With events being cancelled and more schools closing each day I think we all need to remain optimistic. Adults and children alike need to be reminded that with every failure there is growth, and with every major disruption to society there is opportunity.
There is that old saying that says “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!”
As schools around us begin to close one by one the reality has hit and within weeks, if not days, ALL schools could be forced to close. I know many school leadership teams have been entrenched in crisis planning this past month and it’s a hard slog when you’re behind the eight ball, understaffed and under prepared.
For those who have implemented online or blended delivery modes already using robust Learning Management Systems (LMS’s) and portals, they are quietly confident. They have been retraining their staff in new delivery modes for years and now they get to reap the reward of their investment in online learning.
For the rest it’s time to start making lemonade, as this is your opportunity:
My tip is that the biggest area for growth in K-12 education right now is for teachers with instructional design skills.
At my previous school we first employed an Instructional Designer in 2013, we then moved to training our educators (as opt-in professional development) and before I left in January we had trained around thirty of them. It’s definitely time that our teacher training courses take on this burden from schools, as from this point onwards these skills will no longer be “nice to haves” but absolutely required.
It is disruptive times like these that force change and innovation.
All parts of the community will be more open to change during a crisis.
Embrace this opportunity, change is often hard and the community is often resistive, but just like we keep telling students, the future is all about being adaptable and agile.
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