Academics should make emotional health a habit

Pandemic created a chaos to undermine the strong public education system. With the announced roll out schedule of vaccinations that came out, is there no sense to issuing vaccines to teachers once health care workers are done? Are they not front line workers who, if vaccinated, make the schools safer? There is a breaking point for everyone.

The losses from this pandemic will be deep.

Society has placed its values on achieving only academic success for kids without realizing the side of the teachers.

People should realize that it isn't the Teacher's Fault that our educational system is broken. If this past year hasn't made them realize it, nothing will.

This year more teachers are likely to leave teaching than ever before not because they no longer care about their students or don’t love teaching, but because society doesn’t care about or value them.

Educators are exhausted, too many close to the breaking point. Being part of a world class system includes the willingness to protect it.

Teachers are still expected to work with no pay since months. The system should realize the teachers as professionals on the first place. There are no statistics publicly released from the government to know the exact loss the education system has undergone.

Schools and policymakers should recognize that those outside pursuits enrich lives and translate into better teaching. A well-nurtured intellect ignites us, deepening our passion for the field.

Let's build that intellect.

This is a failure in leadership. We are in a Pandemic. It is not the time to add more and/or demand more. It should be a time of care and compassion. Instead we hear arguments on high teaching standards and announcements of the examination dates.

Want to make your school a better place for everyone? Make emotional health a habit. Climbing the mountain ourselves and resting at the top while others struggle below isn't the goal; getting everyone to the top is. These are exceptional times and the educational landscape is changing rapidly.

The deadening influence of routine in teaching is well known; this problem has existed for ages. Teachers need room for their own lives and interests, even if they devote most of their time to school.

Test scores aren’t everything, and schools that promote socio-emotional development actually have a really big positive impact on kids. And these impacts are particularly large for vulnerable student populations who don’t tend to do very well in the education system.

The schools must examine responses from students on social and emotional development and school climate that highlights the social well-being and sense of belonging. By improving students’ feelings of contentedness and belonging, schools can achieve biggest impact for disadvantaged students.

The point is - success shouldn’t be measured in terms of test scores alone. Students need room to develop themselves beyond academic achievements.

Prior to the Reopening of the educational institutions, workshops should be organized for the educators and students that will provide an engaging and practical guide to navigating the new landscape.

• A reflection on the past year and how the teachers and students adopted a new way of learning during the pandemic

• How do you foresee engagement in the near future?

• What support will teachers and schools need most once schools reopen?

• What will 'back to school' look like?

• What collaboration opportunities are available?

• What can the educational institutions be doing right now to ensure they are ready for the new challenges ahead?

Higher Education in particular, has been left exposed, for if the education can be delivered online, and tutorials given over Zoom, then how can the high fees remain justified?

The institutions need to concentrate on what their students need.

• Students want to listen to lectures about life; not dissertations limited to just business, engineering, or medicine.

• Students want to broaden their horizon to be as good as possible as a human, innovator, and leader.

• They want to reach beyond current borders and historical societal norms.

• The role of academic scholars and researchers is to provide students the knowledge needed for success.

• The faculty provides a toolbox for identifying problems, creating a research project.

• Students need to develop themselves personally, learn from the best instructors to be as knowledgeable as possible, and get to know diverse, open-minded people to become the thought leaders of our future.

• Researchers are right in pursuing the goal of educating the best possible next generation that can one day invent, found a new company, or even develop a potentially life-saving vaccine that can help fight a pandemic.

• Parents need to be able to afford the education of their children.

The more children are in the equal position to obtain great knowledge and great skills, the better our whole future word will be. The educational value has shifted with the current pandemic.

Interpersonal interaction helps drive opinions, shapes ideas, molds individual personalities, and hopefully sharpening argumentation and driving new scientific perspectives. Good education provides our future leaders with the knowledge to overcome future challenges.

Address inequity in our schools and support diversity in our education system. Education is very critical, unlike other fields, because it involves minds, hearts, and well-being. Commitment, creativity, integrity, and knowledge are fundamental.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled!"