The covid pandemic has had a major impact on students. Performance is declining, the group of students has become much more diverse and teachers have to make more of an effort to motivate them. According to Bruno Oldeboom, this has consequences for teaching.
The effects of the covid pandemic are reverberating in higher education. Students who were in HAVO (senior general secondary school) year 3 or 4 when covid broke out are now in the second or third year of their new studies. According to Bruno Oldeboom, we are dealing with a group that requires extra attention:
‘You see, roughly speaking, that three groups require special attention. There is an extrovert group of students who experienced a lack of stimuli during that period. They are now compensating for that and that manifests itself in, among other things, annoying behavior in the classroom. They feel a kind of vacuum, which they are struggling with. For example, I notice that with this type of student, things like social media or bitcoins arouse a lot of interest, which sometimes causes the importance of education and teachers to fade into the background.’
‘Then there is also a group, I would say the group that Jolien Dopmeijer is worried about, of students who have actually fallen silent due to the isolation during the covid period, have become depressed. They no longer see the point of studying, or sometimes even of life. And now they have a great need for a sense of belonging.
Thirdly, there is of course a large ‘middle group’ that has weathered the pandemic reasonably well. But they also need support.’
But is that really new? You can make such a division at any time….
‘The extremes were already there, but they have become more visible in recent years. During the pandemic, students have been floating in a kind of swamp, socially-emotionally and cognitively. Those online lessons … that did not do pupils and students any good. And after the pandemic you saw that teachers – understandably – wanted to pick up the thread as quickly as possible. But that knowledge did not end up on a solid foundation and sank into that swamp. Secondary school students may have passed tests and exams, but often no longer know what they learned in those years. They are now entering higher education with a disadvantage, and have to be “pulled up” as quickly as possible.’
That used to be different?
‘I sometimes say: “Since covid, it is important to approach first-year students as adults, while their behavior is sometimes more similar to that of havo-4 students. It is of course necessary for teachers with good education to help students as quickly as possible to get back to the desired level.” But that has become a lot more difficult in the last two years. The teacher has to be strict and assertive for the aforementioned extrovert target group in the classroom – but that actually scares off the introvert group. Those introvert students need an empathetic response – but if the teacher reacts like that, the extrovert group can interpret that as extra play room.’
The pandemic has changed students, so education must change too?
‘The social-emotional and cognitive differences between students seem to have increased after the pandemic. And that puts pressure on the traditional way of teaching. This means that teachers can no longer make do with the trusty PowerPoint and a good story. Questions such as: what affects this target group, what do students need, what does the field require of future professionals, how do you get students thinking, how do you ensure that students are motivated to learn and how do you get students talking to each other? This requires teachers to puzzle didactically in 2024 and that is certainly no easy task.’
A nice task for teacher trainers, like you….
‘Yes, teacher trainers have the task of preparing future teachers for this. I notice from the questions I get that the need of teachers to learn about this is increasing. I also have the feeling that teams are consulting each other about this more often, and that the Corporate Academy is responding to this. But whether that is enough…’
Does this greater diversity within the student body mean that we should say goodbye to classroom education?
‘Classroom education comes in many shapes and sizes. Teachers don’t have to say goodbye to that. But if teachers opt for the traditional lecture, ineffectiveness lurks, especially for less involved students. And so … keep the lecture short and ensure that students get to work together. I would like to call on teachers to work on a wide range of working methods to use in class. As a teacher, you must be very aware that there is a group of students who are easily distracted.’
Also because of the iPhone of course, and social media.
‘I am in favor of a ban on phones in the classroom – also in higher education, so also here at Windesheim. Because phones are too distracting and lower learning performance.’
Responding to the personal needs of students is of course great, but in the meantime there is a demand from society to deliver well-trained professionals. Dangerous shortages are looming in many sectors of the labour market. How are we going to combine that?
‘That is certainly a problem. We see a tendency in education to personalize and flexibilize the educational offer: “your passion and individual interest are the main focus, we will fine-tune that”. In principle, that tendency has a good intention: teachers try to take into account differences between students. But we have reached the limits of that ideology and the covid pandemic has sharpened that aim. I also see the realization sinking in in vocational training courses and colleges that if we only meet individual needs and focus on maximum flexibilization, we do not meet societal needs.’
And so all personal questions and social wishes come together in the person of the teacher…
‘For me, teachers are the hidden heroes. Being a teacher is often thankless, but incredibly important work. I think we can tackle the problems in education, but we have to put our heads together and strengthen each other.’
Can you be a little more specific?
‘We must continuously engage in dialogue about the quality of our work and the teams or MT must establish clear lines of professionalization so that teachers can really work meaningfully on the quality of lessons over a number of years.’
Bruno Oldeboom is a head lecturer in didactics & teacher training, affiliated with the Research Centre of the Human Movement & Education division.
Text: Marcel Hulspas
Photos: Stefan Lucassen
