Students and teachers at Macarthur Adventist College are more resilient after online learning this year
Resilience. It’s a current buzzword in education circles, and if we look closer at the definition, it’s easy to see why. The Merriam Webster dictionary states that resilience is an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. As educators, who wouldn’t want to cultivate this valuable trait in their students?
As the pandemic hit, students and teachers at Macarthur Adventist College were suddenly thrust into an environment where lessons were being delivered online with most students learning from home. Overnight, everything changed. Whilst we were glad to have our students back in the classrooms, there has been one definite positive outcome of this topsy-turvy year, with both our students and our staff growing in resilience.
Principal Anna Calandra says that it was “amazing to see our staff going above and beyond to find ways to engage students and deliver content during the learning from home period. That growing confidence and surety when using technology, the greater collaboration with peers and seeing how creative and adaptable our teachers have been this year has been so inspiring.”
Students at Macarthur are also approaching the end of the school year feeling stronger, and more capable in relation to their study. In the words of one Year 7 student “I used to rely on my teachers to motivate me to study, but while I was doing school at home, I had to learn how to motivate myself to get my work done, although the teachers were always there to support and encourage us. I also feel like I’m better organised with my assessments now”.
Without a doubt, 2020 has been a year for the history books, but at Macarthur, both our staff and students have come out the other end stronger, with more grit and determination, and a closer, more resilient College community as a result of the challenges.
