Education’s Pallet of Black, Grey, and White.

The pandemic continues its ‘blitzkrieg’ on the educational experience of young Omanis, which must leave them wondering “which way is up?’ as they embark on another month of online teaching. I am disappointed for them, because I am certain there are more sustainable options, and I feel online teaching is a ‘painless’ alternative for the educational administrators, as it throws all of the responsibility for the student experience on the long-suffering teachers... It is the lazy option.

An incredibly self-serving option, it has minimal consideration for the quality of the student experience, which is bad enough, but also it will impact upon their psyche, their ability to value themselves as academically sound. Unfortunately, it is not the educational hierarchy that feels the backlash of that deteriorating situation, but those unsung heroes of the pandemic, the schoolteachers, and most regrettably, the students. In fact, which way is up is probably beyond the comprehension of most, as they try to maintain their focus and reign in their frustration.

The managements are saying, “We can only do what we can do,” and then handing the entire length, breadth and depth of the educational experience, effectively saying, “Go online. You have Zoom, or teams, just teach like you do in the classroom,” thus reflecting their lack of educational wisdom, their genuine concern for their teachers, or their students. The discomfiting reality of the pandemic is that online teaching, and online lessons, are certainly not for everyone, teachers or learners, and are a matter of educational, and social expediency. Most concerning for me then, in this vein, are the psychological effects upon the students, and whether they have adequate support structures.

Imagine... you are a student who has been working on and off, mostly online, without the benefit of the ‘usual’ level of genuine and enthusiastic, face-to-face, one-to-one, academic or pastoral support that they both deserve and need as they navigate the tricky waters of higher-level learning. Teachers and lecturers are trained, and professionally developed in how to support students in a classroom setting during their educational training, and continuous professional development phases, but who is helping them, help the students, during this challenging time?

Teachers and students feel that they are on a one-way-ride that is un-nerving, unsettling, and playing havoc with their well-being. Right when the students need to be learning about resilience as a life skill, that will protect them as they enter the ‘real world,’ or the workforce, they are being given the least possible therapeutic and sociological guidance, and that’s not the teachers’ fault... though almost certainly, they will take the blame, the hit, despite their noble intentions.

Research by experts Barret and Turner (2001) holds that though teachers have concerns about their ability to deliver effective specific support to students with learning and social support needs, they were in fact found to have “as many, if not more, positive results than psychologists. I’m not promoting the concept of teachers as therapists, but they are! They are the first responders, the ambulance at the top of the hill!

Let’s not fool ourselves. If the United Nations considers that as many as three out of ten of us have psychological issues that require intervention, and that’s not even taking into account that a third of us are concerned about the prospect of losing our jobs... pandemic or no pandemic! And our young people... our learners... are just people... younger yes, but they are... at the end of the day... just young people. What they are good at, bad at, how they are seen by others, all matter so much to them. How they are seen by others may be seen by parents and grandparents as a hundred shades of grey, but for these wonderful young people... a cut lunch, a torch, and a compass, are the least they need to find their way in the dark.

They live in a very different spectrum, where they have not yet developed sufficient resilience for this wild ride... where their lives, their worth, their happiness, their vitality, their level of empathy, their achievements, are either black or white, yes or no, win or lose... the institutions must do more.