Whilst the pandemic has certainly been challenging, it has also served to reinforce our belief that a ‘one size fits all‘ approach is outdated and doesn’t reflect ISB at all and that a personalized approach is far more effective.
In these tough times, the educational aspect remained unsolved in many countries. New systems were put to test with many challenges.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons, but above all else, it has taught us that the well-being of our learners, staff and parents is of the utmost importance. Supporting a community is not an easy task; there has been no rule book that explained how to navigate this ongoing and unprecedented period. However, the situation provided us with an opportunity to pause, take stock and review the ways we support our community and allowed us to make significant changes in how we view education. Never before has the need to put well-being at the forefront of our education program been more important. It has reinforced the wide and diverse needs of our community and that our response and support needed to be both varied and flexible. Here at ISB, we always strive to personalize our approach for each of our learners and families. Whilst the pandemic has certainly been challenging, it has also served to reinforce our belief that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is outdated and doesn’t reflect ISB at all and that a personalized approach is far more effective.
“The skills, knowledge and attributes acquired during SEL programs enable our learners to develop collaborative, problem-solving skills”
Of course, over the past 2 years, there have been challenges. How can you create a community without the physical interactions that we are used to? How do we support the well-being of our learners who continue to access school virtually? How do we ensure consistency with grade levels moving from online learning to physical and back again? How can we ensure new families are able to transition properly? How can we continue to provide authentic learning experiences on a closed campus with grade-level ‘bubbles’? We soon discovered that the most effective way to overcome these challenges has been working collaboratively; recognizing and accepting that supporting the well-being of a community takes a team approach. This is done by ensuring everyone recognizes their role in supporting each other and by having regular, open communication where all voices have an opportunity to be heard. By understanding that a strong, supported community needs to work together, we have learnt to become more flexible, more resilient and more cognizant of the needs of not only our own community but the world around us. At ISB, it has been incredibly uplifting to see learners, colleagues and families find creative ways to support each other and ensure all our members feel part of our community. This has ranged from seeing young learners remind each other to change their masks or wash their hands, to attending virtual baby showers, arranging socially distanced goodbye parties, virtual parent coffee mornings with breakout rooms to stepping in for colleagues to be able to take a mask break; life has needed to continue with some subtle and less subtle changes.
At ISB, we recognize the importance of supporting our learners to become successful in all areas of their lives beyond the academic curriculum. Our school core values of empathy, integrity, respect and responsibility reflect our belief in developing the whole learner. We have taken purposeful decisions to ensure we are able to support our learners as they respond and process the challenges of the last 2 years. The need for the school to provide a safe and secure environment where learners are able to build positive, trusting relationships have been reinforced and provided our teams with the opportunity to review and make any necessary changes in order to better support our learners’ well-being. We have understood the need to ensure adequate time in the school day for learners to take part in explicit Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The skills, knowledge and attributes acquired during SEL programs enable our learners to develop collaborative, problem-solving skills and maintain healthy relationships, as well as being able to navigate conflicts and better understand their thoughts and emotions.
Looking to the future, the challenges that we have faced and responded to together have helped us realize that well-being is the new key priority and provided us with the opportunity to create positive and exciting changes. The last 2 years has provided us with an opportunity to continually reflect on how we support our learners to ensure that they can thrive in all areas of their lives while at ISB and beyond. We are proud of how our school has navigated the pandemic, together, stronger and as a community. It takes a village…
By Natasha Kane, Leader of Learning for Student Support Services, International School of Belgrade.