from school.
Drawing on 7 years of research with teachers seeking to increase student engagement in 5 US States, this presentation describes 5 paths of engagement revealed by the research that can help achieve learning and success for all students. These paths are: cultivating creativity and magic; infusing the curriculum with meaning and purpose; developing stronger senses of belonging; empowering students in their own learning; and building experiences of focus and mastery.
Keywords: Student Engagement, Teaching, Pandemic, Learning Loss
