It will take us years to analyze this pandemic and recognize what happened that was good and what happened that was not so good or just plain evil. Daily so many of us make declarations about pandemic life, and daily we also hear people change their declarations as they know more. What is true and what is not true about these pandemic days? Whose voices are heard, and whose voices are silenced during this time? Who works for the greater good, and who uses this time to manipulate and harm others?
Education
Let's begin this analysis with education. Many with more power and voice are doing a lot of conjecture and finger pointing with regard to education during the pandemic days. Those who have less voice are less heard. What is really happening with education, and what does this say about pandemic life?
Some teachers died. Not a lot, but some teachers did die due to unsafe school conditions where the pandemic spread. Many teachers' unions demanded safer schedules and environments--this advocacy likely saved other teachers from illness and death. Yet, many leaders continually call for students to go back to school without acknowledging the fact that long-neglected schools don't offer healthy environments during a pandemic--many schools are overcrowded and not ventilated well. These conditions create fertile ground for viral spread. It seems that hybrid schedules, extra cleaning, updating ventilation systems, wearing masks, and changing routines to limit people-to-people contact have helped schools to mitigate spread. Going forward, school neglect and overcrowding has to change to prevent the kinds of unsafe, fertile grounds for disease spread that too many schools have. We also have to acknowledge when, where, and how virtual learning works best.
Children missed the social contact and real-time education. Most children missed the social life, nurturing and education that schools offer in real time. Many schools did the next best thing by providing students with virtual learning opportunities. There are many plusses to virtual education, and in the years ahead, it's likely that educators will create more worthy blended learning platforms for students--platforms that make the most of real-time learning and online learning. Also, understanding children's need and desire to learn collaboratively and have centers for social connection is an important aspect of school life that needs to be considered and nurtured.
Children had more time at home with family members. I wonder what a true analysis of this will show. Was this good overall for family life or not so good? I suspect there were some great silver linings here, silver linings that should not be ignored. I worry that our society which became too industrialized over time forgot about the strength of time for play and family life. I believe that the pandemic result of a slower, more intimate lifestyle for many was positive in many ways, and we can't lose sight of that.
Children had more time to imagine and play. Will children look back at this time as a time when they had more time to imagine and play? Is this good, or is this not so good? I imagine that analysis will show many positive aspects related to children having this time.
Less bullying, racism, worry. Since many schools replicate factories rather than warm, loving centers of connection and learning, did some students feel greater safety and comfort staying at home and in their neighborhoods due to less social anxiety, bullying, racism, and worry? What will analyses say about this? Children's voices have to be included in any analyses done about education during a pandemic.
Academic gains or losses. While many experts distanced from classroom life continuously discuss academic loss, I wonder what the truth of the matter is here. How many students actually learned more during pandemic days because they were reading more, playing more video games, having richer conversations, playing a lot, and creating often? Were children learning more math by doing at-home chores, cooking, and shopping with family members? Were students writing more as they created stories, plays, and letters for loved ones? Did children learn more history as they got involved in local politics and protests? What did children learn over this time? What academic skills, concept, and knowledge did they miss out on? The analyses related to this have to be broad including both traditional, formal standards-based learning goals and informal learning as well.
Mental Health
What do mental health measures say about the pandemic? How did people feel during this time? Did more time at home reduce mental health problems or increase those problems? What does the data say specifically about who faced greater mental health problems at this time and why, and who faced less problems? How were these problems handled? Most of us realize that we have a lot of work to do to shore up mental health and mental health supports in the United States. Pandemic days offer us some insights with regard to this need.
Family Life
Which families experienced betterment during this time, and which families experienced greater struggle? Specifically why were lives better or worse? What will this data reveal about what we need to do to foster positive family life in the future?
Economy
Which businesses profited and which businesses did not? We know that Amazon profited greatly while many local restaurants had to close? Where else did we see wins and losses during the pandemic with regard to the economy? What does this say about policies for the future with regard to economic health for the people and our country.
Community Life
In what ways were communities healthier and happier during the pandemic, and where were communities less happy and safe? Was there less violence, burglaries, and threat to safety during the pandemic? Was there sufficient medical/health care? How did food systems work? What will pandemic days and analysis of those days have to say about what communities need to be safe and strong?
I am wary about conjecture about the pandemic impact on education, family life, communities, and the economy--I want to see what the analyses say about this impact, and I want to cull the facts that help us understand what people need for best possible living. This will be ripe information if we are inclusive with data collection use the information well, information that will help us to better our lives if we take it seriously. Onward.