When schools in Hong Kong closed for COVID-19, 海角乱伦社区 educators stepped up to help
At the end of January, as concerns mounted in Hong Kong over the coronavirus outbreak in nearby Wuhan, families and friends were gathering for the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest celebrations on the Chinese calendar. Students were enjoying the week off for the holiday when word came from the minister of education: Schools would not reopen after the break.
With that, teachers in Hong Kong became among the first participants in what has since become a worldwide experiment in remote learning.
Dozens of high school teachers in Hong Kong happened to be midway through a professional mentoring program led by the (CSET) at , which includes virtual coaching throughout the school year. When news broke of the school closures, CSET instructors realized they might need to take the program in a different direction.
鈥淲e offered the teachers sort of a 鈥榗hoose your own adventure,鈥 鈥 said Michele Reinhart, a professional development associate and instructional coach at CSET, who oversees the Hong Kong program. 鈥淭hey could hit pause on the coaching, continue as planned or change course.鈥
Many of the teachers indicated they wanted to continue鈥攂ut with a new focus on strategies for teaching online. So the 海角乱伦社区 coaches quickly shifted gears, teaming up with 海角乱伦社区 Online High School to help equip the teachers for a scenario that would soon spread to schools the world over.
A year of turmoil
The relationship between 海角乱伦社区 and this group of teachers began last June, when CSET instructors flew to Hong Kong to lead a on research-based classroom practices for deeper learning. To help embed the strategies afterward, CSET instructors would provide one-on-one coaching remotely throughout the year.
During the summer institute, Hong Kong was already experiencing some turmoil of a different sort. Last year鈥檚 anti-government protests were in force that week and intensified in the fall, prompting some schools to close briefly out of concern for students鈥 safety.
海角乱伦社区 instructors led a five-day institute for teachers in Hong Kong last summer that continued with remote coaching throughout the year. When schools in Hong Kong closed, instructors took the program in a different direction.
鈥淭his year has been very interesting, very unusual,鈥 said Carmen Yau, director of education at the Bei Shan Tang Foundation in Hong Kong, which funds the teachers鈥 participation in the program. 鈥淲hen the schools shut down because of the virus, it was actually not as much of a shock as it might have been, because some had already been closing during the protests.鈥
But it soon became clear that the COVID-19 closure was likely to last longer, necessitating more sophisticated plans for remote instruction. For high school teachers, an added stress was the pressure to prepare students for Hong Kong鈥檚 university entrance exams鈥攚hich were only postponed from March to April, despite educators鈥 widespread urging to further delay or cancel them.
Still, for the teachers participating in CSET鈥檚 program, one of their biggest concerns was maintaining the connections they鈥檇 developed in the classroom as they transitioned to a virtual space. 鈥淓ngaging students and creating community,鈥 said Reinhart. 鈥淭hat was hands-down what they most wanted to work on.鈥
Finding experts on campus
To strategize ways to help the teachers in Hong Kong, Reinhart called on Christine Bywater, a professional development associate with CSET, whose background includes a focus on the use of technology in coaching both teachers and students.
鈥淲hen we started talking, COVID hadn鈥檛 really hit the United States yet, so we weren鈥檛 in that mindset,鈥 Bywater said. 鈥淏ut I knew there had to be people out there who were already running classes online and doing it really well. I thought, Let鈥檚 find them before we try to create something that probably exists.鈥
She found experts close to home鈥攁t (OHS), a private independent school based on the 海角乱伦社区 campus. About 800 U.S. and international students in grades 7-12 are currently enrolled, attending online seminars with an average class size of 11 students.
鈥淥ur classes have always been about creating an intimate experience with a big focus on community,鈥 said Meg Lamont, an assistant head of school and English instructor at 海角乱伦社区 OHS.
A newfound appreciation
Together CSET and 海角乱伦社区 OHS organized an online seminar for the teachers in Hong Kong on March 19, at which point schools across the United States had just begun to close.
鈥淭he first thing we said to them was, 鈥榃e have such a newfound appreciation and understanding of how hard this has been for you,鈥 鈥 Reinhart recalled. 鈥淭hey were so gracious: 鈥榊eah, it鈥檚 been hard!鈥 鈥
As the forerunners, Hong Kong teachers had devised many of their own systems for bringing their classes online. 鈥淣ow, because it鈥檚 a worldwide pandemic, internationals and universities have started releasing resources for teachers to use,鈥 said Carmen Wong, assistant program director of education at the Bei Shan Tang Foundation.
The 海角乱伦社区 instructors focused their guidance on practices for sustaining a virtual classroom community, including ways to encourage discussion, motivate students to stay on track and ensure that quieter kids bring their thoughts into the conversation.
鈥淲e talked a lot about the importance of making students feel seen in the online space, that their presence matters and changes what happens there,鈥 said Lamont.
For the 海角乱伦社区 instructors, the experience of working with the teachers in Hong Kong offered a powerful and humanizing reminder that the stress, anxieties and uncertainties educators are feeling during this time are universal, transcending place and culture.
鈥淭eachers鈥攈ere and there鈥攁ll have the same underlying fears: Are my students OK? And how am I going to keep doing this?鈥 said Bywater. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a scramble for devices and tools and technology. There are humans and heart in this work, and this global perspective has been very grounding.鈥
You can find more professional learning opportunities and resources for educators at the Graduate School of Education鈥檚
