Does the “Grammar of Schooling” Need to Change?

Transcultural Innovation after the Pandemic

Abstract

The current “grammar” of schooling is in many ways still based on an industrial model of schooling going back to the 19th century. In the 21st century and especially during the pandemic, this way of organizing schools is massively challenged and reveals its limitation. Interestingly the challenges are not country-specific. Many countries around the world face similar issues. This article points out four aspects of schooling that are the main areas of change to support students in their learning processes: (1) teacher collaboration in professional learning communities; (2) formative over summative feedback (3) close and trusting partnerships between teachers and parents and (4) the switch to hybrid learning environments. The text argues that these innovations provide a historic opportunity for sustainable change, not only for one school system but for all systems to learn from each other. If the pandemic is perceived as an opportunity to change the current situation rather than a problem that needs to be overcome to go ‘back to normal’, we can abandon the industrial model of schooling in favor of a ‘school without walls’ suitable for the digital knowledge society.