Supports Teachers need to Successfully Transition to Remote Learning

How do successful secondary schools seamlessly transition from face- to-face (f2f) to remote learning during a Pandemic? What kind of support and training do teachers need to be able to flip learning venues quickly? Using teacher response data from an Ontario, Canada needs’ survey in May of 2020; and qualitative time-tabling and organisational communications from a Microsoft flagship school in Perthshire, UK, this chapter provides a practical overview of how school leaders prepare their teaching staff and learning communities to innovatively adapt learning to the needs of families in their districts. Both studies found that teachers’ self-efficacy (Dolighan & Owen, 2020) and non-punitive experiences with learning technologies, prior to school system adaptations, enabled teachers to adapt to new teaching schedules and creatively plan for authentic learning experiences with students and parents. Leaders and teachers needed to curate content for a variety of media and digital infrastructure, so those without new media would not be unfairly disadvantaged by the change. The study also found that school leaders whose staff successfully transitioned were clear communicators with parents and the community. Successful switches required parents to trust head teachers to change; and for school leaders to teach not just students, but the parents and community how access to new learning could occur. Outreach to families was a critical part of success in change leadership.