A school is a hive of activity. For some teachers, it may often feel that a school is like a scary theme park ride. There is noise, excitement, movement and constant human interaction – interactions that induce emotions and many forms of actions.
The effect of the pandemic
The global pandemic, however, has ushered in, a completely new reality. With school closures and disruption to routines, students especially those sitting external examinations may feel a sense of chaos and anxiety. Experiences from around the world have shown that social isolation have impacted all students, but particularly those living in poverty. Adding to the damage to their learning, a mental health crisis is emerging in some countries.
Indeed, this crisis has impacted the teaching profession very significantly, transforming the role of teachers. Where schools remain closed, many teachers have been responsible for setting and, where possible, assessing remote work and providing guidance for parents.
A recent World Bank report identified two crucial factors that have shifted the roles of teachers. First, pedagogical adaptations have proven to be pivotal as the traditional lecturing in-person models do not translate to a remote learning environment.
No matter the type of channel used (radio, TV, mobile, online platforms, etc.) teachers need to adapt their practices and be creative to keep students engaged as every household has become a classroom.
Second, the pandemic has recalibrated how teachers divide their time between teaching, engaging with students, and administrative tasks. The pandemic has highlighted the need for flexibility and more time for student-teacher interactions.
In Fiji, amid the unprecedented level of COVID-19 cases, the government has responded with a health first approach, restricting the movement of people. Consequently, schools have been closed earlier than normal and, at this stage, it is uncertain when it will reopen even though May 24 has been touted as a possible date when schools may resume.
The extent of community transmission of the virus will be the key determinant of when teachers and students will return to their classrooms.
In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has taken the first step to produce supplementary educational worksheets for students during this extended lockdown period. While it is not compulsory, the intended purpose of these worksheets is for students to revise the curriculum content covered in Term 1 with proper teaching resuming once the schools open.
However, as teachers our mandatory involvement during this lockdown period has been minimal.
How to ‘pivot’ quickly to the challenge?
So, how do we, as teaching professionals, pivot to the challenges in these times of great uncertainty? At a time when society looks upon us to ensure education continuity of our pupils, a fundamentally important role, how have we and how can we meet these expectations?
Thankfully, many of our teachers in Fiji have demonstrated great professionalism and have risen to tackle the challenges of schooling during a pandemic. A commendable effort by our hardworking and dedicated teachers in Fiji who have taken it upon themselves to pursue a rather more active approach for their students’ learning. Some teachers, including those in the remote islands, have been engaging their students through emails, messenger groups and Zoom.
They have adapted their pedagogy by embracing technology just as teachers from around the world have done. We should be proud that the quality and professionalism of our Fijian teachers rank in line with international standards.
The search for online materials
Another initiative born from this calamity has been the establishment of a local website called Myteachersfiji. (www.myteachersfiji.com). A site created by teachers for teachers. The initial concept for this website emerged from the idea that many materials existed following the 2020 lockdowns and that there was a need to capture these materials.
This site has since become a central repository of high-quality resources — resources that are transferrable anywhere — from Taveuni to Trinidad.
These resources aim to supplement the Fijian curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 13. From worksheets to lesson plans and past exam papers, local and international teachers have come together and collaborated to share ideas on how to teach in the 21st Century in order to improve student learning.
For instance, there is useful information on how to carry out virtual experiments in Science on just about any topic in biology, chemistry and physics. Myteachersfiji also has a dedicated Youtube channel with a large collection of video resources organised under each subject.
This website also has a dedicated Professional Learning section, which includes areas such as teaching and learning, numeracy and literacy, gifted and talented, and educational leadership. A blog space on the homepage regularly looks at some of the contemporary issues in education in Fiji and abroad.
Some of the issues recently reviewed were numeracy in the Pacific and why does it matter, iTaukei maths, and 18 tricks for educators who are new to remote teaching. Membership is free and open to any teacher in Fiji or overseas.
The website’s latest feature has been an honour roll for teachers. A first of its kind, it provides an opportunity to recognise the service and contribution of all the past teachers that have made Fiji and ultimately moulded who we are today.
Members of the public are invited to suggest and send names of their teachers who have contributed to the Fijian education and have retired or left Fiji by 2015 to be enlisted in the honour roll.
Myteachersfiji is a platform for use at anytime, but teachers will especially find the website valuable now given the uncertainty surrounding the opening of schools. Use the wealth of resources and ideas, and tailor them to suit your own students. The challenge for us teachers really is to continue to adapt our pedagogy in this constrained contact environment.
Share your resources for everyone to benefit
As an evolving site, teachers are, in turn, encouraged to share their own resources and contribute to the profession. What will be most worthwhile for teachers is to share their own teaching experiences during this extended lockdown period. This platform offers a genuine professional learning space. Research has shown that the positive influence of teacher collaboration transcend the teacher community.
While the Ministry of Education has provided revision worksheets, as professionals it is imperative that we go beyond this step, be creative and try engaging our students into meaningful learning.
- Navneet Sharma is the curriculum leader at Myteachersfiji. He has taught in various schools around Fiji and now he teaches in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed in this article are his own and not of this newspaper. Comments and contributions are invited via this email: bula@myteachersfiji.com
