Online teachers

As students return to classrooms after COVID-19 lockdowns, teachers should focus on rebuilding relationships, avoid rushing through missed content, and preference a deep understanding of a few topics over a superficial understanding of many, according to a new article published in the Mathematics Education Research Journal.

This week, Teacher has been sharing reader stories on their school’s response to the pandemic. This final instalment is written by Michael Rosenbrock, Assistant Principal at Wodonga Senior Secondary College, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales.

In today’s article, Kate Hill – an Australian teacher from Melbourne who is currently teaching Year 7 and 8 English at Braeburn School in Nairobi, Kenya – gives an international perspective on learning during the pandemic.

As educators in Australia return to face-to-face teaching, and schools around the world grapple with new ways of working to provide continuing support to students during the pandemic restrictions, readers have been getting in touch to share what’s been happening in their own context.

In today’s podcast we’re talking with Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy about continuity of teaching and learning during COVID-19, trying to understand and mitigate the impacts on student outcomes, how schools have adapted to ‘emergency remote teaching’, and how the experience could lead to future changes and innovations in practice.

Staff at Ringwood Secondary College in Victoria have learned a lot since students began learning from home. Here, we speak to principal Michael Phillips about the aspects of remote learning that have resulted in positive outcomes for staff collaboration and student engagement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented some unique challenges for early years educators as they move to a remote learning approach. In today’s article, Dr Deborah Price discusses some practical ways for embracing the teaching and learning opportunities this new environment provides.

‘As the evidence for home-supported learning with school-aged students is being rapidly explored, lessons of what works in schools provide a starting point for "best bets" in translating evidence-based practices for learning at home.’ Susannah Schoeffel and Dr Tanya Vaughan take a closer look at some of these ‘best bet’ strategies.

‘In this home-supported learning environment parents are being called upon to play a broader role in their children’s education. The role of the parent is not to replace the teacher in learning from home …’ Dr Tanya Vaughan and Susannah Schoeffel share evidence on how teachers can work with parents to support students in a rapidly changing education landscape.

‘As the COVID-19 situation unfolds, schools are closing to protect their students and the broader public – but this doesn’t mean a stop to learning for students or teachers.’ Dr Anne-Marie Chase and Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy share three phases of research-based decisions education systems and schools should be making now in relation to technology-enabled learning.