Mark Hansen, July 2020
Introduction
Laureate Professor Dr John Hattie has described the recent period as “the greatest un-natural experiment we’ve ever seen in education” (ABC, 2020) Never before has a school culture had to respond in such an agile fashion. “One of the things about a crisis is it does often spur creative problem solving, innovations and new experiments at an (extraordinary) level (Breakspear, 2020)
In order to inform these innovations and respond quickly to the situation, timely, efficient and easily collatable data has been required on a grand scale. The benefits of surveying staff and parents can often be overlooked. This was highlighted in a study by Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, who surveyed the customers of 362 companies and found that whilst the companies believed the experience they were providing was superior, only 8% of customers rated them this way. “With such a disparity, prospects for improvement are small. But the need is urgent” (Meyer & Schwager, 2007)
Utilising Survey Monkey (SurveyMonkey, 2020) over this period, our school requested feedback from key stakeholders. This article gives some examples and collated responses.
Parent Surveys
When “Learning at Home” was first announced, the following survey questions were sent to all parents:
1. What year level is your child/children in? (please select all necessary boxes if you have more than 1 child)
2. Please tick the best way to deliver and respond to student learning in your family.
3. How many hours a day do you anticipate you can actively supervise your child's learning?
4. Something else regarding 'learning from home' that I'd like to mention is: (optional)
(Figure 1: Year Level Responses)
(Figure 2: Method of resource delivery)
(Figure 3: Hours per day)
(Table 1: Q4- Something else I’d like to mention)
These were followed up with weekly surveys as follows:
List your child/children's name
What year level/s are your children in?
On a scale of 0-100, how happy are you with the 'learning at home' resources this week?
How has the contact from teachers been this week?
What has been the biggest success?
What has been the biggest challenge?
What is your child’s “Strive for Five” behaviour level?
Anything else?
(Responses below)
(Figure 4: ‘Happiness’ continua parent feedback)
(Figure 5: Teacher contact feedback)
(Figure 6: Parent successes)
(Figure 7: Parent challenges)
Teacher Surveys
Some have considered that this crisis has acted as a ‘disruptor’ for education in the way Airbnb did for hotels, or uber did for the transport industry. With this in mind, we asked our teachers, how they would ‘re-engineer’ schools. In addition to the “Pulse” surveys teachers complete each week as part of “High-Performance Teams” work (Stebbins, 2020), teachers completed the following surveys in year level groups:
At a school level, what are some things you're craving to get 'back to normal'?
At a school level, what are some things you've learnt in the last few weeks?
What school routines are you keen to reconsider/change as we enter the 'new normal'?
What is ONE THING about our school that you wish we could change as we head into this 'new normal'?
What is ONE THING about ALL SCHOOLS that you wish we could change as we head into this 'new normal'?
Responses are collated in the following table (sorted top to bottom by number of mentions):
(Table 2: Teacher Feedback)
The responses to the parent surveys provided our school with valuable input from our partners and enabled us to respond in an agile manner and troubleshoot any aforementioned issues. There were several key learnings for which we were grateful:
1. Prior to the surveys, we had initially overestimated the number of parents who would prefer digital access
2. Prior to the surveys, we were unaware of some of the challenges that would be confronting parents of children ‘learning at home’.
3. Parents found that time constraints were a factor and this enabled us to adjust the amount of work that went home
4. We believed initially that we may be overwhelming parents with the amount of connection we were initiating, but the surveys proved we were on track.
Our parents were very happy with the “Learning at Home” resources, giving an 81% rating, which improved over the weeks of the “learning at home” period. With respect to the class dojo communication between teachers/parents 96% rated that we had the perfect amount of communication. This satisfaction rating also improved throughout the period. Although these surveys were extremely relevant during the “Learning at Home” period, it is felt that more and more parent/community connections are becoming digital. Whilst our preference is, and always will be physical connections where possible, these surveys provide us with confidential information which helps drive our decision-making.
From a teacher level, the key finding was that teachers thrive when routines and teamwork are in place but they are allowed some autonomy. As Tony Robbins has stated: “The paradox is this: We need both certainty and uncertainty.
We all want more certainty so we can break through fear and steer our lives toward our destiny. Certainty is the emotion that allows us to accomplish what once seemed impossible. Our capacity to achieve, lead and serve is expanded by it, and it is a resource we can access in a moment. At the same time, when you think about the opposite of certainty – uncertainty – you may think it simply produces fear, worry and doubt. However, we know the emotion of uncertainty unlocks surprise and fun in our lives and allows us to experience brand new feelings, thoughts, beliefs and strategies.” (Robbins, 2020)
Conclusion
The Covid-19 crisis impacted schools in an unprecedented fashion, and called for a response above and beyond the usual. The parent surveys which guided our schools response in the uncertainty in the weeks following ensured parent-school connection remained at the forefront. The pandemic forced our hand to communicate with parents in new ways and the learning we have taken is that a quick survey to parents can provide valuable information. This is something we will continue into the future and something we hope other schools can investigate also. We also intend to work with our teachers to ensure the learnings we had in this period inform future practise.
References
ABC. (2020). Menzies research exposes 'fractured' education system. Retrieved 19 June 2020, from https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/menzies-research-exposes-fractured-education-system/12361784
Breakspear, S. (2020). New Normal. Retrieved 19 June 2020, from https://qeli.cmail19.com/t/d-l-mkttrit-jljyykjuld-j/
Meyer, C., & Schwager, A. (2007). Understanding Customer Experience. Retrieved 19 June 2020, from https://hbr.org/2007/02/understanding-customer-experience
Robbins, T. (2020). Certainty in uncertain times | Dealing with uncertainty. Retrieved 26 July 2020, from https://www.tonyrobbins.com/mind-meaning/certainty-uncertain-times/
Stebbins, D. (2020). Retrieved 19 June 2020, from https://www.teampulseprograms.com/
SurveyMonkey: The World’s Most Popular Free Online Survey Tool. (2020). Retrieved 19 June 2020, from https://www.surveymonkey.com/
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