Teaching in the Time of Corona

This piece is testament to the teachers who are stepping up to face the challenges thrown at them during the current period of trepidation and unprecedented uncertainty. Covid-19 is wreaking havoc pretty much everywhere, and aside from the heroics by medical professionals on display in hospitals and the like, which obviously deserve a great deal of praise, it’s time to salute our educators.

Keep your distance

It was on 12th March that I myself gave my last face-to-face lesson before this crisis began; it was a business English 1-on-1 in house class at an office of a language centre; one of my clients. Who knew then that I would be cooped up teaching from home for the unforeseeable future? Then, came the changes to scheduled courses and exams training. One student agreed to try online, but then, after being given a heads up that the student would leave imminently for Japan (her home country), by an account manager, she had to go home, and, unexpectedly, her company decided they would not allow her to begin at this time from Japan (and has now been cancelled as of June 10th as she will not return to the Netherlands on account of COVID-19 - ED). In addition, an absolute beginner from China didn't feel comfortable with online lessons (via Webex), so has postponed her course (10 lessons left) for the time being; which will depend on when it's safe to have f2f lessons again. (Her workplace, it seems, is not receiving visitors until September - June update-ED). The Head of Compliance from a bank also feels the same way, so his remaining 7 lessons have been delayed until further notice. Moreover, mock speaking exams and the real ones have both been put on hold indefinitely, though, with the former, there is now talk of preparing students via Teams.

Somehow, miraculously, there was no loss of income in March, but April has been poor so far, though two new courses are beginning on the 28th. This all begs the question, what about new business?

Well, in this part of the world at least, it is positive that new courses have been offered and, it seems, (and this is purely speculative) companies may well have other priorities during this ordeal, though there are a lot of employees at home, or who need language courses or some who can’t do what they ordinary would and now have the opportunity to start a course. Hopefully, things will get better soon.

It is fair to say that freelance language teachers are often stoic souls, soldiering on, and, no doubt, in some cases, battling against the odds to stay in business, and perhaps in some parts of the world, even to put food on the table. In the Netherlands, where I live, the government has put their money where their mouth is and come up with a package for freelancers that effectively rescues those who are in danger of being dragged under the poverty line. As it stands, the requirements are changing all the time, but it is reassuring to know that they are doing something to help people in need. Of course, it is important to be grateful for what one has and that duties can be performed from the comfort of our own homes. Still, there is a lot more to education than what’s mentioned above as we shall now see.

It was Mid-March and it was official; schools, we were told, would close their doors for the time being and the kids probably couldn’t believe their luck. However, incredibly, some schools remained open for staff who wished to enter the premises. Mixed signals from the powers that be create confusion when clarity and consistency are called for. By way of illustration, central exams were called off after much hoo-ha. Though, school exams, it has been announced, will still take place in schools with pupils spread out 1.5 metres apart in rooms with the right dimensions. The Ministry of Education, who have received plenty of criticism for their handling of the crisis, believe as ever and propagate that it’s up to schools how to handle certain things, i.e. there can be small groups physically assembling in school or, in some cases, exams can even take place via video call. With the former, one issue that has arisen regards teachers who may be asked to invigilate and can (in my opinion, justifiably) abstain should they feel scared to death of catching the virus.

Online Teaching

Depending who you work with or for, if you have recently made the transition to teaching online, then you will probably need to familiarise yourself with at least one of the following web conferencing systems: Webex, Big Blue Button, Teams, Skype and Zoom (the last of which is now considered malware). For some who are more technologically challenged, this is probably a nightmare and may be traumatic. Based on the shared experiences of half a dozen teachers across the spectrum, here are the some of the findings; all are in the same situation one way or another. Typical observations made include the amount of time invested with regards to preparation did not match the effort students were willing to contribute. In one case, an employer has not been willing to put up the funds to allow teachers to have special pens that need to be used to utilise the whiteboard on Teams.

Meanwhile, technical problems have plagued quite a few trainers, which range from firewall issues to recording devices not working, from participants being cut off (bandwidth problems) and connections freezing. The stress involved for those concerned has been substantial. It has been reported that some people hate teaching online and find it restrictive. While it has also been noted that as time passes one teacher is willing to experiment and learn how to do things; this makes things slightly more bearable but by no means ideal. Further, face-to-face teaching is still the method of choice which is overwhelmingly preferable to the vast majority of these teachers. The human element and a natural approach, more in line with classical education, appeals the most. Still, interaction is a feature of the modern classroom and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), and teachers have noticed that online teaching does offer a multitude of possibilities.

For schoolteachers, it can be an uphill struggle. For example, children are allowed not to have their webcams on, so they cannot be seen, which does not fit in very well with the proverb: children should be seen and not heard. Then again, when webcams are able to be used, they can be a blessing in disguise, i.e. when helping an absolute beginner with pronunciation, it is possible to illustrate which part of the mouth is being used, or to mime and gesture, which should come in handy. In conclusion, teaching online is a work in progress and we are learning all the time. One thing is for sure: nothing has changed in that those who work in this great profession are unsung heroes.