COVID-19 Shows Young People are Resilient and Creative

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COVID-19 Shows Young People are Resilient and Creative

February 16, 2021

COVID-19 has been a difficult time for many Victorians, but it has shown that our young people are resilient, creative and critical thinkers who, when given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own learning, can be excellent self-managers and thrive in often challenging circumstances.

That is the view of Australian Learning Lecture in its submission to the Victorian government about lessons learned from remote and flexible learning during the 2020 COVID-lockdown.

It has shown us that with well-designed and technology supported learning experiences, the locus of control can shift from the teacher in the classroom to anytime, anywhere learning driven by young people and expertly facilitated by educators.

“This gives hope that we can move from a one-size-fits-all model of schooling to a more flexible, personalised and authentic learning journey for each young person, with the school as the hub and learning experiences coming from the local and global communities,” the submission said.

COVID-19 has created an extraordinary opportunity for what the Brookings Institution has called educational ‘leapfrogging’ – harnessing the power of innovation and opportunity to create transformative shifts in models of learning to meet future needs compared to slow incremental change.

Young Victorians are growing up in a situation where a global pandemic, climate crisis and diminishing trust in democratic systems are a constant part of their life narrative. Educators within the current school model do an impressive job of growing and celebrating the skills and attributes which we need as a society. However, they have to do this within the context of an often rigid approach to curriculum and assessment.

“Remote and flexible learning provided a new direction for young people to take control of their learning, be flexible in how and when they learned and to take more responsibility for their own growth and development. This is reflected in the student feedback to many schools – and in those schools who are using the pandemic as a transformative moment to reimagine their educational offering,” the submission said.

You can read the submission here.