What the 'lost children' helped us find

Abstract

The public emphasis on 'lost learning' and hapless child victims fails to acknowledge children's drive to learn and misconceives the role of the teacher. Through direct conversations and close observations Emily Rowe, class teacher, and Jeni Smith, school governor, worked together to learn from year 5 and 6 children about their experiences of learning during the pandemic and to reflect on what children learn at home with the adults there and alone, and on the role that teachers play in children's intellectual growth. They reflect on the centrality of listening and careful observation, on children's resilience, ambition and intellectual engagement, and the significance of a community of learners in a primary school. The paper ends with a compilation of all that the children listed they had learned at home, at school and on-line during the time of lockdown.