The post-pandemic school | Andrea Santiago | TEDxRiodelaPlataED

The lockdown made schools close their buildings and new ways of connecting students and teachers emerged. Andrea, a teacher at a public school in the Province of Buenos Aires in Argentina, tells us what happened since the pandemic and which would be nice if they continue to happen when it's over. She teaches mathematics at one of the largest public schools in the Province of Buenos Aires and is a specialist in mathematics teaching. Andrea is a TED-Ed Club Facilitator, and mother of a teenager. During the lockdown, like many other teachers, she is rethinking their role and that of the institutions in which she participates.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

One of my students, Alan,
lives in a house in Villa Itati,

with his mom, five brothers,
her sister-in-law and his little nephew.

When he is done helping in the house,
he showers and goes out.

He crosses three corridors
of the neighborhood.

He climbs a very steep mud slope

and walks the last block to get to school.

He is not going to learn with his mates,

but to line up to get
his family's daily meal.

Due to the lockdown the place is closed.

While waiting for the food at the door,
he uses the free wifi

to download the assignments
his teachers sent him

and send those he's already done.

Today, he borrowed
the family's only cell phone

because they knew
he would have an Internet connection.

He gladly reads the messages

in which teachers encourage him
to continue studying.

And, besides,
we also answer his questions.

It's not easy at all for him
to study remotely

but at least he has a space
where to make his questions.

With empty classrooms
opportunities are moving away

and the inequalities

a lot of kids live
since a long time ago deepen.

And today they juggle to have access
to their right to learn.

Yes, it is true that families and teachers

welcome schools in our homes

and we gave them the shelter
they needed to keep on working.

But it's also true that
it became more evident than ever

the need to maintain
and promote those bonds

the school building used to enable.

When we teachers meet at school

to put together the bags with food

the most important thing for us
is to have news, to exchange news,

of the kids from who
we don't know anything lately.

We're so alert that,
while the bags are delivered,

we go through the line
looking for a relative

or anyone else
that can deliver some news.

Because of the pandemic some kids
went to live with another family

when their parents, or grandparents
are hospitalized, or isolated.

If it used to be so hard
that many of them

keep their regular assistance
in high school,

now our biggest concern
is that they don't give up,

that they don't give up the school year.

When the school got into the homes
it turned everything upside down.

Valen, for example,
is sick of all that video calls,

of this much homework
sent by his teachers,

so much, that he asked his mom
"make the school go out of my home."

Moms and dads had to change
all our routines

to engage even more
with our kids' education.

In my case, it was a good thing.

My teenage son,
who has attention deficit disorder,

for the first time in his schooling
is keeping up to date with his homework.

And, just like Alan, he asks his doubts
directly to his teachers.

He learned how to use tools
to read and write better.

To him and many young people,
to be forced to use technology

helped them create an autonomy
they didn't have.

On the other side of the device

my fellow teachers
did what they could.

Most of us take care of our families

at the same time as
we're working at home,

with scarce resources,

replying to the kids and families
at any time of the day,

planning permanently,
correcting from screens.

Daniel, for example,
is an excellent teacher in the classroom.

But he now feels excluded
by the little grasp he has of technology

and how quickly he had to catch up.

At the other end, Alejandra
spends her time trying apps,

trying one and a thousand times
even when this takes hours on end.

And, also, like in any job,

some choose to wash their hands

and overload others with their work.

That's how the school is today.

Like a virtually dismantled machine.

With all its parts on display.

You can see all the imperfections.

And an emergency operation
we could perform with what we had.

It's an old machine. Old and noble.

But it's got a lot of wire-tied parts,

from education reforms,

coming from remote desks far away
from the reality of each school.

Schools that, in addition to educating,

were entrusted with a lot
of huge responsibilities.

And, as if this were not enough,
they were filled up with useless

and tremendously bureaucratic tasks.

Now we all have a unique opportunity,

to put it back together
to make it work much better.

We have to give more prominence
to kids and young people

to take part and commit
to their education.

But also to avoid
absurd discussions between adults,

that would be easily solved
with asking the kids.

We need to keep families in this loop.

They took over schooling
in their homes

and whose active participation
is important not to lose

for the school we will go back to.

And, moreover, to call in universities,
faculties, social institutions,

from soup kitchen to social clubs,

as part of the social fabric
that collaborates

and feeds back
from what goes on at school.

I don't know how
this is going to look like.

When we reassemble this machine
with the pieces we had

and the new tools we have.

But I'm sure
that in-person schooling

has to take a super important role

to build better bonds

and not to be wasted

in activities that today
we've understood by force

that can be done remotely,
or are obsolete.

If we go back to the same school,
it means we didn't learn anything.

We owe it to the children,
to the teachers, to the families,

who are making a huge effort

to guarantee the right to education.

A really quality education,

that transforms every one of us
from affection,

as people we are and as citizens.

We have a unique opportunity
that's not going to be given again.

Not even in a hundred years.

The challenge is to live up to it

and take charge of thinking and creating

a better school, together.