Policy brief: Policy recommendations on building capacity for managing future school closures

Cheng Yong TAN, Sedat GUMUS, Allan WALKER, Sung Tae JANG, Si Man LAM, Oi AN, Lin GAO and Venus LO

CITATION

Tan, C. Y., Gumus, S., Walker, A., Jang, S. T., Lam, S. M., An, Q., Gao, L., & Lo, V. (2024). Policy brief: Policy recommendations on building capacity for managing future school closures. Academy for Leadership in Teacher Education.

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Summary

This policy brief presents recommendations for education policymaking to enhance school capacity to manage the continuity of teaching and learning and manage the socioemotional needs of the school community during future school closures. The recommendations are distilled from important lessons on challenges in teaching and learning that schools worldwide experienced during COVID-19 and how they responded to the challenges.

Key messages and recommendations

• Problem: Schools faced immense challenges in teaching and learning during COVID-induced school closures, so we need to develop recommendations to help build schools’ capacity to manage challenges in future crises.

• Recommendation 1: Strengthen Education Bureau’s crisis management plan for schools

• Recommendation 2: Strengthen network of professional learning communities

• Recommendation 3: Provide resources and support for schools

Introduction/ Problem/ Context

Teaching and learning in Hong Kong schools was severely disrupted because of prolonged periods of school closures during the five waves of COVID-19 between 2020 to 2023. Indeed, Hong Kong experienced one of the longest periods of school closures in the world. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the challenges that schools internationally and in Hong Kong experienced during these closures and how schools responded to these challenges. This information is essential to develop recommendations to help schools manage challenges arising from future crises.

About the study

The research team performed a systematic review of the international literature to identify teaching and learning challenges confronting school leaders during COVID-19 and their responses to address these challenges. The systematic review, conducted between March-December 2023, synthesized findings from 224 studies dated 2020-2023. These studies were conducted in Asia (including Hong Kong), Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. The research team analyzed the studies using thematic analysis and consulted an advisory panel comprising principals, vice-principals, teacher leaders, teachers, parents, and secondary/high school students to contextualize the findings in the Hong Kong context.

Study results, conclusions and recommendations

The systematic review identified four sets of challenges that schools worldwide were confronted with during the pandemic:

• Schools were unprepared to implement rapid pandemic policies and engage with stakeholders

• Schools had difficulty Implementing home-based, online lessons and they were worried about students’ achievement gaps, socioemotional well-being, and learning loss

• Schools had to address students’ learning, safety, and other basic needs but they faced resource shortage and there was limited scope for teachers to exercise their leadership

• There was deteriorating socioemotional well-being in the school community

The systematic review also identified five sets of school responses to address these challenges:

• Schools adapted their leadership to the situation and engaged with the school community

• Schools facilitated student learning through digital instructional leadership, teacher empowerment, and maximizing teaching and learning

• Schools provided resources and enhanced teacher capacity through professional development

• Schools addressed the physical and socioemotional well-being of the school community

• Schools prepared for recovery, implemented innovation, and built capacity in future-proofing

These findings are used to develop three policy recommendations to enhance schools’ capacity to address challenges during school closures in future crises.

Recommendation 1: Strength Education Bureau's crisis management plan for schools

Before and during a crisis, the crisis management plan should provide clear, consistent, and timely policy guidance and support for schools to manage the contingency at hand, implement online lessons, and reopen after the crisis has ended. Crucial to the crisis management plan is the establishment of clear communication channels between the Education Bureau and different levels of school leaders. During and after the crisis, the Education Bureau should gather information school disruption experiences, monitor and evaluate how the crisis has impacted student learning, wellbeing, and equity, and support schools in implementing interventions to meet emerging needs. After the crisis has ended, the crisis management plan should be updated to be effective and relevant for future school closures.

Recommendation 2: Strength network of professional learning communities within and between schools

These professional learning communities should support the professional and socioemotional development of school leaders, teachers, and other members of school communities and cultivate collective resilience for future disruptions in the education system. The communities can include professional development to equip teachers with online self-efficacy, knowledge and skills needed for conducing online lessons. They can also include mentoring and coaching. The Education Bureau can also promote collaboration among schools and other community partners by establishing networks and platforms for the sharing of best practices, resources, and experiences.

Recommendation 3: Provide resources and support for schools

The Education Bureau can allocate adequate resources for schools to upgrade their digital infrastructure, provide devices and Internet access for teachers and students, and address the basic needs of disadvantaged families. It can also encourage innovation at the ground to prepare schools to address future contingencies by supporting research and development in new pedagogies and technologies for online lessons. Lastly, it can facilitate collaborations between schools and community groups so that the educational ecosystem can provide mutual support and resources to each other during future contingencies.

Acknowledgements

The study is supported by the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme 2022/23. The research team is grateful to the advisory panel for their insights and suggestions.