ACTs Panel Discussion provided deeper insights into designing a post-pandemic learning environment

Asian College of Teachers hosted an enlightening panel discussion on ‘Designing post-pandemic classrooms for learners’ on 17th July, 2021. The panel comprised of experts from the field of education like Dr Jayshree Nair (Head of Academics, Futuristic Edu Initiatives), Dr Mala (Dasgupta) Sengupta (Edupreneur & Founder-CEO - Anubhav Institution), Mr. Gopal Dutta (Principal, Gyan Da International School, Nepal), Ms. Celeste B Jacques (Retired Deputy Principal, International School, Thailand) and Mr. Gaurav Poddar (Co-founder and Curriculum Director, Small Wonders Preschool), who shared valuable and top-notch ideas and views with the participants.

The discussion started with Ms. Celeste providing an insight into designing a post-pandemic curriculum and what necessary measures are to be taken to create a safe classroom environment that will enhance learning outcomes. Speaking from her experience of teaching in Thailand, Ms. Celeste said that putting proper guidelines into place is also crucial. The discussion gathered pace with Mr. Gopal Dutta providing a sneak peek into the most crucial stage while developing a curriculum for post-pandemic classrooms, which is improvisation and this needs to be done without compromising on the learning outcomes. He also stated that the entire teaching-learning sector can be divided into two categories, before pandemic and after pandemic, as the approach and everything is pretty much different with both the ‘eras’. Speaking of the ‘post pandemic era’, Dr Jayshree Nair opined that the future would hold an advantage for those with technological skills as there is a steady replacement of man over technology. There would be a noticeable drift in the kind of skill-sets that the future would necessitate. Agreeing to that, Mr. Gaurav Poddar stated that the biggest challenge was training the teachers and making the transition in learning to make education appealing for young learners, without compromising on the outcomes. He also specified that the post-pandemic transitions for children are going to be a whole new world for them. The session progressed with Dr Mala (Dasgupta) Sengupta putting an emphasis on the holistic development of learners which is something not to be missed while developing a future classroom.

Approaching the end of the discussion, the session saw enthusiastic participation from the audience as they actively took part in activities and Q&A sessions with several queries directed at the guest speakers, to which the speakers were more than delighted to throw light on to broaden the participants’ horizon with ideas and knowledge regarding designing a safe and healthy post-pandemic classroom conducive of learning. It was indeed an informative session and a great learning experience for all the participants.