in the classroom
again . I ’ m not sure that there ’ s the support documents , for example , being developed that will provide teachers with ideas and ways forward should we have to pivot to remote teaching again .
If there ’ s any lessons we needed to learn from the last two years , it ’ s planning for the future so that should it happen again , it ’ s a seamless transition .
Is the current situation a new normal ? I think so . And this situation with extensive staff absences and student absences is going to continue in my view for the foreseeable future . I would hope that there are discussions happening between the education sector and their stakeholders as to how they might navigate the next year or two .
What do you think the peak bodies should be talking about ? There ’ s a number of things we need to be talking about . First of all , if there is a switch to remote teaching again , which school cohorts go remote ? Is it the whole school or particular years of schooling ? Is there particular years of schooling on certain days of the week ? Do you stagger them ? We need to think about the actual process of who ’ s going to be taught remotely and who isn ’ t , if that ’ s an option .
Secondly , stakeholders and the school sector need to be talking about the resources that teachers will require when they ’ re teaching remotely . It was my understanding that there were some difficulties for some teachers with their Zoom , and some schools used emails instead of zoom .
And , of course , there ’ s an equity question for students . Not all students have reliable internet connections . Not all students have access to digital devices . So , the equity issue is an important one for the school sectors to talk about along with the government .
What potential solutions are available ? At the moment , it ’ s very difficult to say what a solution is . I think we ’ re at the point where we need to talk about possibilities . But all ideas , no matter how extreme they might seem , need to be put on the table .
To me , a simple type of strategy would be to develop support documents which provide teachers with ideas on how to assess student performance when students are working remotely . We ’ re used to face-to-face types of assessments , but what other ideas can be compiled to support teachers should we have to shift to remote teaching again ?
The thinking in school-based curriculum , curriculum development and pedagogy needs to take into account the possibility of moving to remote learning in the future and to be able to do it seamlessly and quickly .
Is the current remote learning in place enough for students ? So much depends on the resources provided . The NSW Department of Education developed learning packages , which are fundamental , basic literacy and numeracy packages . They need to be further developed and to be developed across the key learning areas of the curriculum so that they ’ re ready to be used whenever a teacher or a school needs them .
That ’ s a step in the right direction , in my view . We ’ re part of the way there , but we ’ re not there yet with regards to developing a full suite of resources in case this happens .
We ' re not planning sufficiently for the future .
Why do you think we need to include remote learning in the curriculum ? We need to be cognizant of what might happen in the future . You might write a curriculum with knowledge , skills and content , that ’ s fine , but how you embed that curriculum within a suite of support documents and resources is really important – identifying and building those resources to cover the event of a switch to remote teaching and learning , and I don ’ t think we ’ re doing that .
It ’ s been a little bit haphazard and piecemeal . To me , we ’ ve reverted back to the usual curriculum development process along very similar lines to previous syllabuses . I don ’ t think we ’ re attending to this possibility . We ’ re not planning sufficiently for the future .
Do you think we ’ ve relied too much on face-to-face learning ? I think we ’ ve relied on face-to-face teaching and learning because it ’ s been traditional . It ’ s the way in which we ’ ve delivered school curriculum for over a century in New South Wales . To change that mindset is a radical shift .
That ’ s why I say we need to attend to the possibility of shifting to remote teaching . The support documents are important : keeping it in people ’ s minds , what might be required , and saying here are the resources that will support you , and having processes in place that schools can switch on should we need to do that . But it seems to be we ’ re relying on the traditional model of face-to-face teaching and learning .
How can we improve the current state of remote learning ? More resources need to be developed . We need more advice for teachers on how to use them , when to use them , and which particular strategies work best in remote learning .
There needs to be some research into how distance education has developed over the decades and some analysis on what works best in distance education remote delivery . I ’ m not saying that we revert to a distance education model , not at all , but I ’ m saying we can learn from other modes of educational delivery . ■
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