The experience of SENCOs in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: the amplification and exposure of pre-existing strengths and challenges and the prioritisation of mental health and wellbeing in schools

A national survey of Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in England was conducted during the summer of 2020 in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The annually conducted survey typically collates demographic data about the SENCO workforce, but given the wider context, this particular survey also included nine questions about SENCOs' experiences during the pandemic. More than 1000 SENCOs participated in the survey and the findings demonstrate the critical contribution of SENCOs in supporting pupils with SEND and maintaining effective communication with their families during the pandemic. The study provides evidence of an amplification effect in relation to the strengths and challenges that SENCOs had been experiencing prior to the pandemic. The study also demonstrates the importance of prioritising mental health and wellbeing in schools for both pupils and staff in the wake of the pandemic, with this being the key priority identified by SENCOs across all types of setting and all phases of education.     

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver mental health and the child caregiving environment in a low-resource,rural context

Early child development has been influenced directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these effects are exacerbated in contexts of poverty. This study estimates effects of the pandemic and subsequent population lockdowns on mental health, caregiving practices, and freedom of movement among female caregivers of children 6–27 months (50% female), in rural Bangladesh. A cohort (N = 517) was assessed before and during the pandemic (May–June, 2019 and July–September, 2020). Caregivers who experienced more food insecurity and financial loss during the pandemic reported larger increases in depressive symptoms (0.26 SD, 95% CI 0.08–0.44; 0.21 SD, 0.04–0.40) compared to less affected caregivers. Stimulating caregiving and freedom of movement results were inconsistent. Increases in depressive symptoms during the pandemic may have consequences for child development.     

Covid-19 pandemic and the prospects of education in South Africa

PROSPECTS - The Covid-19 pandemic has caused havoc in the world, radically changing our lives and raising new and old questions, both existential and educational. This pandemic has revealed the...     

新冠肺炎疫情下医学留学生临床见习教学的思考和探索

相较于新冠肺炎疫情背景下的中国医学生,留学生群体的临床见习教学管理存在着更多的挑战。由于世界范围的疫情大流行,部分外籍学生不能或延迟到校参与临床见习教学,疫情防控背景下的医院管理制度改变也影响了开展临床见习教学的方式。因此,对于疫情防控常态化下的留学生临床见习教学的顺利开展势必需要新的对策和改革。通过总结广西医科大学的留学生临床见习教学的工作经验及面临的问题,就教学模式和教学改革进行了深入思考和探索,为教学实践提供了可参考建议。     

Balancing pressures for SENCos as managers,leaders and advocates in the emerging context of the Covid-19 pandemic

This article considers the role of the SENCo during Covid-19 pandemic conditions of school lockdown with partial reopening for children classified as ‘vulnerable’. It is argued that the existing pressures and tensions already experienced by SENCos – for example, related to time, workload, status, and their prescribed managerial and strategic role – have been highlighted by pandemic conditions. Pressures resulting specifically from the pandemic are reflected by considering how SENCos will adjust to enact their role during this time. It is concluded that an advocacy role for pupils with special educational needs and disability, who are at risk of becoming increasingly marginalised within school and wider communities during this pandemic, should now be considered a central element of the SENCo’s remit.     

Event,currere, and the ignorant schoolmaster

PROSPECTS - The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the higher education systems in ways that make visible problems that already existed but that previously were not fully noticed. The pandemic can...     

Gross Anatomy Education in China during the Covid-19 Pandemic: A National Survey

The Covid-19 pandemic launched the use of online courses in Chinese medical schools during February 2020. To evaluate the state of gross anatomy education in China during the pandemic, a nationwide survey was conducted through convenience sampling by email or respondent invitations on social media. A total of 359 questionnaires were received from the respondents. The first response from a given school was included in the study to represent that school, thus, 77 questionnaires were used for analyses. Schools represented were from all provinces in mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macao. The survey found that before the pandemic, 74.0% and 33.8% of the 77 schools conducted online theoretical and practical sessions, respectively, on gross anatomy, and 36 (46.8% of 77) had temporarily suspended practical sessions at the time the survey was conducted. Body donation programs were also affected with 26.0% and 27.3% of the 77 schools having suspended donation programs or saw a decreased number of donations. During the pandemic, 40.3% of the 77 schools kept or initiated the implementation of active learning, and online assessment was continued in 49.4% of the 77 medical schools. Another 26 (33.8%) schools initiated online assessment during the pandemic. A total of 359 answers were included for the analysis of the “teachers’ perception of the online teaching experience.” Over half (51.0%) of the 359 responded teachers were very statisfied or satisfied with the effectiveness of online teaching during the pandemic. A total of 36.2% of these respondents preferred to implement online teaching of theoretical sessions after the pandemic, and 89 (24.8%) teachers were keen to return to traditional face-to-face anatomy education.     

Influence of Public Engagement with Science on Scientific Information Literacy During the COVID‑19 Pandemic

Science & Education - During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are fighting not only the novel coronavirus, but also the “infodemic” induced by the pandemic. Therefore, it is urgent to...     

重大疫情背景下大学生心理防护研究——以抗击新冠肺炎疫情为例

重大疫情爆发容易引发大学生焦虑、愤怒与应激等心理。做好重大疫情下大学生的心理防护应该开展心理教育,优化大学生认知结构;开展心理训练,稳定大学生情绪心态;开展心理疏导,完善大学生内心追求;开展心理危机干预,提高大学生心理应激水平。通过四位一体的心理防护模式,帮助大学生形成良好的行为应对方式,打赢疫情防控阻击战。     

Counselor educator workload and burnout in the era of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic brought disruption to teaching and other aspects of workload in higher education. The current study sampled 126 counselor educators about workload, compassion satisfaction, burnout, and job satisfaction. Results indicated that faculty workload and administrative responsibilities increased for counselor educators during the pandemic without adequate compensation or support.     

Causal Inference and COVID: Contrasting Methods for Evaluating Pandemic Impacts Using State Assessments

In the spring of 2021, just 1 year after schools were forced to close for COVID-19, state assessments were administered at great expense to provide data about impacts of the pandemic on student learning and to help target resources where they were most needed. Using state assessment data from Colorado, this article describes the biggest threats to making valid inferences about student learning to study pandemic impacts using state assessment data: measurement artifacts affecting the comparability of scores, secular trends, and changes in the tested population. The article compares three statistical approaches (the Fair Trend, baseline student growth percentiles, and multiple regression with demographic covariates) that can support more valid inferences about student learning during the pandemic and in other scenarios in which the tested population changes over time. All three approaches lead to similar inferences about statewide student performance but can lead to very different inferences about student subgroups. Results show that controlling statistically for prepandemic demographic differences can reverse the conclusions about groups most affected by the pandemic and decisions about prioritizing resources.     

One year of anatomy teaching and learning in the outbreak: Has the Covid-19 pandemic marked the end of a century-old practice? A systematic review

At the end of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic spread caused restrictions in business and social spheres. Higher education was also severely affected: universities and medical schools moved online to distance learning and laboratory facilities closed. Questions arise about the long-term effects of this pandemic on anatomical education. In this systematic review, the authors investigated whether or not anatomical educators were able to deliver anatomical knowledge during this pandemic. They also discuss the challenges that anatomical education has faced over the last year. The search strategy was conducted between July 2020 and July 2021. Two hundred and one records were identified, and a total of 79 studies were finally included. How best to deliver anatomy to students remains a moot point. In the last years, the advent of new technologies has raised the question of the possible overcoming of dissection as the main instrument in anatomical education. The Covid-19 pandemic further sharpened the debate. Remote learning enhanced the use of technologies other than cadaveric dissection to teach anatomy. Moreover, from the analyzed records it appears that both from students' perspective as well as teachers' there is a clear tear between those who endorse dissection and those who believe it could be easily overcome or at least integrated by virtual reality and online learning. The authors strongly believe that the best anatomy teaching practice requires the careful adaptation of resources and methods. Nevertheless, they support cadaveric dissection and hope that it will not be replaced entirely as a result of this pandemic.     

新冠疫情后高等教育国际化发展趋势展望

新冠疫情在全球范围内爆发影响了各国之间的教育文化交流,也对高等教育国际化的发展趋势带来了影响。新冠疫情在以下几个方面对高等教育国际化造成了影响:加剧了“逆全球化”的趋势,影响了跨国留学和教育的意愿;教育方式转为线上会缩小高等教育国际化的规模;各个国家对于国际学生的签证和居留等政策会影响到国际学生对于留学目标国家的选择,进而导致高等教育国际化格局的洗牌。而新冠疫情结束后,疫情对高等教育国际化的影响也不会完全消失,主要表现在“逆全球化”趋势的加剧影响跨国留学的愿望与动机,高等教育国际化的发展趋势会与各国重振经济的关系更加紧密,线上教学会成为高等教育国际化的一个模块继续保留。     

Science knowledge and trust in medicine affect individuals’ behavior in pandemic crises

In pandemic crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals’ behavior has a strong impact on epidemiological processes. Compliance with prevention guidelines, such as social distancing, is critical to avoid further spreading an infectious disease or to slow down its spread. However, some individuals also or instead engage in panic behavior, such as hoarding. We investigate how education prepares individuals to respond adequately by modelling the path from seeking information about COVID-19 to eventual behavior. Based on a sample of N = 1182 adult Americans, gathered at the pandemic’s onset (March 2020), we conclude that science knowledge helps individuals convert information into coronavirus knowledge. This knowledge then helps individuals avoid panic behavior. Individuals lacking coronavirus knowledge and science knowledge still comply with prevention guidelines when they have a general trust in medicine. Individuals lacking knowledge still follow prevention guidelines when they trust in medicine. Facilitating science knowledge and trust in science through education and targeted public health messaging are likely to be of fundamental importance for bringing crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic under control.

     

Effects of COVID-19 on school enrollment

We estimate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-reported school enrollment using a sample of 16-to-18-year-old youth from the January 2010 to the December 2020 Current Population Survey (CPS). The pandemic reduced the likelihood of students reporting that they were enrolled in high school by about 1.8 percentage points in April 2020 vs. in the same month in prior years, although enrollment rebounded back to typical levels by October 2020. Adverse effects on school enrollment were magnified for older vs. younger students, males vs. females, and among adolescents without a college-educated household member vs. adolescents from more educated households. Greater school responsiveness to the pandemic and high school graduation exit exams appear to have protected students from disengaging from school.     

Exploring the Role of Trust in Scientists to Explain Health-Related Behaviors in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has cast a light on the question of why trust in scientists is important. This mixed-method study aimed to explore the study participants’ trust in scientists about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. It also aimed to reveal which key sources of information participants followed about the pandemic. Participants’ health-related behaviors and justifications for their behaviors as a response to the pandemic were also explored to understand how trust in scientists and sources of information played a role in the fight against COVID-19. The responses of 1233 participants across Turkey were analyzed. The findings indicated that trust in scientists and compliance with the scientists’ suggested behaviors among the participants were quite high. It was also revealed that, for both trust and non-trust groups, participants questioned the reliability of information and the sources. Participants justified their behaviors mainly by referring to policies, e.g., masks, distance, and hygiene, developed and implemented with the collaboration of government, scientists, and the World Health Organization. Moreover, trust issues regarding scientists, government authorities, or other citizens were mentioned in participants’ justifications. The current study also shed light on the importance of building trust through an open and healthy dialogue among scientists, government authorities, and the public to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlighted the need for scientifically informed citizens to deal with the problems, i.e., misinformation and disinformation, in the post-truth era such as not jeopardizing effective solutions to eliminate the pandemic, e.g., taking the vaccine.

     

Notes on a Crisis: The Pandemic and English Schools

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic has created global disruption in education. It has served to highlight pre-existing inequalities, at the same time as it has stimulated new forms of educational provision, notably ‘online learning’. This article focuses on the debates and conflicts provoked by the pandemic’s impact on schooling in England. It aims to show how the historic policy preferences of Conservative governments have been carried forwards into a new situation and suggests how such preferences are at odds with ways of working developed by teachers. It places these different orientations in a broader European context and identifies a common tendency to evoke a meaning of teaching represented as at odds with the policy choices that have characterised government response to the pandemic.     

Global crisis management and higher education: Agency and coupling in the context of wicked COVID-19 problems

Campus crisis management remains an understudied topic in the context of COVID-affected higher education. In this paper, we contrasted the ability to tame the wicked problems brought by the pandemic of COVID-19 in private and public universities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Kazakhstan, Uganda, and Ukraine. The cross-country analysis and diversity of institutional types allowed us to consider a wide range of challenges faced by academic leaders and their institutions during the global pandemic. By drawing on institutional policy reviews and interviews with university administrators, we have examined tensions between the human and institutional agencies on these crisis-stricken campuses given differing institutional coupling, sizes, resources, and missions. The focus on agential co-dependencies and institutional coupling lays the ground for conceptualizing campus crisis management as a culturally specific construct in the context of higher education affected by the global pandemic.     

Postsecondary Students with LD/ADHD Facing a Sudden Shift to Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Emotional Costs and Implications

This study examined the emotional costs and well-being of postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who faced a sudden shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted with 237 postsecondary students in Israel from June to July 2020. With regard to online learning, the LD/ADHD subjects reported significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression and lower well-being than their neurotypical counterparts. However, no significant differences were found in emotional costs and well-being when the same students had experienced online learning prior to the pandemic. These findings have practical implications for policymakers in academia with regard to the emotional toll of online learning among students with LD/ADHD and their specific needs when facing ERT during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the contribution of previous online learning when facing ERT.     

Graduating in uncertain times: The impact of COVID-19 on recent graduate career prospects,trajectories and outcomes

This article examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in summer 2020 that examines graduate perception of the labour market, impacts on labour market entry impacts and early career progression and effects of periods of unemployment or under-employment. The article shows some of the main impacts of the recent pandemic-affected labour market, including: widespread concerns about job opportunities and employer support, the perceived employment impacts of the pandemic and early signs of scarring and labour market disorientation amongst those who were struggling to find employment of their choice. Such experiences are clearly intensified during the specific COVID-19 context, but the policy implications they raise have wider relevance for supporting graduates during future periods of labour market volatility.