Exploring one school’s lived experience
This article reflects upon the journey one school made during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly related to the development of remote teaching. It explores the leadership and change-strategies applied during this challenging period and argues that much of what was learned should be integrated with ‘normal’ teaching and learning to provide an enriched and versatile blended learning strategy for the future.
The article presents the structural arrangements it made as a key element in its response to the challenges created by the lockdown restrictions and makes recommendations for future integration of what has been learned.
To understand the school’s approach a study was carried out which explored participant perceptions and how they were informed by personal and lived experiences. Information was collected using interviews and focus group. Ethical approval was gained through the host institution. Throughout the study BERA ethics guidelines were adhered to1.
The experience of teaching remotely throughout numerous lockdowns has, while challenging at the time, ultimately worked in the school’s favour, which now has an upskilled staff body who remain highly competent in synchronous and asynchronous digital teaching. In this article, we will share the experiences learnt from this case study and use it to propose a template for a blended learning approach to education in future.