School after the Coronavirus: a possible scenario
March 5, 2020: a date that we could hardly cancel: schools are closed following the Covid emergency and now we know that that was the end of the school year in the classroom and the beginning of the real quarantine. No more jokes with friends or the sound of the bell to mark the hours. Goodbye to that normality that has stressed us at times but that we have learned to appreciate during these months of forced STOP.
The Ministry and the teachers of the various institutes immediately organized themselves to carry out distance learning, the DaD, from primary to high school.
After seeing and experiencing this new teaching method on a daily basis, we can say that we have had enough and hope that from September the school will be able to start again with the children as protagonists, within their classes. Of course, it will no longer be the same and the precautions to prevent a new spread of the virus will have to be increased exponentially. However, thinking that the school year can resume with Dad is one of the worst nightmares for our families.
Initially, Minister Azzolina announced the hypothesis of a mixed teaching (between frequency and distance) where the classes would be divided into groups to increase the distance between children: this with the consequence that for three days a week half of each class would have to stay at home with an adult next to it to connect to the school platform.
In this case, the children would have attended about four months of school in class, making it almost impossible for both parents to be able to work.
This hypothesis aroused the worried reactions of numerous groups of mothers from all Regions, committees, trade associations, to the point that the minister, a few days later, backtracked and new proposals were made, more suitable for families and future of our children.
It has been understood that distance learning is inadequate for primary school children and also for middle school children who have come out of this period, unmotivated and without stimuli, convinced that they are on vacation!
The beauty of school has been completely lacking, made up of smiles, laughter, relationship and complicity, because a screen can convey notions but not emotions, which are fundamental in the development and growth of a child.
We also think of children with frailty, SLD and SEN, for whom human contact is fundamental and their teaching requires continuous tests and adjustments so that they can gain confidence and have the necessary tools to be able to do it.
The DAD has deprived children of the opportunity to learn "by doing", to experiment, to deepen the fundamental relational dynamics of their age, hiding behind the technological barrier of the PC their small, big fears that have not found the opportunity to be addressed and overcome.
At the moment the Ministry and the Regions are trying to elaborate a plan to reopen the nurseries and summer centers, in collaboration with the municipalities and the associative tissues of the territories, but the difficult health problems remain to be addressed. What are the preventive measures that the organizers will have to take to limit the risks as much as possible?
A possible scenario of the return to school
The scenario that lies ahead for starting the next school year in safety appears even more complex.
The possible protocol could be based on these points:
- daily temperature check for children, teachers and ATA staff;
- increase in the safety distance between one child and another in classrooms, dividing small students into groups and engaging them in different activities such as sports, music and art;
- mandatory use of masks for those entering school buildings;
- the prohibition of gatherings through a staggered entry time into the classes;
- the sanitization of environments, especially gyms, bathrooms and canteens.
The most critical point to be addressed is certainly the one concerning the "alternative activities" to traditional teaching, (sport, music, art) which are not achievable without the increase of qualified teachers and the provision of new suitable spaces.
Even the idea of staggered admissions, if, on the one hand, it would decrease the number of children, on the other it risks creating new inconveniences for working parents, who would also be forced to review their schedules. We know how much 15-30 minutes can make a difference to workers who have a fixed starting time!
The priority is always that the children return to listen to their teachers from the desks and to be able to look their peers in the eye. The possibility of active learning, of communicating and socializing are inalienable needs that cannot in any way be replaced by a monitor and a mailbox full of emails.
Yes, we dream of a true return to school for our children and we want to have confidence that this is possible with the right precautions and that it will happen.
To contact Veronica and ask for advice on the study: https://ascuolaconamore.it/
