I often hear that every event can be a curse disguised as a blessing or a blessing disguised as a curse. Three years after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic (and a few months after the end of the global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization), it is time to contemplate some of the experiences relating to this episode, and to think about the lessons they may offer us in different areas.
Reviewing different analyses of the management of the crisis by teachers at the preschool and primary education levels, we see that the educational sector used available resources to continue educational work, especially ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and mass visual media (educational TV and videos). Internet with ICT became integral to the school-home-student triangle. And although they were not always accessible or widely used on the national level (Solovieva, Perez and Quintanar Rojas 2021), these resources have left a mark which indicates that, with adjustments, they were useful.
Due to the geographical, demographic and socioeconomic diversity of the country, the management of this crisis in the educational field was addressed in different ways. Brenda Flores-Flores and Jacqueline Trujillo-Pérez addressed inequality of opportunities and prior training in Mexico (Trujillo-Perez and Flores-Flores 2021). They noted two important aspects that obstructed and hindered teaching work: the teacher's ability to acquire the necessary tools to teach and to communicate with the student's family, and the difficulties of households in communicating with the educators, due to lack of devices and Internet as well as the overload of tasks that confinement brought with it for mothers (Trujillo-Perez and Flores-Flores 2021, 82).
Solovieva, Pérez and Quitanar (2021) interviewed parents and teachers of students from public preschool institutions to learn about the educational experience of children with special needs. This study shows the difficulty for homes to access the Internet and the obstacles to achieving effective communication between teachers and homes, with activities conveyed through WhatsApp messages and videos. So, in the best of cases, the responsible adult guided the child so that he could carry out the activity and acquire the intended learning, but with no simultaneous strengthening of self-management. The results of these experiences seem to have been very poor, expressed in little progress and a lot of frustration on the part of mothers and students. For Trujillo-Perez and Flores-Flores (2021), the challenges of education during the pandemic, in the Mexican case, could be summed up as follows:
Teach – learn through online education, ensure equal educational opportunities for students; ...focus educational content towards the development of transversal and socio-emotional competencies... imparting knowledge of an education for life... this... will allow them to implement attitudes such as empathy and at the same time improve the management of their emotions to acquire behavioral patterns , positive habits and values. (84)
For their part, Solovieva, Pérez and Quintanar (2021) conclude that for students with cognitive disabilities, the distance education system (especially in asynchronous mode - i.e., where there is no lesson given live, in person, at a fixed time, with the participation of the student required) is futile, and for this group it was imperative to return to face-to-face classes, with the premise that here iit would be feasible to make use of the newly-acquired technological resources in conditions that supported students and their curricular advancement. Among the most useful and effective conclusions are, “Reduce the amount of homework that is not understandable for preschool children or their mothers” and “Give preference to group and collaborative tasks between peers and adults” (12-13 ) .
In conclusion, it is important to note that since COVID-19, teacher professionalization demands training in all cultural, pedagogical and technological areas since the exclusive face-to-face format of education has become obsolete. It is clear that the responsibility of the State includes not only the traditional media, but also guaranteeing efficient and accessible digital media for all inhabitants of the country. This is a promise of the Government of Mexico that, apparently, is in the process of being fulfilled using electrical wiring networks to cover practically the entire country (CFE 2023). Beyond providing the resources alone, the government must also promote teacher training in both traditional and innovative spheres, to provide the real possibility of social mobility to which the Constitution of the United Mexican States is committed (Legal Order 2023).
Jana, author of this article, is a Melton Master's student, and teaches at the CIMORT-Olami school in Mexico City.
Bibliography
Solovieva, Yulia, Brenda Lisset Perez, and Luis Quintanar Rojas. 2021. "Reflections of preschool children, families and special education teachers during the pandemic." Latin American Journal of Educational Studies (Mexico) (Universidad Iberoamericana) LII (1): 215-240.
Trujillo-Perez, Jacqueline, and Brenda Flores-Flores. 2021. "The challenges of distance education in educational practices during the COVID-19 pandemic." RedCA Magazine (Autonomous University of the State of Mexico) 4 (10): 73-87.
CFE. 2023. https://cfeteit.mx/. 11th of June. https://cfeteit.mx.
2023. Legal Order. 11th of June. http://www.ordenjuridico.gob.mx/Constitucion/articulos/3.pdf.
Delfin, Odette. 2023. www.researchgate.net. June 1. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Odette-Delfin/publication/359269858.