UCLA Professors of Education John Rogers were interviewed by The Los Angeles Times on the changes that will have to be made on physical campuses as they slowly reopen after the COVID-19 shutdown.
Professor Howard, who directs the UCLA Pritzker Center for the Strengthening of Children and Families, noted that underserved students, for whom schools provide not only educational opportunity but a basic support system, will need a “hybrid model” in the altered public learning environment.
“… I would hope that there is consideration for students from low-income backgrounds who have less access to technology supports,” Howard said to the Times. “Perhaps there will be a staggered situation where some students are on a 70/30 school/home situation, whereas other students may be on a 50/50 situation. We’re going to have to be creative, flexible, and great listeners to the needs of vulnerable children and families.”
Professor Rogers, who is the faculty director at UCLA’s Center X and director of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA), discussed the challenge to teachers and families in explaining why measure like social distancing, face masks, and other methods of protecting against COVID-19 will still be in practice, even as schools reopen.
“It will be imperative for adults to talk with young people about why certain actions are being taken and to do so in a manner that expresses care and concern — rather than fear,” Rogers said.
To read the article in The Los Angeles Times, visit this link.