Challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the closures of schools in most countries, pushed the education sector to start thinking differently about how to deliver education. There was a fear that not many were not prepared to survive and thrive through COVID.
A real opportunity for change
The struggles faced by many students across the world during this time became a catalyst for more discussions within the education sector about how to best equip students with the abilities and traits that will most serve them in a time where we see everything changing and developing quite rapidly.
Staying ahead of the curve
While no one could’ve predicted the pandemic, we at Nova Pioneer have always been clear about our intention to empower young people with the kind of capabilities and mindsets that prepared them to lead through change. Our founding question at Nova Pioneer has been, ‘What capabilities will young people on this continent need to succeed in and shape the future that they will encounter, and what approaches to education will best develop those capabilities?’
It is our view that too many schools only see their job as developing “smart kids” and are focused narrowly on building a student’s knowledge base and academic skills. While that is critically important, Nova Pioneer feels it is important to offer a more holistic learning experience. This idea is what helped form the “Vision of a Novaneer” – a concept focused on developing our students’ character, capabilities and connection (our 3Cs).
An opportunity to reflect
We do believe that the pandemic created an opportunity for us to both (1) test whether the skills students learn in the classroom can be applied to real life situations; and (2) teach students skills that they may have, in a normal circumstances, only learned later in their education career.
We asked Nova Pioneer School Leads and Deans to talk us through the (1) learning experiences of students during the school closures; (2) lessons learned from these experiences; and also, (3) how our students were able to adapt their in-classroom learning to remote learning. Were students prepared well enough to thrive through COVID and the new normal?
Chantelle Ashley – Associate Dean North Riding Campus
When I think about the remote learning experience, I think about how our students, teachers and parents had to embrace being flexible, adaptable and self-reliant – all skills and attributes that the Nova Pioneer learning approach incorporates in the classroom from an early age. The inquiry-based learning approach encourages students to problem solve and to have a sense of ownership and accountability in their own learning. During school closures we saw students apply these skills by taking responsibility for communicating with teachers and following up on tasks independently. We also saw parents engage in assessment tasks, where they were able to explore the deeper value of the Cambridge sessions our school provided the previous year.
Dr Robyn Thompson – Associate Dean of Instruction Boksburg Campus
Staying connected with our students and families was also imperative – it’s how we build community. The culture of checking in on each other is something we’ve always practiced, even before the pandemic. Our teachers use these check-ins to help students practice mindfulness and to teach them the value of support and empathy. It’s all part of being able to build a sense of community. We were able to maintain these emotional check-ins with our students during check-ins and saw many of our students sharing confidently, with others giving feedback in a productive manner through our virtual meets. It was also through this intentionality around building our community that the awareness of vulnerable families and children was heightened as children shared during the sessions. It was like being invited into one another’s homes.
Sameerah Mahomed – Dean of Students Ormonde Campus
Our Culture Principles came into play in many ways as students sought to thrive through COVID. Students demonstrated the Joy of Learning as they stayed curious as they discovered new ways of learning and connecting with each other. There were many moments that called for our students to adopt an Always Growing mindset as they constantly engaged their teachers and peers by asking clarifying questions during lessons. They also had to learn how to communicate with their teachers through email when parents were working. Despite the disruptions caused by school closures, students didn’t lower their standards, they still had High Expectations of themselves and produced high quality work. I saw students putting on their Solutions First and Greater Together thinking caps as they would also assist one another on Google Classroom when their teachers could not respond immediately – they would give their peers detailed instructions or next steps.
Tsholofelo Moyo – Associate Dean of Students Midrand Campus
Coming back into the classroom, we see how students have grown despite the challenges. One could even say they went from surviving to thriving. Through this pandemic, all of our learners have taken in quite a lot of lessons in addition to practicing good hygiene that will stay with them and prepare them for a successful future.
We see students back in the classroom, having developed a high sense of autonomy and actively driving their own learning. They are in the driver’s seat and taking ownership and responsibility of their learning experience. Students have become even more confident to share resources and ask teachers questions on the platforms we are using in order to gain more clarity.
The constant use of the internet has also allowed for students to become more aware of the responsible use of the internet and we have been able to have meaningful conversations around cyber-bullying and ways to avoid being a victim of being hacked online. All to say, while we feel our students were well-prepared to thrive through COVID, they also took it a step further and brought their learnings back into the classroom.
