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Students call for greater teamwork between teachers during the pandemic

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Study by Teacherly (@teamteacherly) finds that almost two thirds of pupils would like teachers to work together to create online lessons to help everyone achieve their potential amid coronavirus pandemic

Pupils believe schools of all reputations can learn something from each other and should work together more in delivering education during this time

Derby High School adopts a more collaborative and flexible approach to teaching pupils in response

As the EPI warns of varying levels of attendance in schools across England amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new study conducted with pupils in Britain has identified that almost two thirds (66%) of children would like teachers to work collaboratively together – joining forces and combining their skills to create online lessons that will help everyone better achieve their potential during this time.

The findings come as schools continue to decide how best to utilise the COVID-19 catch up funding announced by the government in June. The study, conducted by Teacherly, highlights how pupils are open to creativity, greater flexibility and collaboration within education in order for them to have a better learning experience during this highly disrupted time. The study identified that over half (53%) like the idea of attending a virtual school where they can learn through both online courses and in-person online lessons that cover a wide range of subjects – even those not available at their school. Almost a quarter (23%) of pupils who weren’t home schooled before coronavirus said they liked the idea of attending a virtual school because they’d be able to learn from a wider pool of teachers beyond those available at their school.

The research also found that nearly 7 in 10 (67%) pupils who weren’t home schooled before coronavirus agree that everyone should be allowed access to the best education possible, with 41% of pupils agreeing that, regardless of where they live, pupils should be able to access the best teachers. In addition, when asked about school rankings and perception of different schools as good or bad, nearly half (46%) said they believed schools of all reputations can learn something from each other and should therefore work together more closely. 

Atif Mahmood, CEO, of Teacherly says:

“Education has been on the back foot when it comes to collaboration because schools have often been more focused on competing for the best Ofsted reviews and performance. The COVID-19 pandemic has, in many ways, removed these silos and taken the focus away from competition – in the short term at least. Evidently, there is enthusiasm among students for greater collaboration and the opportunities this creates for better education and learning. During this time in particular, where schools are having to contend with catching-up on lost time, changes to exams and ongoing disruption to in-classroom teaching, the value in collaborating should not be underestimated. We’ve started to see senior leaders from different schools uniting to share ideas and come up with solutions for tackling the challenges in this unprecedented time, but there is a clear need for this to go further.”

Mrs R Hamilton, Year 4, Derby High School:

“In response to the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve adopted a more collaborative and flexible approach to teaching our pupils. We recognised that we needed to streamline the process of planning lessons by working together as a team across departments, making use of new online solutions that allow for collaboration and teamwork. Collaborating with other teachers within the school has helped not only with creativity but has helped to improve teamwork and reduce workloads during what is an extremely demanding time. Pupils are no longer learning from one single teacher but from all of us as a community, where we share our knowledge and skills collectively online as well as where we can in the classroom in order to provide them with the best education possible.”


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