In a recent article in Education HQ, a six year research project by Professor Carol Mutch (Critical Studies in Education) of the University of Auckland, based initially on the Christchurch earthquakes from 2012 to2018, showed that, rather than being peripheral players, schools in Christchurch and surrounds functioned as community hubs during these disasters.

Her research has since been widened to include disaster-affected schools across the Asia-Pacific region, including post-tsunami Japan, post-earthquake Nepal and post-cyclone Vanuatu. In recent times her research offered useful tools for Australian teachers in the aftermath of the catastrophic bushfires.

Professor Mutch found that school principals acted as crisis managers, teachers as first responders and the children became active citizens. In the article, Professor Mutch was quoted as saying, "Despite what was going on in their own lives, they (school leaders) fronted up day after day with quiet determination."  Does this sound at all familiar?

As a child raised in Perth in the 1960s and 1970s, it was our parish church that tended to be my family’s community hub. There were Sunday services and services for special events, but also youth groups, social events and a sense of community through faith.

It seems to me that during the last four decades, although many churches still carry out this essential function, Australia has embraced many different cultures and religions, but we have also seemed to morph into a more secular society. Hence our schools seem to have become a community hub for the current generation of children and their families. That certainly has been the case for my own children, and now my grandchildren.

In a recent School Governance article we stated that it is no secret that schools actively seek to promote closer and more effective interactions and relationships between themselves and their students’ families. 

So, What Have Schools Done to Assist their Students, Families and Communities?

Following the bushfires, we wrote:

It is understood, and often simply assumed, that teachers will play critical roles in helping children deal with traumatic issues. Children look to adults as role models in times of need.  Professor Marjory Ebbeck, an early childhood education expert from the University of South Australia (UniSA), was quoted as saying “Teachers are one of the most trusted, reliable and safe adult figures to a child, beyond their immediate family. But, with the school term just around the corner, many teachers are now feeling underprepared”.

We also advised that schools may be faced with questions about fire safety and dealing with issues like managing grief, loss and what to do. Questions such as “Is our school safe?”, “What do I say to Jack whose family lost his home?” or “What can I do to help all the animals?”. And in our COVID-19 article we detailed possible school risks such as the possibility of student and/or staff deaths due to this outbreak and a level of fear that is currently being generated and spread in the community.

Other articles regarding student mental health, COVID-19 Resources for Schools and similar all attracted strong readership. This is further evidence that schools were seeking advice and putting risk treatments in place to support their current policies and practices during these times of crisis to ensure that their duty of care to their staff and students was fulfilled to the best of their ability.

In addition, CompliSpace provided two free Learning lists in CompliLearn for both the bushfire crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Many schools were quick to pick up these free online professional learning opportunities and they ensured that they trained their staff to deal with the potential risks and issues associated with these crises. The schools knew that their staff needed extra training and support in order to deal with possible issues as students returned to school.

Both during the bushfires and now during the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, through the ongoing training of their staff and the implementation of new policies and procedures to care for their children, have ensured that the students have felt safe at school, away from their homes and their parents. They have also ensured that the parents have had the same assurances.

Building Relationships Within a Community Hub

As has happened following the bushfires and again now that children are have returned to school, schools have been stepping up to care for, engage and gently ease the children back into their learning journeys. Year 12 students are being counselled and given other opportunities to evidence their learning and families are being encouraged to remain engaged in their children’s learning. Just as they did while the children were learning from home.

Teacher Magazine, in their article “COVID-19: How teachers can help students transition back to school” provides some exceptional tips and suggestions to support school communities in managing this transition back to school for all students, and particularly those with additional needs. Interestingly enough, they state:

This is a genuine opportunity to consolidate, and even extend, our communication strategies and structures with parents and carers. For example, greater parent and carer understanding of content could facilitate establishment of more meaningful student learning goals and better support systems at home.

This was the overarching theme of our School Governance article, “Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Brought Schools and Students' Families Closer Together?”

UNICEF has also produced a fantastic resource that schools may wish to share with their parents and their communities. It can be found here.

From a student/teacher perspective, The Educator has reported that there is a substantial amount of new research that supports the vast benefits of strong student-teacher relationships. One study published in 2019 found that every additional positive relationship with a teacher was associated with greater engagement from their student. The researchers discovered that the more subjects in which there were positive teacher-student relationships, the more students’ engagement at school increased.

In addition, further research from Macquarie University and the Queensland University of Technology shows that teacher-student relationships can shape a student’s attitude to school for years to come. The Macquarie/QUT study also found that students’ memories of good teachers are remarkably consistent, and that strong teacher-student relationships can support positive interactions with future teachers. What united the groups was a belief that their most positive relationships with teachers came when teachers were “kind, caring, helpful, or humorous”.

This is something that schools and teachers have always known.

If you, as the reader, reflect back on your own education, you will quickly remember the teachers that encouraged you to engage in and enjoy your studies were the ones that had the best relationship with you too.  

Summary

There are times when we must celebrate our schools and their staff. They have been doing it tough and many have not had a decent break since December, but they are putting their students first and foremost and are helping to return them to a sense of normalcy. We need to take a moment to appreciate and thank our ‘first responders’; our principals, their staff and our school communities. Bravo!