{"id":9491,"date":"2021-12-28T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/pt\/2021\/12\/28\/has-your-idea-of-school-changed\/"},"modified":"2023-11-20T16:05:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T16:05:18","slug":"has-your-idea-of-school-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clonlara.org\/pt\/2021\/12\/28\/has-your-idea-of-school-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Has Your Idea of \u201cSchool\u201d Changed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When March 2020 began, few families could have imagined the effect COVID-19 would have on their experience of school, work, and life. Under the assumption everything would get \u201cback to normal\u201d in a few weeks, many were happy to try working remotely, socializing via Zoom, and learning at home. Even homeschooling families were willing to endure, for a time, what they deemed \u201cisolation schooling,\u201d which, as Clonlara alum Shannon explains<\/a>, is not <\/em>the same as homeschooling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, nearly two years into the global pandemic, the virus has fundamentally challenged almost every aspect of life and learning. Many educators are questioning and reconsidering traditional school practices, but Clonlara\u2019s learning approach<\/a> has remained intact\u2014a rare exception in a worldwide upending of educational institutions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Impetus for Experimentation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic \u201chas turned schooling into a universal large-scale experiment,\u201d says Yong Zhao, professor of education at the University of Kansas. \u201cEducation systems, schools, and classrooms have had to stop many old practices<\/a> and invent new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These significant disruptions in schooling<\/a> go beyond merely moving from the classroom to the computer, notes a team of education reporters. The global upheaval in education \u201ctested basic ideas about instruction, attendance, testing, funding, the role of technology, and the human connections that hold it all together,\u201d they write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, numerous reports and articles during the pandemic show that many traditional schools have necessarily shifted toward some type of reform\u2014moving away from teacher-centered classrooms, using technology to maintain connections during remote learning, expanding the curriculum to allow and encourage student interests, easing homework requirements, and discarding standardized tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is: When the pandemic winds down, will these changes remain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Future of Education Looks a Lot Like Clonlara<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Professor Zhao encourages educators to use the unique opportunity brought on by the pandemic to examine \u201ctraditional operations\u201d by considering several fundamental questions<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n