What appears to be a mad rush to gather teaching resources that can be administered remotely or in a blended model of instruction before the start of a new school year may be an avoidance strategy for what kinds of needs have to be met before any effective learning in any environment can take place. A masters classmate and myself decided to record a podcast on mental health for teachers to gain some perspective on a return to school during COVID-19.

The process of doing that and editing the transcription of the audio opened my eyes and heart further to the need to rebuild our school communities ahead of teaching traditional, subject-centred curriculum. To be clear, the BC Curriculum rests upon three Core Competencies, one of which is building a Personal & Social competency. Without this one, the other two, namely Communication and Thinking have no context or purpose. That is why my classmate and I went to focus on mental health and wellness resources as our contribution to the Remote Teaching Resources blog site.

Putting the traditional idea of curriculum (the “what to teach” and the “how to teach it”) in its rightful place behind the need for safety, community, belonging, confidence, and self-esteem has been made more apparent (to borrow a phrase from my classmate) “in the stark light of COVID-19.” It would be much more difficult if we were stuck in the rigid ways of teaching subjects toward exams in the narrower realm of education’s past. As teachers of students, it is a simpler ask to fulfill, as our awareness of what it takes to learn continues to improve. The BC Curriculum recognizes in its structure and framework this hierarchy of putting the student in the forefront of curriculum and its development, ensuring their belonging to their own learning paths.

I ‘d like to thank all of my classmates and my instructors in the Technology in Education masters cohort and in particular Lawrence Weston for making my July 2020 a memorable part of my learning journey.