Rethinking Education Post COVID-19: Are Schools Equipped for this Change of Format?

The unforeseen outbreak of COVID-19 has compelled educational institutions to migrate teaching to emergency makeshift formats. The pandemic has caused a paradigm shift, with different reactions undertaken to adapt to its requisites. Lebanon reacted in ways that were adapted to ensure educational continuation during closures. Circular No.15 issued by the Minister of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) on March 17, 2020, outlined three parallel tracks for reconnecting students to the curricula: (1) broadcasting lectures for grades 9 and 12 students as well as for those who do not have internet access; (2) deploying electronic platforms to ensure interactive communication among teachers and students in the directorates of the MEHE and the Lebanese University; (3) distributing materials and exams to students through school principals. Choosing the appropriate track was made at the discretion of the relevant school principal.[i] Further, the MEHE invited volunteering schoolteachers from public and private schools to film lessons for broadcasting on TV targeting students slated for the national examinations.[ii]

The three-track modality was closer to infrastructure and access to content than to pedagogy for learning. The pedagogical component was not prioritized, given the emergency nature of the transition, and because of lack of contingency plans guided by a vision. Therefore, “Emergency Remote Teaching” proposed by Hodge et. al. (2020)[iii] more accurately reflects the modality of content delivery during the pandemic than the term online learning does. Online learning is not merely about delivering content online, neither is it a tool used apart from pedagogy. It is an art that requires skills and competencies in designing chatrooms, activities for facilitating problem-solving, and critical thinking (Branch & Dousay, 2015),[iv] not to mention nurturing discussions among learners within the humanistic tradition of reflective dialog. Further, online learning focuses on meeting learning outcomes rather than simply covering content and exams for quantity control.

More recently, Circular 463/2020 scheduled hybrid learning to be implemented in schools, partially and gradually commencing October 10, 2020[v]. The Circular consisted of 5 articles, none of which focused on pedagogy. Conflict of powers between the MEHE and the Center for Educational Research Development (CERD) have even thwarted piecemeal initiatives for optimizing the online experience during the pandemic.     

Infrastructure and Access to Facilities and Tools:

Due to the decrepit infrastructure, online sessions were disrupted frequently by power outage, leading to frustration and interruptions. Poor connectivity was an equally important impediment to online teaching regardless of the school sector. Uploading images was deterred by limited bandwidth, videos shut down and voice options muted to keep bandwidth consumption to a minimum for completion of sessions.

Schools that have a subscription to Office 365 found it advantageous to use Skype for Business or Microsoft Teams for online delivery or Zoom, as opposed to schools that invest less in technology. Teachers occasionally supplemented their lectures with voice-over recordings and used the discussion forum on Blackboard or Moodle, depending on the schools’ adopted Learning Management System (LMS). It is common knowledge in Lebanon that private schools, on average, employ LMS in teaching and learning than their public counterparts. The rift in deployment of facilities and tools between public and private schools raised concerns about issues of equality amidst digital divide.

What Happened Behind the Screensaver During the Lockdown?

The school system in Lebanon largely and overwhelmingly adheres to traditional models of education in its various manifestations, including emphasis on lectures and teacher-centered approaches that water down constructivist learning and limit higher-order thinking. This distinct pedagogical weakness in the teaching of mathematics and science, to take but one example, was corroborated by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test results for Lebanon over the last few years. The traditional classroom environment seems to have migrated too to the online environment. While there is a scantiness of research into the learning environment in Lebanese schools, little is known about student-teacher interaction online, and most importantly how cognitively and non-cognitively challenged students were mainstreamed into emergency remote teaching. Anecdotal evidence suggests widespread dissatisfaction among students and parents due to poor connectivity and classroom mismanagement by some schoolteachers in both the private and public sectors.

Whither Education in Post-COVID 19?

Training:

From the onset of the pandemic, some schools have offered training to schoolteachers to transition to emergency remote teaching in a short period. However, training was tuned to teaching on how to use tools rather than customize technology for pedagogy and assessment. Despite this, teachers, particularly “Luddites” were able to familiarize themselves with the intricacies of transitioning teaching to virtual learning environments. Given the fact that online delivery is going to stay with us for the near future, it is recommended that teacher training encompass instructional design led by theories of learning.

Open Educational Resources (OER):

The educational sector is called upon to diffuse supplemental educational resources that are freely and openly available online and reside in the public domain. Creative resources can promote self-directed learning and compensate for the “static” nature of the textbook.

Policies:

Educational laws to legalize online learning should be crafted, with an eye to setting out quality assurance standards to ensure the quality and integrity of online delivery modes.