Professional Learning in and after Covid-19

This post for IPDA Scotland’s blog was written by JP Mynott.

A challenge for people wishing to be involved in professional learning can be physically attending events. There are always things happening in school, children to pick up and a multitude of other foci that mean we are often deliberately selective about the events we attend, in person. Yet, when face-to-face opportunities had to stop due to Covid-19, professional learning opportunities did not stop.

For me, educators have always been remarkable individuals, after all we are people who can make toilet rolls into works of art that adorn shelves for years. Yet, this has been evidenced further, for when lockdown was announced and our normal ways of working were challenged, we did not stop working, no, we changed how we work and crafted a new space to continue teaching and learning.

Professional learning is not something that stopped either. Admittedly, my children have appeared in a lot more of my professional conversations than they previously have and my days are different because I home school around my work. Yet, something that has helped throughout lockdown is the sense of community that has continued around professional learning. I have also noticed that community has grown. In many senses, I am also finding that it is easier for me to attend webinars and events online because I do not have to rush home to collect someone. Instead I can use just an hour of my day to join in with a conversation.

This has meant that geography of where we are located has also become less important to the conversation. If you live on an island, in a city, or in rural Scotland you are able to attend the same events and be part of the same conversations. I can talk to colleagues in Malta, Edinburgh and Cyprus in the same conversations, yet, I haven’t travelled from my own home. For me, there is something important to this. When we ask ourselves could this meeting have been an email, we should also say could we have included more colleagues if this conference had been online. 

Sure, it is not the same as attending a conference in person, you have to bring your own biscuits for a start, but are there more positives to our new ways of professional learning. Does opening our conversation to a wider group mean that actually we will be more representative of people who wish to be involved? Will working more online enable colleagues who are parents, carers, geographically more remote, to participate more in conversations and collaborations? Will collaborations that bring new and rich understanding to professional learning occur? Can we gain more from just saying we do not need to travel for this, lets conference online?

I am hopeful that we continue using online platforms to share and collaborate. I for one, do not mind providing my own biscuits, as professional learning online means I get to speak to a wider group of colleagues, attend more events and all of those things help me learn more.