Virtual Learning

Virtual learning has thrown students, teachers and parents a serious curve. As some districts approach a year out of the classroom, students, some teachers and parents are angry and are going as far as suing districts to force them to reopen. Many parents are concerned their children aren’t learning. Other parents work full-time and need the inherent care and supervision that comes with in-school learning. Both are sound reasons to get schools opened safely as soon as possible.

In an online interview, comedian Sherrie Shepard was outspoken about her reasons schools should be promptly reopened.

When asked about her child’s well-being and virtual learning, Shepard stated she didn’t even know if her son was in school anymore. Her tongue-in-cheek remark revealed her level of engagement with her son’s learning.

Shepard bemoaned the emails from teachers” every other day” adding that she stopped responding to her son’s teachers altogether. She spoke of being overwhelmed with her son’s missing assignments, despite the fact he’s “in front of the computer all day”, the requests for her to download materials, and a myriad of other tasks she’s been asked to complete related to her son’s learning. “I didn’t sign on for this! I didn’t sign on to be a home school teacher!” added a clearly exasperated Shepard. Shepard’s rant continued, adding the duties of being a mother, cooking meals (she doesn’t like to cook), cleaning up behind her dog and her unmet intimate needs have combined to cause her to push for in-school learning.

A single parent, Shepard is much more fortunate than many parents of virtual learners. Her $2 million per year salary enables her to access support and help should she choose to seek it. It also seems that perhaps her priorities are askew. Out of all the her inconveniences she complained about, her son’s education was the only one that could not be bought or replaced. Her $10 million net worth could solve every problem she shared except her son’s learning.

I walked away from her interview feeling sad for her son and very frustrated at her. Her son is well able to view her interview and hear all that she complained about. How might he feel hearing how his mother loathed his virtual learning so much she completely disengaged from the process?

Unfortunately, there are many parents who willingly abdicate their parental responsibility in their children’s learning to teachers. This virtual learning experience should reinforce to Shepard the need to engage and support her son’s teachers as they serve her son. If she didn’t have the stamina to support her son’s learning on the home front, is it fair for her to expect his teachers to do it without her in school? Effective teaching and learning has always been and will always be a team effort. The difficulty brought on by COVID19 doesn’t change that. Teaching and learning this season may be more work, but is still a team effort.

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