**4. Educational transformation: toward the new normal**

Online education programs, while increasingly popular has heard many criticisms for lack of rigor, similar costs, low student success rates, are generally revered as less desirable than traditional educational environments [49, 50]. This view became intensified in the Spring of 2020 when many chaotic transitions to online education left educators, educational systems, students and the public questioning the education students would receive in coming academic years in the face of a continuing pandemic. This may have perpetuated the misconception that online education is inferior to classroom instruction and that education as usual is the best option for school systems as educators did not have access to the preparation time necessary to create and design virtual courses [6, 11]. This left many simply transferring their classroom work into online platforms [6, 11]. Yet online education has been an attractive option for many students and families due to its accessibility, convenience, and student-driven learning strategies [15, 50]. It also, when planned and implemented correctly, has the ability to sustain educational systems facing adverse situations.

*Teacher Education in the 21st Century - Emerging Skills for a Changing World*

**3.2 How to create safe spaces in the classroom**

forward [6].

instructional platforms [45].

transparency, vulnerability, and shared experiences [10]. Instead, educators can increase their emotional presence thereby creating a climate of empathy and compassion [6] and normalizing conversations about emotional health and holistic well-being. While we can recognize that students may not be able to retain all of the information that they learn during times of adversity, the experiences and feelings that they had during this time can frame how they view education moving

While safe spaces have been widely explored in the literature, their ongoing implementation and emphasis as a pedagogical approach represented more of a cultural ideal than a necessary practice [38]. Safe spaces have been correlated with increased student responsibility and engagement in the learning process in traditional educational settings, they may play an even greater role in the success of virtual environments where educators cannot use physical proximity to ensure that behavioral expectations are met [39]. Tasked with the goal of not only providing instruction but also promoting healthy social relationships between students, teach-

While many educators understand how to create safe spaces in their classroom environment, the ability to translate these concepts into an online learning environment requires a different level of understanding of the concept and skills to implement it [45]. This requires starting with the recognition that it is no longer education as usual and using mindfulness to approach online student instruction [45]. As students are exposed to a multitude of new online instructional formats, the need to adapt to them and the rules for each one can be a stressful transition for many, one that needs educator awareness, support, and recognition [45]. We would be remiss if we assumed that student's ability to utilize technology such as cell phones and social media accounts equates to their ability to navigate new

In order to create safe spaces, educators must move beyond traditional lesson planning, incorporating the flexibility for the vast array of emotions that may be experience by themselves and students through the school day and year [40]. This includes the ability to be vulnerable and a willingness to share about themselves and their experiences [10, 39]. Holley and Steiner found that qualities students identified in educators that fostered a safe environment included being welcoming and approachable, having a non-judgmental demeanor, being emotionally present and supportive of students who take the risk to share [39]. Educators can establish safe classrooms by partnering with students in the development of ground rules for interactions with peers and the teacher and by reinforcing a common understand of appropriate engagement and class climate [39, 46]. The process of student-centered norm development increases buy in from students and the concept of co-creators of the classroom community. These rules include the recognition that we cannot share in a manner that is intended to harm another student and providing examples of constructive framing and inappropriate sharing are useful to establishing shared responsibility [39]. While it is tempting to utilize all of the technological opportunities available, and to find new innovative and creative ways to deliver lessons, educators must consider the benefits of consistency and simplicity and the comfort that is brought to students through routines [46]. Educators can utilize specific positive feedback as a way to highlight that there are positives in all that students share [46, 47] and to demonstrate that they are listening and value what students share with them [17]. Students also described safe classrooms as having educators

ers must explore how they can continue this in a virtual environment.

**240**

Covid-19 has left footprints on the educational system that will last for years to come and presents a unique opportunity to transform traditional educational modalities into contemporary learning models. While the transition in the Spring of 2020 was emergent, the academic year 2020–2021 was not and it has opened the door to embracing successes and challenges to formulate new educational milieus constructed from these experiences. These instructional strategies and educational environments would move beyond a crisis response and shift pedagogy and educational emphasis.

#### **4.1 Teaching with intentionality: one size does not fit all**

While social distancing in its earlier conceptualizations referred to the cultural and social distance between groups in society, it has now taken a broader that encompasses physical distance as well [15]. It is with intention that we must recognize the different comfort levels and experiences of educators and students during the pandemic and varying levels of restrictions, and to recognize the cultural context in which these experiences exist [15]. While there is a significant benefit to being able to create continuity through continued education, the transition of traditional education online is not without obstacles. While some students will excel in models of self-regulated learning, others will flounder and feel lost. Students have struggles with self-direction, access to learning materials and learning environments as well as feelings of isolation [51, 52]. When students and educators transitioned out of classrooms that were free from distractions and into their homes that often house siblings, other family members, and pets, all of whom are also participating in daily life while students are attempting to focus on remote learning.

Educators and systems of education must be up to the task of preparing to respond not only to the unique needs of each student but also to the multiple contexts in which students lives exist. For the vast majority of students, this is their first exposure to social distancing, stay at home orders, and the many restrictions that have been put in place as a result of the pandemic, including an emergency remote learning shift [53]. Many students have experienced anxieties related to how Covid-19 will impact their academic performance and their ability to continue to progress academically, having their previous identities as students shaken [53].

Although technology is commonplace in our daily lives and allows us to stay connected when geographic location prohibits it, it does not readily replace the connections that exist when we are able to be in close physical proximity of others. Technology has helped us to facilitate education when the current public health situation prevented meeting physically, however, technology is only one piece of the success of remote learning. While technology regularly has its place as a supplemental learning tool, Covid-19 has been the first time that it has been used to replace face-to-face instruction [54]. Educators must be intentional in building classroom communities that create connection to the students and that foster connections between students. The transition to remote learning creates a shift in classroom milieu when students can no longer receive non-verbal cues from the reactions of educators and other students that must be considered when planning online learning communities [52, 55]. When educators and students meet in person, they can readily recognize when the material is not resonating for a student or when a lesson plan needs to be extended or adjusted based upon what they can see from students' reactions, however, this can be quite different in a virtual environment and requires creativity and flexibility to build a community that fosters what may have come naturally before. Educators can utilize their understanding of contextual influences, trauma responses, and stressors to create safe spaces for equitable learning experiences for all students.

**243**

*Intentional Teaching: Building Resiliency and Trauma-Sensitive Cultures in Schools*

Technology was the cornerstone of ensuring that the educational system was able to continue to function in the face of a global crisis. As such, individuals with limited technological resources or that had poor internet connection were at a significant disadvantage during this transition [7, 12, 53, 58, 59]. School systems found themselves faced with large percentages of their population lacking the basic technological resources and internet to participate remotely, thus creating a demand for the distribution of resources to families and students in need [7, 60]. Students in remote and rural areas struggle with network capacity, leading to loss of educational opportunities [53, 58–61]. Socio-economic status has also been found to be directly linked to technological resources, as the poverty level increases in a community the rate of technological resources decrease [12, 56]. While many school systems were able to ameliorate the lack of technological by distributing resources to many students and their families, the transition to remote learning was slowed for these students, creating concern around loss time and instruction [7, 12, 61]. This raises significant concern regarding a system that is tasked with bridging the equality gaps of its students that was significantly usurped in this effort by a pandemic that accelerated educational inequalities at an alarming rate [12, 57, 60]. Many students who previously had relied upon the school resources for access to technology were at a significant disadvantage to students who had access to personal technological resources [56, 57]. Equity issues related to social capital, access, and vulnerabilities were reported by students creating a widespread concern for the exclusion of marginalized populations due to widening inequities [50, 60]. Even for students who do have access to the internet, many do not have the adequate skills to navigate the multilevel learning modules and online platforms in this new learning modality [53]. There is a vast array of technological platforms and applications that can be employed in remote learning, however, this requires users to be able to navigate the technical configurations which requires digital competence that all

The vast differences in educational systems availability of infrastructure and technology that prepared them to transition in emergent situations contributed to the differences experienced by students and education in the weeks following the Covid-19 restrictions [8, 62]. Integrated learning modules and technology to support practical experiences has been significantly lacking highlighting the need for innovated practices such as video simulations and practical exams to assist in closing the gap [60, 63]. Many educational systems were forced to engage in experimental labs by observation rather than participation. Attention will need to be paid the incorporation of field and research experiences to prevent students graduating without skills necessary to be successful [63]. Ensuring that all content is available and accessible from a variety of devices increases the possibility that students who will be able to access it regardless of whether or not they have access to a computer

The delivery of quality education is the cornerstone of our educational systems, assessment is often regarded in a similar light, as the means to identify whether students are being given access to and learning what is expected of them. Assessment allows for the evaluation of what students have learned and thus must exist in a manner that is representative of the learning environment, even in times of remote learning and social distancing. The recent transition to multiple online teaching models has increased concern regarding how to effectively assess students without increasing

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96571*

students do not possess [58].

or laptop device [50].

**4.3 Assessment in an evolving educational climate**

**4.2 Technological resources and digital competence**
