3 Ways to Fill the Covid Learning Gap: A Mindfulness Approach
- Jul 21, 2021
- 3 min read
Her name was Elizabeth. She was 13 . She was a beautiful, engaging, and intelligent girl, yet, at the age of 22, I almost left teaching permanently, because of my experiences with her. I thought I knew her well, as we talked every day at lunch on our long walks. But I was wrong. I didn’t understand the depths of her despair. Clearly unhappy, she took her life one random Friday.
There were clearly gaps present that I was unaware of such as accessible health care and proper medications. I knew the anxiety and depression were living vibrantly inside her but, as a young teacher, I did not have the capacity or knowledge to deal with the challenges that come with these disorders. I remember lamenting, “What good was teaching reading, writing, and math?” I did not teach her about life and her beloved value to this universe. I failed her. I vowed not to make that mistake again.
So, when we talk about learning gaps whether it be in relation to summer lags or COVID, we need to return to the education of the whole child. For me, a happy, healthy, and whole child will always come first. I left a traditional teaching assignment after 22 years of loyalty because it was not fun anymore. Call me naïve, but I thought people in education genuinely cared for children.
In 2012, when my disillusionment came to light and I realized that the new administration was more concerned about maintaining Title I funding, test scores, and lining pockets, I cried to my mom that I couldn’t work for people who didn’t care about my kids (students). I decided to return to school and get an advanced degree to better my chances of teaching children in an authentic way.
Here are three ways you can begin to fill the gaps to learning using Mindfulness:
1. Develop trust. You must connect authentically. If you are a superintendent build trust with your principals. If you are a principal connect with your teachers. If you are a teacher, bond with your students.
Nobody wants to work for or with people who don’t care or more importantly pretend that they care. Find at least one thing you can connect with in each student, teacher, or principal; whether it is the same taste in music, or the color of their shoes, it is vital for the process of authenticity.
2. Create a growth mindset atmosphere. Begin each day with journaling goals, desires, and ideas. Every hour before a new lesson or class, read your list. Visualize the end result with a feeling of accomplishment.
Taking time throughout the day to reflect on what we want in our life helps to solidify our purpose for living. Invoking positivity throughout a campus helps to shift the mindset of fear or negativity.
3. Promote positive self-worth. When children feel valued, loved, and understood they can transition into learning and feel safe to take risks in their education.
When teachers work together to support education, life on campus is more meaningful. Principals who make themselves present in the classrooms, on the playground or campus grounds foster the trust process that has manifested in the classrooms. Superintendents who are visible throughout the district and the community, strengthen the development of well-being for the whole child.
Long, story short, I have come full circle and have begun working with children again and loving every minute! There are no test scores, no comparisons, no fake news. Before any other learning can take place, I invest in my students: I engage in interaction, love, and the understanding that they are limitless human beings important to this world. In other words, provide a connection to success and never allow a child to feel that they are alone.
If you are a teacher, coach, or administrator who does not want to take the time to invest in your children (your students), in an unconditional manner, on an emotional level, perhaps introspection is in order. Yes, we want to teach, and we want our students to learn, however, the time has arrived where traditional classroom learning is now antiquated. A disruptive innovation must be instilled and the focus should transition from a standards aligned only curriculum to a well-being first methodology.
Dr. Patti Ayala-Martin, Ph.D. is a leader and educator in Mindfulness Education. She wrote Breaking Free of Bullying aka Dr. Bria Bliss and works with athletes and students for Anti-bullying campaigns.
Comments