The Impact of Lockdown on Children's Learning

The Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 changed education in the way we know it, across the world. In the UK, Schools closed for formal teaching on Friday 20th March. Parents were told to keep their children at home as school buildings became primarily child care facilities for children of key-workers. Overnight, formal education was taken into homes. Parents became teachers. Kitchen tables became desks, and uniforms remained folded in drawers. Some learners received workbooks, some received emails and others discovered new software to join virtual classes. Even for those still walking through the doors of their school, everything was different.

Teaching staff across the country worked tirelessly to ensure children were equipped with content to continue learning, yet the impact of the situation on learners is undeniable. As many parents began to juggle lockdown life, home working and educating their children, opportunities for learning, in particular bespoke teaching, were lost.

As we entered the Autumn and schools returned, there was hope for many that things were returning to normal. What we couldn’t have predicted and what we certainly couldn’t prepare for was further lockdowns, school closures and entire year groups being kept at home in isolation for two weeks due to a single positive case. We’re now stuck in this place of normalized school based learning and re-entering lockdown, where learning is split between the classroom and home and for those not experiencing this yet, it could change any day. As a result of this, any impact the first lockdown in the Spring/Summer had on learners is continued, extended and re-enforced. However, there are ways to counteract the negative impact lockdown had/is having on learning.

What is our solution for addressing and counteracting the impact of lockdown on children’s learning? Individual tutoring. This allows for the approach to teaching to be tailored to the child’s needs and interests, increasing engagement in activities and beginning to reignite a passion for learning. Here at Nudge Education, we promote bespoke interventions and individualized approaches for those needing it most. We feel the most significant approach to counteracting any negative impact of learning is through the use of individual tutoring where the learner is at the center of every decision. Individual tutoring provides educators a valuable opportunity to gain a clear understanding of the learner, allowing them to tailor education to their strengths and explore alternative approaches to address areas of weakness. Focusing on an individual’s strengths allows the learner to begin to rebuild their relationship with learning and gain confidence in their abilities. With greater confidence towards learning as a whole, more time can be spent exploring areas of weakness without continuation of negative impacts. An exploration of areas of weakness, achievable only through individual tutoring where attention is solely placed on the individual, can reframe topics and approaches to learning in order to align them with the individuals strengths and interests, therefore further increasing self-confidence and counteracting negative impacts as a result of lockdown.

It isn’t all about content and approach to learning though. Where possible, it is also important to consider the environment in which learning takes place. For learners who struggled to adapt to home learning and were most impacted by lockdown, taking a moment to rethink the environment may help counteract some of the negative effects. Is the space busy, cluttered, noisy or over-stimulating? There can be a lot of distractions in the home environment that despite best intentions, will result in lost learning.

As we move into the Winter season still filled with unknowns, it becomes more important than ever to focus on the needs of each individual in order for them to maintain a healthy and positive relationship with education and their future learning. If it is possible to take a few minutes for exercise, movement and fresh air, do so. They can have a significant impact on everyone.