In a previous blog, we talked about the similarities between remote work and remote education. The practical and fundamental differences and how, in the end, it is simple economics.
Now let us explore what separates remote work and remote education.
The biggest factor that differentiates remote work and remote education is the effect and impact each has on employees and students and the end beneficiaries respectively.
Remote work offers many benefits to workers and makes lives generally easier for everyone assuming remote or hybrid work have been risk managed well.
Freedom, flexibility, cost savings and time balance are all direct manifestations of remote work that have already been and continue to be talked about. Compared to these, the downsides are very few.
But does remote education give students more benefits than limitations? A slightly nuanced approach needs to be taken to answer this question.
We, the Social
When children, teenagers and adolescents begin school and college, they are discovering the world and its ways at the same time.
Remote education often inhibits this self-discovery that is an essential part of a person’s life because a lot of what feeds into that discovery today is not part of remote education
A study aimed to understand the link between social isolation and the overall development of children and teenagers found that social deprivation jeopardized cognitive development and increased cortisol levels. In addition, it found a strong association between social isolation and mental health issues like anxiety and depression in children and teenagers.
Another research found that adolescence is a time of intense psychological and social transformation where peer influence and social structures are essential to help people build a strong self-identity.
Also, high-level cognitive processes are developed that assist adolescents in navigating social networks, facing rejections, handling approvals and generally refining themselves.
When children, teenagers and adolescents go to school and have in-person 360-degree interactions with their peers, friends and teachers, they learn social skills they take with them throughout adulthood.
Remote education, in a lot of ways, limits the real-life situations and life experiences that can potentially shape them.
For this reason, parents who themselves love working remotely are apprehensive about the idea of their children being remotely educated (let us keep aside the thoughts of harrowed parents needing a break for a moment).
For instance, Preety who is 34 years of age, and resides in Lucknow, really likes remote work because it gave her the role of a marketing manager at a firm in Germany. She likes the flexibility attached to it and the idea that she has more time on her hand now. The time that she gives to her child, spouse and set of friends in the city.
During the pandemic, her son Ravi’s school, Millennium Public School had online classes throughout. The school had to cancel physical exams as well.
While all of this was a necessity, Preety began noticing changes in Ravi’s behaviour. Her otherwise lively and talkative son now wanted to keep to himself. He would attend his online classes every day but simply for the sake of it. His teachers brought his lack of active participation in class to Preety’s notice. She tried to encourage her son to interact more but he just didn’t. Ravi was more interested in being in his room and playing video games after classes. Preety worried about Ravi’s social skills and the effect remote education had on his personality.
Schools Are More Than Just Textbooks!
School environments and education take a holistic approach to defining a person’s personality and social behaviours.
Apart from curriculums and academics, educational institutions introduce a variety of situations to children’s lives that help them understand social norms and develop morals, ethics and values.
Playing together and taking part in competitions help students understand what fair play is. And what it is not. How different kids stand up or wilt from situations.
Popularity contests give a glimpse into the life and how life works independently of the morality otherwise portrayed.
Deciding whether to get along or stand up for oneself is a life-changing conflict that schools can often expose a child to. Summer camps make children independent and teach them how to live without the comfort of home and family.
To put that into perspective, let us look at an example.
Jaanvi, a 13-year-old, was being remotely educated during the pandemic. Attending online classes was very comfortable for her and she grew accustomed to being alone. When schools reopened, Jaanvi found herself being socially anxious because, in the past two years, she had hardly any social contact. Finding herself in a social setting again, she felt underconfident. Before the pandemic, she always took the initiative for school activities and programs but now was unsure about her abilities.
The Key Difference
The fundamental difference between remote work and remote education is that the former is adopted by fully-formed adults and the latter is for developing children and youngsters. The lack of social interaction and setting, in this case, is far more harmful to children who are still in the primary ages of personality development.
Erik Erikson, a famous psychologist and psychoanalyst are well-known for his theory and study on the psychological development of human beings. Out of his eight stages of personality development, he clearly mentioned that during the preschool stage (ages three to five), a child’s development centres around initiative while the early school years (that last till the age of eleven) focus on the development of industriousness. The adolescence stage (that lasts till the age of eighteen) is marked by the development and awareness of identity and role confusion.
In all these stages, the healthy and positive involvement of caregivers, peers, friends and teachers assists developing children to take initiative to learn and do things, forming a sense of accomplishment and competence, and comfortably understanding their identity and responsibilities.
To conclude, a lot of significant teachings and growth-inducing experiences get diluted in a remote setup of education. It may help to not discard the conventional schooling method altogether and instead adopt a hybrid model that takes into consideration everything – the need for flexibility, increased opportunity and healthy development of children.
