Letter of the Day | Time to get students back in the classroom

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I sat in one of my niece’s classes yesterday as she engaged in the virtual learning experience. After spending a full hour with her, I concluded that this is certainly not a good match for a grade-three student to learn. It was sheer bedlam. The teacher spent three-quarters of the time trying to get the students together, which never happened. Besides, the background noise pollution was uncontrollable and unbearable. I sensed that after the hour, the teacher’s energy was expended, and the children were obviously no better than when the class began.

As such, it was against this experience that I join the conversation supporting the return of face-to-face classroom interactions. If we don’t try to do this, we are going to have a deficit in learning, and this group of students is going to be at a great disadvantage. I sense that a lot of effort will have to be placed on ‘catching up’, so that these students can be the building blocks to build a solid academic structure.

Learning at the grade-three level is an ongoing experience. Besides, children have different learning styles. If this is not recognised and addressed early, it can lead to student frustration and hence, they can have a hard time excelling.

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences posits that there are different types of learners. According to this theory, one person may have just one learning style, or they may have several. There is the visual learner, the auditory learner, the verbal learner, the logical learner, the kinesthetic learner, the physical learner, the intra-personal learner, the naturalistic learner, and social learner.

As I listened to the class, I sensed a thirst for the social-learning style. The students who are exposed to this learning style make good participants, are team workers and facilitators. This is when they are more involved with other people. Studies show that they perform better at this level by engaging in discussions and dialogues, and getting feedback from peers and teachers.

DIFFICULT TASK

Student learning is more than listening to a lecture or reading a book. Interaction with peers enhances them, and there is intellectual, social and emotional development. For two years, there has been a lack in this area, hence it is now full time to get our students back in the classroom.

If we continue to keep students out of the classroom indefinitely, it is going to be difficult to identify learning deficits, emotional instability delays, mental health issues and abuses in a timely manner for remediation or intervention.

COVID-19 is unquestionably a fearful public health issue. It cannot be taken for granted, but if the protocols (hand washing, wearing masks, using sanitisers and, yes, getting vaccinated) are followed, there is no reason for us to settle for virtual learning.

DR BURNETT L. ROBINSON