Lessons from a Year of School, Interrupted
How staying true to its core values helped The Harbour School deliver a successful virtual and hybrid program
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After a whole year of on-again, off-again schooling in Hong Kong, it’s probably safe to say that schools have entered a new normal during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the virtual or a hybrid model of teaching is here to stay...perhaps for longer than anyone anticipated.
As an educator at The Harbour School (THS), a K to Grade 12 US-curriculum international school based in Ap Lei Chau, this last year has been a ride like no other since I started teaching. Reflecting back on 2020, we have endured much in a year of uncertainty, but there are also valuable lessons learned which I believe will inform and shape the future of education for years to come.
Invested in the Individual
Firstly, people need direction, especially in turbulent times. My 2020 Chinese New Year holiday was spent collaborating with colleagues on new protocols to be delivered via VC@T - what we call virtual classrooms at THS. What a way to spend your holidays you may say, but we felt like we were on the cusp of something big, and we wanted to take on the challenge of creating an online program that is as effective and engaging as our on-site program.
Experience First
Children learn best by doing things themselves, when they can bring their full personalities, interests and natural curiosity to a lesson. By getting to know how best our students learn and what matters to them, I can build unit plans around their individual interests, whilst still achieving academic goals.
In place of high stakes testing, we create impactful learning at THS that is authentic and relevant to each student, empowering them to drive their own learning be it online or on-campus.
Secondly, having a culture of innovation at school really matters. Take for example Sports Day, a popular annual school event which takes place usually in February. Instead of cancelling, our PE team moved Sports Day 2020 online. The high-energy PE team created five daily Sports Week challenges for the whole community in the form of ESPN-inspired sports news reporting filled to with humour. Everyday that week, our students woke up excited to check out the latest edition of THS Sports Center.
Community Oriented
Finally, it is important to closely work with our community consisting of parents, students and teachers by keeping communication channels open, and having a continuous feedback loop as it helps us plan for the best possible solution for our learners.
For six days in November 2019, schools across Hong Kong were closed due to the protests. THS was just one of two schools in Hong Kong that continued with school by moving it online. In fact, school leaders decided a day ahead of the EDB to move to online school to keep students safe. By piloting virtual school then, we were able to respond quickly when the pandemic hit. Armed with the feedback from the community, we were able to enhance and refine our VC@T program over Chinese New Year and deliver a successful online program when the holiday was over.
The article is contributed by Natalie Mierczak, Vice Principal for Prep and Primary, The Harbour School.