Back to School with John Hattie: What Covid Is Teaching Us About Next Steps

By Cathy Gassenheimer
Executive Vice President
Alabama Best Practices Center

Now that we’ve had a summer break, let’s take a moment to look back at the past school year and identify what we’ve learned. We will likely have some shaky weeks ahead as the nation copes with the Delta wave, but let’s remember how much we’ve grown already from our trial by fire.

Without question, this coming school year will be a critical time to ensure that all students are on track for success. The months of school between March 2020 and May 2021 stretched us as educators, students, and parents – sometimes to the breaking point. At the same time, teachers learned new ways of teaching and parents gained greater appreciation for the work of all the people who look after their children while they’re at school.

What John Hattie Can Tell Us

John Hattie, recognized for his decades of studies about effective teaching practice, shared his take on the silver linings of the pandemic in a recent Educational Leadership article. (Available to ASCD members and others who take advantage of the monthly quota of free articles.) Hattie suggests three early learnings from the Covid experience thus far:

1. Educators led the charge

After the initial shock of school closures, educators led the way in reaching students in new and different ways. Words like “Zoom, “Google Meet,” “Schoology,” and “Flipgrid” were added to most educators’ lexicon. And, according to Hattie, educators rose to the occasion:

…educators found ways to engage their students, to deal with a myriad of new logistical and instructional issues, and to manage enormous workloads. Leaders were more likely to listen to their teachers, build collaborative teams to resolve issues, and be open to learning conversations (Jensen, 2020).

2. Independent learners – and empowered teachers – succeeded

Unfortunately, not every teacher changed their practice, and many students faced long hours sitting in front of the computer listening to live or tape-recorded lectures. Other students benefited from teachers who tried new things to reach students – both academically and emotionally. Here is Hattie’s take:

● Teachers who talked a lot in class, asked questions that required less-than-three-word responses, and focused myopically on the facts and content had trouble engaging learners remotely.

● However, teachers who had taught their students skills in self-regulation, engaged in gradual release of teacher responsibility, and focused on both content and deep learning had better outcomes.

● So there is a need to focus on how teachers successfully modified and structured their lessons to be more student-centered during the pandemic – and we must bring those ideas back to the regular classroom. We can’t revert to teacher-dominated talking and questioning.

3. Successes outweighed the losses

Based on the preliminary data, Hattie believes that educators are positioned to move forward successfully in the school year ahead:

Despite drops in areas like writing, educators have made headway in several areas:

They built better connections with parents in helping them learn to focus on the language of learning and not simply having their child get it right (Jensen, 2020);

Many students learned to be efficient (completing their schoolwork in less time) as well as effective; and

Teachers have become so much more adept at using technologies (Hood, 2020). 

Permanent Shifts Are Needed – Think ‘Triage’

To ensure that these successes are sustained, Hattie suggests teachers move from being “fact engines” to a role more like physicians. He uses the metaphor of the emergency room to describe the need for teacher to “triage,” or assess each student, identifying those learners who need the most support by:

  • Listening to students’ thinking and encouraging dialogue and questioning;
  • Turning struggles into successes by helping students identify the next step needed for success;
  • Paying attention to the social-and-emotional needs as well as the academic needs of each student;
  • Privileging collaboration by enabling students to engage with each other as they learn together;
  • Helping students develop self-regulation skills, a tool needed not only for success in school, but in life.

Whatever Comes Next, We’re Moving Ahead

The stance most educators take in the months to come will determine whether students rebound from pandemic-related issues. Paying attention to Hattie’s notes, research findings and suggested strategies will help ensure that the hard work of the past year and a half was not for naught.


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