In the post pandemic ‘New normal’ era, undoubtedly everything is going to change forever.  Amongst them, education is of utmost importance as it would shape the future of the world. But how? The tone was set by the panel discussion organized by Newmark J-School for their fellows prior to the EWA National seminar which helped structure my line of thinking as a journalist.

The first seminar I chose to attend was ‘A Conversation with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’ because I was curious to know the Govts’ upcoming plans for education policy.

While outlining the government’s efforts to help schools and students recover from the pandemic, Cardona said that to hit the reset button on things, they want to see more of ‘natural authentic engagement of families.’ Which triggered the immediate thought in my mind that – for proper ‘family engagement’, it’s very crucial to know the cultural background of families in America because it’s a country of immigrants. The upbringing of kids in an Indian family, for example, is totally different from that of an American family. So, bridging the cultural gap would be a key factor for this ‘natural authentic engagement’, isn’t it? I asked Sec Cardona that question; and his answer was – ‘Thank you for that question because it really highlights how our reopening efforts are not just about turning on the lights, it’s not just about making sure we have enough PPE. We have to be trained or learn the cultural norms of different places, then we have to do that in order to serve the students. So, Yes, that’s exactly what it means. It means that in communities that have high concentrations of cultural norms, it’s our responsibility and our privilege as educators to learn those norms, to help engage those families in ways that they’re comfortable, so that their students can be successful.”

One of the next sessions I attended which related to the same context was “Family Engagement in a Post-COVID Era.” Experts explored how the role of families in education may shift as the pandemic changed the relationship of parents to their children’s learning, and ways in which schools and others can support the change; but as we came out of that session, many of the questions remained unanswered. I would love to hear more about research and new thinking in this space, which I am sure will emerge slowly.

“What Pandemic-Driven Changes in Education Will Last, and Why?” – was one more session I attended, as I was trying to gather answers about the future of international students from countries severely hit by COVID like India and Brazil. In this session as well, total clarity did not emerge which is understandable at this stage as the education fraternity is trying their best to cater to the new norm.

As a representative of ethnic media, I would definitely try to explore the unanswered questions further for the community that I serve with the information and understanding I gathered from the EWA national seminar.