This month on 5th we will be celebrating Teachers Day in an unusual way. Due to strategies adopted to prevent COVID-19 disease transmission, (at least till 31st August), schools are closed. So, it is possible that Teacher and Student may not be able to greet each other (in person). Such unprecedented situation is causing anxiety and distress among students, all of which are natural psychological responses to the randomly changing condition. But more important and worrisome is the adverse behavioral and psychological changes that are coming in children and students due to restricted social interaction. Neglecting this, however we have focused our effort and deciding policy direction only on protection of physical health and mitigating economic distress. We must understand adults can recoup economic damage by extra work but if young student’s temperament is damaged it will be a permanent loss. Adverse effects and loss due to it will be far reaching than physical and economic one and spill over economic progress in the long run. Rapidly expanding mass hysteria and panic regarding COVID-19 may beget enduring psychological problems in students which could potentially be even more detrimental in the long run than the virus itself. Like individual losses (smell and test) due to Covid19, if Entrepreneurship or Risk-taking capacity is also lost in students (future citizen), can we hope to grow economically any time near future? To put in short, so far debate is between present “Live and Livelihood “, but it is time to debate which is more dangerous Covid19 or Fear of Covid19 for country’s future.
However on the other
hand, under Covid19 mitigating strategies, social distancing is affecting how
much parents wanting or allowing children to socialize with others, what they
desire in children, and they are preferencing for more
conventional thinking over openness to new experiences. Spending
time with others is beneficial to mental and physical health but is restricted
(even in people's closest, most established relationships) when there is a risk
of infectious disease. Now people
evaluate strangers more negatively and have heightened tendencies to avoid
them. This tendency can be passed
down to offspring. Living during a period with a high risk of
infection is adversely shaping how children view themselves in
relation to their friends and community and their risk-taking attitude.
The longer the corona virus threat lingers, the more these changes may reflect
not just changes in momentary behaviors, but changes to be more enduring
aspects of children's personalities. The psychosocial risks (mental health impacts) for children in
this situation are apparent, as they are out of touch with schools, classmates, and playmates, and deprived of physical activities
and social activities.
Mass fear of COVID-19, rightly termed as “corona-phobia”,
is generated due to perceived risk of acquiring the infection etc. and
generating negative psychological responses and avoidance reaction among
students and common people. But more so, psychological distress
levels have been influenced by the huge amount of (mis)information at the
fingertips coming and shared via social media. Distrust towards others
in terms of disease spread and perceived inefficiency of the government and
healthcare services to combat the disease is the focus of this media’s
messages. The director-general of WHO has also referred
this to “corona virus infodemic”
which is breeding fright and panic by laying out unchecked mind-boggling
rumors, flamboyant news propaganda and sensationalism. Since sensationally
charged and appalling contents draw the most attention and garner the most
developments in social media, several users pretend COVID-19 symptoms to
gain easy popularity and sowed mass confusion and panic. Many
bloggers, groups or personal users in YouTube, WhatsApp, etc. started the
business of making a profit of COVID-19’s popularity in many impulsive and unpredictable
courses of action. The deluge of conflicting
information, misinformation and manipulated information on social media should
be recognized as a global public-health threat” and to
counter it honest transparent communication should be ensured so people/students
do not seek information from unreliable alternative sources and thus spread
rumors. A comprehensive “information diet”-based
approach is urgently needed to be delivered through traditional/online media
after receiving proper training by health information professionals.
For students, teacher can and should take this role (while in online session
too) on themselves to protect soft mind of students. Circumstances also demand
that teacher teach students to navigate through all misinformation and fake
news that infest the media landscape today. Like the legendary “Hamsa” our
student must be able to assimilate and absorb and discard the lies.
Apart from stress etc., the side effect of above (misinformation)
is that, at a few places and in a few communities, the COVID-19 outbreak has
given rise to stigmatizing the victim. Resulting in factors like fear
of isolation, racism, discrimination, and marginalization with all its social
and economic ramifications. A stigmatized community tends to seek
medical care late (and sometime privately outside the glare of public scrutiny)
and hide important medical and travel history, increasing the risk
of community transmission. In order to prevent discrimination and stigma around
COVID-19 among students’ teachers have to play an
integral role during and after the pandemic. Religious misbelieve;
disbelief and communal disharmony are major issues which may tarnish all the
great efforts taken against the pandemic in India. The teacher needs to be alert and make
student alert about such misconceptions to develop themselves a healthy
citizen. The fact is along with Covid19 immunization, we need to take “mind/thought
immunization” program too.
Teacher must also
emphasis that hard statistics reveal that approximately only 5 to 10 % of the
tested people, report positive for Covid19. Further, about 80% of positive
cases recover from the disease without any serious complications and only 2.8 %
(in India) of closed cases are fatal (Half of these above 60 years of
age). So far in India approximately 60000 people have died due to
Covid19; many of them had co morbidity, but a nation of 140 cr. is held hostage
to fear and anxiety. As said early, its
impact will be particularly severe on infants and child who are not getting
proper environment for growth and learning at crucial phase of their life.
Thus, ( at the cost of repetition) if not managed properly, the effects of the corona virus pandemic will be “imprinted on
the personality of our children (and
nation) for a very long time. How would COVID-19 shape young people's personalities –
and into what? Young people's mind’s shape, and are shaped by, their life
circumstances. Human being a Social Animal is born into
this world ready to deal with basic problems – forming close relationships,
maintaining status in groups, finding friends and many more activities based on
group interaction. Situation of Covid19 is challenging all this and a
few things (said above and below) need to be avoided and others need to be
managed to minimize the social and psychological cost of pandemic.
Coming back to teacher’s role as educator, corona virus-related
disruption has given time to rethink about the sector. Technology has stepped in
and will continue to play a key role in educating future generations and the
role of the educator is changing too. All of us must rethink how we
educate, and question what we need to teach and what we are preparing our
students for. Most students in educational institutions today are from
Generation Z, a generation that has grown up in a truly globalized world. They
are likely to be reflecting on their education as a result of a truly
global pandemic, with many facing cancelled exams, sporting events
and even graduation. This generation is defined by technology, where the terms
FOBA (Fear of Being Alone) and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) express their
expectation of instant communication and feedback (that includes from parents
and educators) done through apps like Instant Messenger, Snapchat and WhatsApp
and being amplified with the current remote learning. Thus
“Modern
learning cannot be confined to the classroom, and it is more important than
ever that teacher empower themselves to continuously guide and nurture students
during this difficult time,” We will see
a shift where schools will create a foundation of inclusive, flexible spaces
that will enable students to learn beyond walls.” Students can be
empowered to learn for themselves in flexible, often collaborative ways, both
inside and outside classrooms at their own pace. Nonetheless,
bricks-and-mortar schools will play a valuable role in the future. For
instance, a school is a safe place for children to learn social skills while
their parents are at work.
As said above the COVID-19 crisis has changed student’s
world and global outlook. So, it may also teach us about how education needs to
change to be able to better prepare our young learners for what the future
might hold. These changes may include: 1. Educating citizens in an
interconnected world. COVID-19 is a pandemic that illustrated how globally
interconnected we are – there is no longer such a thing as isolated issues and
actions. 2. The notion of an educator as the knowledge-holder who imparts
wisdom to their pupils is no longer fit for the purpose of a 21st-century
education. This may mean that the role of educators will need to move towards
facilitating young people’s development as contributing members of society.
3. Teaching life skills needed for the future. In this ever-changing global
environment, young people require resilience and adaptability – skills that are
proving to be essential to navigate effectively through this pandemic.
To conclude, the 21st century is already the era of emerging
pandemic of mental illnesses. Thus, psychological and social preparedness of
this pandemic carries global importance. Teachers
must appreciate the psychosocial morbidities of this pandemic and assess the
burden, fatalities and associated consequences on students. To deal with new challenges posed by the
Covid19, student must be encouraged to develop a strong emotional quotient to
cope with the unprecedented situation. Student must be taught to develop a
strong emotional quotient and the ability to weather ups and downs in life.
Students must be encouraged to practice Yoga to improve their physical, mental
and spiritual health improves concentration levels and inculcates discipline. Stigma and blame targeted at communities affected by the
outbreak may hinder relationships among students, instigating further unrest. Teachers must feel that it is their duty to
create a responsible class of citizens- discerning and humane- by encouraging
the young to develop empathy. Students should be
trained to use Social media in good
sense, to educate students on transmission dynamics, symptoms of disease, and
time when exact medical consultations are needed. Thus,
this year when student meets or start attending class in near future, teacher
will have to cover extra mile to remove all misconception, fear and to
instill confidence in students. Remember great teachers
are also model learners … and that can include learning about new technology,
which they can learn with the kids. “A teacher should be an expert in learning and
demonstrate the habits of mind that require great learning. They should be a
model on these things for their students.”
“The best innovation that inspires most young people is the teacher.”
In this regard Gyan Vigyan Sarita’s
effort (through on line class room and e bulletin), to transform
Teacher-Student relationship, (which is drifting fast on a commercial track),
to गुरु-शिष्य tradition, professional in approach
yet spiritual in essence is praise worthy and worth emulation and
spreading.
Ideally Social
Distancing should have been named or understood as Physical Distancing. Instead
of Fear people should have been advised to adopt caution. And
Lastly instead of Stigma, the disease should have evoked Empathy. The
COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown us how a “virus” can negatively impact our
lives even in the 21st century and simultaneously made us realize that the
greatest assets of mankind are health, peace, love, solidarity, ingenuity, and
knowledge. Most importantly, it
is our hope that for Generation Z, Alpha and the generations to come, these
experiences of isolation and remote learning away from their peers, teachers
and classrooms will serve as a cautious reminder of the importance of our human
need for face-to-face social interaction.
