Preparing for "new normal" at Dawson School

Just a few short weeks ago, the long-term closure of schools seemed unthinkable, but the coronavirus pandemic has abruptly forced the world into adopting different ways of thinking about everyday life. For parents, students, and educators, that has meant confronting the reality of full-time "remote learning," and adjusting to unfamiliar roles and responsibilities in the education environment. At Dawson School in Lafayette, the community is embracing the new paradigm with optimism, togetherness, and, above all, flexibility.

"All of us have been investing for centuries in a bricks-and-mortar model of teaching and learning, so the challenge is for us to pivot and focus our creativity on creating a remote learning platform that is as compelling," Dawson's K-8 Director Brad Davies said. The school formally transitioned to online classes on March 31st, following Governor Jared Polis' statewide shutdown order that closes schools through April 17th. "We're taking it in phases, and we're remaining focused on ensuring that this school year our kids remain connected in healthy ways, and that our curriculum moves forward in compelling ways."

Finding the balance between those goals and the new reality for families has been Dawson's biggest challenge in implementing full time online learning, Davies said, especially at the elementary level. In the 6th through 12th grade setting, online lesson plans are more "subject specific," with fixed times for classroom meetings via Zoom. For students in the lower grades, where typical instruction is more integrated and hands-on, the daily schedule is more variable, and aims to help families accommodate competing demands.

"There are real stressors that our families are facing," Davies said "How do I care for my child and move their education forward in ways that also honor the fact that I need to see to my own career and other family needs?"

To that end, Dawson's daily elementary schedule combines two or three sessions of fixed "face time" with their classmates and teachers or other Dawson faculty via Zoom, which helps foster a "community connection," which can be hard to do when everyone is behind a screen. The daily plan also includes periods of self-directed autonomous learning, which sometimes require parental supervision.

"Remote learning requires new roles, at the elementary level especially," Davies said. "Parents become homeschool educators, and at Dawson, we're thinking how we can best equip or empower families to take on these roles, not just effectively, but joyfully."

Of course, teachers are also finding themselves in unfamiliar roles, but Davies has been impressed with how well the school's faculty has adapted to the new framework, especially under such a tight time constraint.

"Teachers are having to become learners again, and that informs your teaching, too," Davies said. "Being a learner again helps you empathize with the learners we serve."

In the new remote learning space, Dawson teachers have taken on three new roles, Davies said, first as "curriculum coordinators, curators, and creators," but also as learning coaches for students and instructional coaches for parents.

"They're creating the plans, and they're curating and coordinating compelling learning experiences from across the globe that are going to line up with our curriculum, and preparing for parents to facilitate at home. That's big.... Now in a bricks and mortar model the teacher is leading the learning journey, now they are coming alongside even the youngest of our students to help encourage them on their own journey."

Davies admitted that it might not be an easy journey at first, but explained that Dawson's approach to remote learning has been designed with enough flexibility to adapt to unforseen challenges.

"We're very much embracing this in the spirit of iterative creativity," he said. "Meaning we're rolling out 1.0, 2.0, 3.0. We're going to do surveys each week of families, students, and faculty to see how it's going and make adjustments accordingly. We do not presume that what we're going to be rolling out will be perfect."

For Davies, that's more of a feature, than a bug of the plan, as it creates opportunities to improve processes and policies, and may even lead to a more agile and engaging learning environment for future students at Dawson and around the world.

"I'm really excited to see what education looks like on the other side of this," he said. "While we can't predict right now how this will impact learning after we get through this storm, my greatest hope is that we are able to take new best practices learning during this time and implement them into our bricks and mortar models of education. I think there will be some real hidden gems here, that in time we're very grateful for. This will help us become better."