No one who has been at the beginning of last week’s course, in my case in children and elementary school, can doubt that there is no possibility of replacing classroom education. And it's not for us or for our capabilities, the credit is for the students.
They've come wanting to see us, to talk, to scream, to play together, to enjoy the company, and they run and laugh, and what they want me to say, I'm scared to think that somebody can replace it with distance education. Mutual learning, among equals, affective, communicative, relational..., as well as exciting, is essential.
I am concerned that the masks that distort our smile have normalized – now we only smile with our eyes –. We reaffirm the usual slogans: to play without pain, to make sure that our game is a game for others, to help each other and
"A week in class and a positive, a confined elementary class and, for my part, a lot of sadness and anger."
Cooperation. All these slogans become meaningless if the group disappears and the individual becomes isolated.
On 15 I went on strike for many reasons, among others, because one of my students is in lockdown. He was delighted to play with his friends, but his happiness has lasted no more than a week.
Her guardian, also confined, told me on Friday, as a prophecy. -If I had the reinforcement I would take them to the park, they've been locked up too long and we don't know what's going to happen from now on.
This has only just begun. A week in class and a positive, a class of confined elementary school and, for my part, a lot of sadness and anger.
We don't want more masks and hydroalcoholic gels, we want teachers, among other things, to reduce the ratio of students and be able to go outside to study with nature and nature.
We do not want confinement, we want resources to prevent the suffering caused by the quarantine of these students after a lockdown. We want them at the ikastola, but in a joyful and secure way. Once again, we want to put life and care at the centre and for that we need human resources. This is the subject of Denmark: ratios have been reduced to 10 and public spaces have been increased (we have parks, municipal centres, sports clubs...). This requires 6,000 teachers that we have not seen, according to the calculations of the unions.
This time we do not want, once again, the Basque Government’s Department of Education to wash its hands. Our mental health is at stake, this is very serious.
* Marta Abiega is an educator of Karmelo Ikastola