{"id":5753,"date":"2020-04-24T10:26:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T09:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/?p=5753"},"modified":"2021-06-15T16:13:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T15:13:41","slug":"beyond-covid-19-finding-new-norms-for-childrens-wellbeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/expertcomment\/beyond-covid-19-finding-new-norms-for-childrens-wellbeing\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Covid 19: Finding new norms for children\u2019s wellbeing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wendy Cobb asks if the current lockdown conditions could change the way we support emotional wellbeing in classrooms.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It is easy to knock the newly\nlaunched online Oak National Academy<\/a>\nand all credit to David Thomas for making it clear from the start that its aim\nis not about replacing schools: \u2018We\ndon\u2019t have relationships with children\u2026We\u2019re not in children\u2019s communities and\ndon\u2019t know their situations. We\u2019re not the right people to try and support\ntheir wellbeing \u2013 only their schools can do this\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Routine is important for wellbeing.\nThe Academy\u2019s online schedule of albeit currently limited classes may help\nteachers and children to establish routines and, as Thomas hopes, \u2018free up time\nfor [teachers] to support their pupils\u2019 wellbeing without burning themselves out\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are all attempting to\nestablish our own routines in these strange times.  My current new norm is a mindful 5000 steps\nbefore breakfast (350 lengths of my hall through the kitchen and into my dining\nspace as I mull through what the routine for the rest of the day will be)\ninterspersed with various other attempts at keeping fit. Primarily this is to\ncounteract the hearty meals I have been preparing daily since my youngest grown\nup son got stuck in lock down with me and my husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A general norm for most people\nseems to be that we have all become better at listening. Our traditional first\nEnglish greeting has always been, \u2018How are you?\u2019. Now, though, we seem to mean\nit. We wait to hear the response, are truly joyful to hear, \u2018I\u2019m fine thank\nyou\u2019 and worry if there is a pause at the other end.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some time now, I have been recommending to our trainee teachers to introduce a form of \u2018How are you?\u2019 as a genuine question to their students in their classrooms in some way every day and in every lesson. For instance, a simple hand rating works well at enabling the teacher to scan the class quickly and to connect with children that are clearly not their usual norm, whether that be excitedly happy, tired or clearly anxious. I also encourage them to ask the same question of themselves; to recognise their own emotions and the impact this may have on their relationships in the classroom.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At this challenging time almost\nevery email, phone call, webinar or media programme ends with, \u2018Take care, stay\nsafe\u2019 or something similar.  Just like\nthe greeting \u2018How are you?\u2019, we usually mean these sign- off words too, because\nwe are all taking care and hoping that our own families and friends stay well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, however, not all children,\nparents or teachers are safe at home and when school communities finally do\nreturn we need to be very mindful of that. We will also need to support\nteachers to manage this transition for all back to a new but hopefully very\ndifferent norm. A norm where positive relationships are central to everything\nwe do, where community is about real meaningful connectedness and where the\ndiversity of learning that has been happening in homes, including the\nresilience and creativity of the many vulnerable and disadvantaged, both children\nand adults, is valued and rewarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, thank you Oak National Academy teachers for providing an\noptional norm and for being honest about what the Academy is and what it isn\u2019t.\nThis isn\u2019t school, parents aren\u2019t home schooling and whatever school is like\nwhen it finally does return, here\u2019s hoping that it is both a very different\nnorm and the dawn of a new kind of education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wendy Cobb is s Senior Lecturer in the<\/em> Faculty of Education<\/a><\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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