The BUILD Process: Rebooting Schooling & Creating your ‘New Normal’

 

Whether we like it or not, the world has changed. This change also encompasses the educational landscape. Many of the ways of working, the elements we were comfortable with, have either gone for good or will be limited for the time being.

 

The emphasis is now on how to move forward, to embrace the challenges and to understand that we are not powerless in the creation of our ‘new normal’.

 

As the education world contemplates the transition back to school, we must be mindful of the impact this extended, unprecedented break has had on everyone in the school community (students, parents, families, teachers, and the wider staff body).  We are not transitioning back to anything that anyone is familiar and experienced with. We face a new context for which we must develop our own new normal.

 

Our schools, classrooms, and resources will look different. Moreover, relationships will have changed – between peers, between pupils and teachers and, potentially, between other members of the school community. Many of the things that children, staff and parents are used to, and the procedures they have grown familiar with, will be altered.

 

As the process begins of creating new contexts and ways of working, we must seize this opportunity to build on existing good practice, draw on (and continue to develop) our resilience and inspire innovation. This will mean embracing new ways of working, further developing new skills, and using this as a positive window to make changes to some of the elements that were not effective but had just become part of the accepted norms.

 

It is important that we:

• Rebuild our relationships;

• Re-establish boundaries, procedures and routines;

• Re-visit previous skills, knowledge and experiences;

• Ensure that we factor in some orientation for everyone regarding our new environments;

• Use this opportunity to ‘clean house’ and remove things that were not working or stop things that were counter productive;

• Remember that education is about people, so we need to look after them.

 

In thinking about these challenges and opportunities (for we must remember these exist too), we designed the BUILD process.

 

Our BUILD process gives 5 interlinked areas that we feel are crucial starting points when thinking about the establishment of your new normal. We understand each context will be different because of the many complex contextual variables involved. The areas within the BUILD process can help you to consider some key questions as a basis/starting point and as a catalyst for effective educational transformation and regeneration.

 

Within each of the 5 BUILD areas we outline are listed, but not yet explored in full detail here, some important key words, concepts and themes which you may wish to explore further as they are relevant to this process of creating a new normal.

 

 

 

Explore the BUILD Process and download our free BUILD PDF for use in your school or educational context.

We hope it serves as a useful guide to colleagues and fellow educators the world over. 

Take care and stay safe!