Lessons Learned in Lockdown will help Schools and Colleges in the Future

Managing teams remotely has been an invaluable skill gained by Headteachers during lockdown, says @HaysEducationUK, the education recruitment experts, and if developed, is guaranteed to benefit them long term.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, leadership in a remote setting was a major concern for most companies, but likely not on many schools’ radars. However, as closures impacted up to 63 million primary and secondary school teachers around the world, education leaders had to react quickly and grappled with a sudden switch to remote work and virtual classrooms during Covid19’s peak. Headteachers faced the challenge of learning how to manage change, safeguard students and support wellbeing – all from a distance.

Although challenging to begin with, as a result, new skills and strategies have emerged that will in future contribute to the classroom in a positive way.

Hays have compiled a list of ways to use these remote learning strategies in the future:

• Using tools to encourage communication and learning: Offer virtual tutoring for children, set up small online study groups and even provide faster feedback on pupils’ work.
• Maintain regular catchups with the whole team: Many leaders put regular morning or end of week catchups in place during peak lockdown, via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and it’s a good idea to stick with them going forward.
• Build on your culture of trust: Continue to build on this culture of trust at every level by giving your staff more responsibility to drive ideas and productivity.
• Encourage more autonomy: Encouraging more autonomy in the classroom not only gives teachers more confidence to lead their pupils and manage their time, but also puts them in the right headspace to drive innovation at your school.
• Keep asking staff for feedback: It’s important to continue this cycle of feedback, remotely, particularly in the short term, as many teachers are anxious about returning to school with social distancing in place.

This new way of working, although challenging, can help Headteachers overcome these common issues:

• Maintaining communication
• Managing workloads: 6.7% of Teachers worked up to 60 hours a week or more 
• Staff wellbeing: 34% of teachers experienced stress and anxiety from working at home 
• Combating tech challenges