Education, the science of learning, and the COVID-19 crisis
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Education, the science of learning, and the COVID‑19 crisis Michael S. C. Thomas1 · Cathy Rogers1
© UNESCO IBE 2020
Abstract In the COVID-19 crisis, the science of learning has two different responsibilities: first, to offer guidance about how best to deal with the impact of the current situation, including lockdown and home-schooling; and second, to consider bigger questions about what this large-scale educational experiment might mean for the future. The first part of this Viewpoint summarises advice for parents on mental health, and on becoming stand-inteachers. The second part, taking the longer view, considers the potential negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis in increasing inequality in education; but also the potential positive impact of driving innovations in technology use for educating children. Keywords COVID-19 · Learning · Science of learning · Crisis Alongside the many new challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis is a somewhat familiar one: how to translate scientific evidence into public policy. Politicians (in the UK at least) recite the mantra “we are led by the science”, but in reality politicians, not scientists, lead. Science focuses on mechanisms, the how and the why, while politicians have the daunting job of turning that into the “so what do we do?”. On a smaller scale, the science of learning faces the same challenge. How can a scientific understanding of teaching and learning inform the much broader canvas of education policy and educational practices? More specifically, how can the slow, cumulative knowledge built up through research translate to meet classroom teachers’ immediate needs?
* Michael S. C. Thomas [email protected] Cathy Rogers [email protected] 1
Centre for Educational Neuroscience, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
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M. S. C. Thomas, C. Rogers
The current crisis In the current crisis, with schools closed, children at home, and parents expected to take on teaching duties, psychology and the science of learning have two different responsibilities. The first is to offer guidance about how best to deal with the current situation. The second is to consider bigger questions about what this large-scale educational experiment might mean for the future.
Dealing with the current situation The Association for Psychological Sciences (APA 2020) has summarised advice on the social impact of lockdown for both children and adults, as well as considering the implications of the increased anxiety produced by the pandemic. Some of the main points concerning mental health include: • Loneliness can make you ill by increasing stress, which can severely impact physical and mental health. While epidemiological models are good at measuring tangibles such as infection and mortality rates, they are less able to measure social costs such as loneliness. The consequences are no less real for those suffering. • Parents’ own mental health is important for children’s development since caregivers are children’s primary emotion
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