A Peek into Post-COVID primary and secondary education

A visionary in academics believes that once we’re on the other side of COVID-19, the public will likely see major changes in the “factory model” of primary and secondary education.

Dr. John Burkey, former superintendent at Huntley Community School District 158, is excited about the future of education and believes COVID is going to accelerate the changes.

“Our whole education system hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years. Students go to school for about 175 days a year for six or seven hours a day and that has been the model since the early 1900s or even late 1800s,” Burkey said.

He reflected on the history of education explaining that schools were intending to produce students that would be good factory workers because that’s what the economy needed in the first part of the 20th Century.

“What students do out in the world today is radically different from what was needed 100 years ago and yet, up until very recently, our schools for the most part haven’t changed that factory model,” Burkey said.

Fast forward from the factory model of 100 years ago to 2020 and the COVID pandemic.

Burkey knows teachers and administrators have experienced a very rough ride that has slowed down the integration of a more flexible system of education.

“In many cases, schools are forced to operate with a complete remote learning program,” Burkey said.

The flexibility has disappeared that might allow for students to be in school for science lab class and for other courses students might study from home on their own. The teachers would set up the schedule.

Burkey recognizes that school administrators and teachers are readapting day-to day learning methods because of COVID concerns and they are working harder than ever on reimagining how to teach effectively. However, he notes that education has needed to change for a long time.

“We will have a more flexible, better education system and hopefully we’ll finally leave the factory model of education behind us,” Burkey said. Dan Armstrong, director of Communications and Public Engagement for Huntley Community School District 158, described Burkey in the time he served District 158 as a visionary leading the school district toward “blended learning.” In 2010, Burkey and his team at District 158 started with small steps developing an educational system of blending in-person learning with online and digital instruction.

Burkey’s vision of blended learning now carries the weight of the Large Unit District Association (LUDA) based in Barrington. As executive director of LUDA, Burkey helps lead discussion and innovative ideas from the top school districts making them more accessible throughout Illinois.

COVID forced dramatic changes in the factory model but for some of the districts using the fairly new blended learning model, COVID represented a step backward. Yet, in school districts where blended learning had taken hold such as at the middle schools and high school in Huntley Community School District 158, “the schools were already doing a portion of their instruction online and so this change has been very seamless for them,” Burkey said.

The factory model was far too regimented for the older students, according to Burkey. Because of COVID, many school districts have done away at least temporarily with in-school classroom instruction for remote learning.

“Middle school and high school students are more autonomous and they can sit down at a computer and manage their time better. They already know how to interact with people through their experiences with their friends and social networks such as FaceTime. They grew up with this…and it’s not foreign to them at all,” Burkey said. However, Burkey stressed “it’s a whole different story for elementary school students for a lot of reasons.”

One reason he pointed out has already received traction from parents with elementary age children.

“How can a first grader sit for three hours at a computer and stay engaged?” he asked.

Burkey doesn’t think they have the attention span, personal motivation or responsibility, nor are they old enough. He feels at the earlier elementary grades, a more in-person experience is needed with their teachers and more time with their classmates.

In a post COVID educational environment, Burkey emphasizes the word “flexibility.”

Burkey said, “It needs to be built around what’s best for the student and every student is different. It’s just like us as adults. The way I work during the day is probably different than the way you work, different than the way someone else works, and we all are able to find what works best for us.”

He cites for example what we know as a morning person, someone very productive in the morning while others can’t focus so early in the day. “Adults in many jobs could find that flexibility, we need to do the same thing with students,” Burkey said.

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