The pandemic has brought about changes in education, and these will not “go away”. The classes on-line, which were a necessity in the early phases of the pandemic, have now become “part of the educational context”. However, families and teachers prefer face-to-face teaching, as it allows for better development of students, especially at a young age. Fr. Twal calls for learning “from experience” by valuing alternative methods.
Milan () – Distance Education (DL), depending on the criteria and the situations, was a resource to guarantee schooling at the time of Covid-19 or it was an obstacle to learning for the weakest groups. However, it is now “part of the educational context”. And it is most likely that “it will not disappear completely”, especially today, that we live “in a world in constant change”. This is what emerges from a study by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem on Catholic schools in Jordan. It was introduced by Fr. Imad Twal, who currently serves as the parish priest of Fuheis, and for a long time was responsible for the country’s institutes, as well as having served as a teacher in various orders and grades. In-person classes remain essential, says the final note in the report. However, in the face of new and possible emergencies related to diseases, epidemics or changing conditions “we must learn from experience” and also value a new way of teaching. “So that this type of education becomes a real and concrete alternative to studying in the classroom,” says the priest.
Students and the health crisis
Starting in the spring of 2020, with the first closures, when nations tended to isolate themselves to curb the new coronavirus”, recalls Fr. Twal, “‘deserted’ schools began to introduce ‘distance classes so that students students could finish the year. This modality represented a “radical change” in teaching methods and in the pedagogical means available and had a “strong impact” on the majority of classes and on the 2020 and 2021 graduates. The Latin Patriarchate study focuses precisely in the scope of this impact. Published in Arabic and English, the research covers a sample of 7,984 students in Jordan alone and examines the period 2020 and 2021, while hoping to understand how it will evolve in 2022.
“Although our schools have to follow the policies of the Ministry of Education, without being able to comment on the format of future courses”, concludes the priest, “the results could be useful to make parents and teachers aware of the impact of these different methodologies” .
This study does not limit itself to affirming “the results of the analyzes on the different teaching methods”. It also highlights some “possible explanations” “for the impact that the health crisis has had on our students” and provides “possible responses” to reduce this impact in the future. Students of all levels are among the most affected by the restrictions and changes imposed by the pandemic, while more and more families strive to assert their children’s right to study.
Distance learning has exposed long-standing problems, such as the difficulty of finding the necessary equipment – from computers to a properly working Internet connection. On the other hand, it is more difficult for parents to monitor the educational trajectory of their children. Especially in the case of the smallest, the lack of interaction has revealed its criticality in the process of socialization and formation of personal identity.
Target group, participants and results
The editors of the survey delved into three different scenarios: the face-to-face school -with the return to the establishments although with sanitary precautions, such as the obligation to wear masks-; distance learning, with Internet platforms and the use of electronic tools such as computers and tablets; and, finally, the so-called “mixed” model, which combines the two previous types, although with combinations and schedules that can vary both to meet the needs of educational institutions and depending on the current epidemiological situation.
The people who participated in the study are the parents of the students, the school staff, the teachers, the pedagogues and the priests of the Patriarchate. The total number of respondents amounts to 1,630, most of whom are parents (91.41% of the total, plus other categories such as teachers and students), with an adherence rate of 20.4% of the entire sample surveyed. Regarding gender, we found 43.37% men and 56.73% women. The geographical origin differs and can be subdivided into three macro-zones: north, center (Amman) and south.
On a scale of 1 to 5 (the maximum score), face-to-face education obtained a score of 4.61, turning out to be the most appreciated formula by those surveyed; it was followed by the mixed system, with a score of 3.17; EaD appears last, with a score of 2.87. Therefore, school attendance is confirmed as the most appreciated and essential solution for the student’s development, both in terms of knowledge and human, social and relational growth. Families with younger children consider face-to-face school to be more important, while parents of older students also seem to appreciate EaD or the mixed system.
In percentage terms, on the other hand, 85% of those surveyed (1,382) prefer face-to-face teaching, a scant 5% (equivalent to 90 votes) turn to distance learning and the remaining 10% (158) are in favor of a mixed system that alternates face-to-face and remote modality, depending on the needs.
Some of the factors that determine the choice are the cost of the equipment to implement EaD, the possibility of social relationships, the awareness of a growing gap in the case of distance education, the risk of feeding laziness and trusting on the Internet as a source of knowledge instead of teachers and books. Geographically, it is the richest and most developed regions of the country that are willing to accept distance learning or the blended model. Finally, the criterion that creativity can be better developed through interaction and face-to-face attendance is still valid, which is somewhat more blurred when studying at home.
future directions
Without prejudice to certain aspects already established -especially in the health field, such as personal hygiene and the use of masks in case of need- the authors propose some points for improvement in the future. In the first place, the need to compensate for the educational losses of students by focusing on the problems that have arisen in each subject and in each grade; help students not depend on others to complete assigned tasks, exchanging tests and suggesting answers, turning to the Internet to access superficial knowledge, without the necessary effort to get to the bottom of things; use the network as an additional source of knowledge, in which students are “critical researchers” and teachers “mentors and advisors”; reinforce independence and a personal approach to study, gradually entrusting higher levels of responsibility; improve relations between schools and parents, overcoming the harmful effects of closures, involving them in extracurricular activities; rebuild the relationship between students and teachers, between students and schools and between the students themselves.
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