Families are now feverishly thinking about how to combine the work of parents with the school sheet of children who may be staying at home. On the other hand, distance learning is a desired relief to avoid corona infections.
Discourse about the possible start of schools in distance learning turned the last holidays of many families with children and teachers into a reflection on how everyday life really starts.
More than 700 people responded to the distance learning survey conducted by HS in a few hours. Answers came from all over Finland from parents, grandparents, students and teachers. The survey is still open and can be answered here.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (STM) said on Wednesday night that it intends to propose that schools switch to distance education. The proposal would not apply to pre-school or primary school 1-3. categories.
Read more: STM to propose transfer of schools to distance learning – HS data: Ministers to discuss distance school on Friday
No decisions have yet been made. According to HS, the corona ministerial group will discuss the issue of distance learning at its Friday meeting.
Read more: Mayor Vartiainen: We are starting from the fact that Helsinki schools will return to contact teaching on Monday
Thought on the transition to distance learning is strongly divided by respondents.
In Espoo, the Laukkaste family hopes that they will not go to distance learning.
Erika Laukkanen thought the new distance learning course would be like a wet rag against a face for a family of four.
“I think this is a really bad idea. It is unfortunate that the disease is rampant, but it cannot be the case that restaurants are open, but children cannot get to school, ”Laukkanen says on the phone.
In Laukkanen’s family, the distance school would apply to a seventh-grader and a 17-year-old studying in a vocational school. In addition, the family includes a preschool pit and a freshman currently serving in the military.
“The firstborn missed the benches and the writing went a little so and so after the distance school. The student at the vocational school had a distance school from November to May, after which he went to school for a week and then on summer vacation. ”
According to Laukkanen, distance school is especially visible in the routines of young people. The normal day rhythm disappears when there is no need to go anywhere in the morning. In addition to his own work, Laukkanen, who also works remotely at home, has to make sure that the children really get out of bed and participate in teaching.
“I do see that this is broader than our family’s problem. There are certainly those families who do not have the tools or support available at home. There may be little that a child can accomplish at home. ”
Several Parents who responded to the HS survey are really concerned about their children’s school success and, especially for older children, about how distance learning in vocational education, for example, prepares students for working life.
“The older son’s vocational studies in the electrical industry have now not progressed to two years at all because it has not been possible to arrange contact education. This 2-3 years is a huge time in the life of a child and a young person. Deciding adults do not clearly understand it, ”says a parent from Helsinki who responded to the survey.
In their responses, many parents of children with special needs raised concerns about how parents who could be at work on a daily basis could be at work and support their child at the same time. In some families, distance learning would require unpaid parental leave.
Also young people’s coping and lack of social life came to the fore in the responses.
“About seven months of high school time, or almost five of the 13 episodes in total, have been removed. The quality of distance learning has varied. My young person has reading difficulties, for which he has received support, ”said a parent from Espoo.
“Now is the last episode before the spring writings, so the young person mainly has refresher courses where teacher support is very important. I can do telecommuting myself, but to maintain family peace, I will probably go to the office if the young person stays in distance learning. Or maybe a young man grabs a laptop in his armpit and goes to a nearby bar to walk away. ”
“Spring 2020 distance learning plunged our 8.5 average girl into total illiteracy. Her school has suffered from a corona, and in the spring of 2021, the average girl had dropped to 6.5. The girl will stay in class if we have to go to distance learning now, ”said a resident from Lake Järva who answered the survey.
Part respondents to the survey perceived distance learning as a mitigating option or at least a necessary evil.
Many families fear that after school starts, coronary heart disease will no longer be avoidable. In families with children or adults at risk, it has been thought to keep children at home, even if there is no formal transfer to distance learning.
“My son and everyday life in my 5th grade of elementary school would probably improve tremendously. For him, the current school life is restless and discouraging, and he is underperforming, while the previous period of distance education and the quarantine of our family went great, ”the Helsinki parent wrote in his reply.
The parent of a high school student from Espoo who responded to the survey is wondering how, for example, going to school could be arranged in a corona-safe way.
“Studying at school is not safe, at least for middle schoolers. The mask recommendation exists, but it is not monitored by anyone and safety distances cannot be maintained. The most sensible thing would be to keep the school at a distance until the third round of vaccination, and especially childhood vaccinations, is in full swing. However, there should already be some idea of moving back to contact teaching, as too long a distance period has a negative effect on children’s learning and mood. ”
Heidi Paalin in the family in Vantaa, distance learning does not cause gray hair, but on the contrary it would be safer to stay home.
“When this situation is like this, the state of health care is horrible and the news is pretty good, there will be a feeling that opening schools would flare up in his hands,” Paal says.
In the family, the distance school would involve a vitoschooler and two high school children. In addition, it would affect Paali’s own work as a vocational school teacher.
“Our students are mostly young adults. Distance learning has not been challenging for myself, but of course such situations are challenging. ”
According to Paali, however, educational institutions have invested and worked to improve the conditions for distance learning: teachers have been trained in information technology and new practices have been actively sought.
Not all learners are equally prepared to switch to distance learning, but for others, distance learning is more beneficial than distance learning, Paal says.
“There is no one typical learner and different needs should be taken into account.”
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