What opportunities Corona offers schools

"The problem is that we design our institutions for fair-weather operation," says Olaf-Axel Burow, retired professor of general education. But the pandemic turned everything upside down. What was needed were new teaching methods, rapid digitalization and students who can learn in a self-directed way. Processes and skills that had been overlooked in recent years.

Burow therefore sees the pandemic as an opportunity for schools to redesign lessons in order to become more crisis-proof in the future: "We need to move away from frontal teaching," emphasizes Burow. He cites the Alemannenschule Wutöschingen as an example. Pupils there work at their own pace. The teaching materials are available in analog and digital form, and every pupil is used to working on a tablet. This meant that it was no great challenge for the pupils and teachers to switch to digital teaching during the lockdown.

Corona has meant that these skills have also been required at other schools. Schools should therefore not simply strive for a return to normality, but learn from the crisis: "That would be a crucial mistake: the old normality created the problems for us. We now need to be future-oriented and resilient. This means that traditional learning models must be put to the test."

Burow recommends developing innovative school models out of the crisis. "First of all, we have to make a cut in the present. Don't get stuck on the old, but really think new: how would we organize school, learning and teaching if everything were possible?" he explains. "Take stock and develop a vision from this. In the final step, we need a concrete action plan."

Burow has summarized his recommendations in a book: The Corona Opportunity: Through seven steps to a "resilient school"