2 Things Schools Have Learned from Homeschooling

Just over a month ago, we first mentioned how the coronavirus caused schools to start homeschooling in places like Hong Kong. Today, schools in more than 100 countries are closed, impacting the education of over 1 billion students.

With school doors shut, the education community has been forced to try new things. In the process, Andreas Schleicher, the Director of Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, shared a couple key concepts schools have learned. Most importantly, he said schools need to stop being “knowledge delivery systems” and give teachers more control over what they teach.

“I meet many people who say we cannot give teachers and education leaders greater autonomy because they lack the capacity and expertise to deliver on it,” Schleicher told the World Economic Forum, “but those asked only to reheat pre-cooked hamburgers are unlikely to become master chefs.”

Schleicher added that this era of homeschooling proves that technology should play a greater role in everyday education.

“Technology cannot just change methods of teaching and learning, it can also elevate the role of teachers from imparting received knowledge towards working as co-creators of knowledge,” he said.