It is spoken of with concern by administrators and teachers alike.  It is researched and written about, with dire warnings about what happens to kids over the summer in terms of retention, or when they are out of school for any length of time.  For those students who struggle with behavior issues, those who don’t speak English or kids in and out of the foster system, educators speak with great concern about their “loss of learning”.  So, what is learning and can you lose it?

What exactly is “loss of learning”?  According to The Glossary of Educational Reform”,

The term learning loss refers to any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills, or to reversals in academic progress, most commonly due to extended gaps or discontinuities in a student’s education.

Authors write about children suffering from learning loss, or the problem of learning loss, or the phenomenon of learning loss.  So, let’s define learning.  According to Merriam-Webster, learning is the act or experience of one that learns OR knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study.  So learning is an action word, a process.  And while knowledge or skills may become rusty through lack of use, our brains are always learning.  If students are “losing learning”, did they ever really retain the information in the first place?

I don’t want to underestimate the importance of the 3R’s by any means, but there’s more to learning than a student sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer.  And learning is complicated.  It’s not like just anyone can shove the information in the student and have it retained.  It takes a great, experienced educator who understands how students learn in a variety of ways and how structured repetition plays a role in that learning.

It also depends on the student and their situation.  Are there any distractions at home,  is there a home at all, are they abused or hungry?  Do they speak another language or not have internet or do they have to watch their siblings after school. Are they staying up late looking at a screen because nobody at home makes them accountable or are they dashing to yet another practice or lesson? SO. MANY. FACTORS. And yet, despite the idea that students are “losing learning”, I can guarantee you that students in all of these situations are learning something, whether it’s survival skills or how to beat the system.  Learning never stops.  It’s WHAT they’re learning that we’re really concerned about, isn’t it?

What exactly are we really concerned about?  Perhaps it’s that the student won’t get through a prescribed curriculum, passing the appropriate testing at the appropriate levels for their age so that they can go to the next level and absorb more information that someone has determined they should?  Again, there are SO. MANY. FACTORS. at play here. And when this craziness we’re dealing with right now is “over”, whatever that may mean, are we going to go right back to worrying about “losing learning” or are we going to be concerned about the social emotional condition of the child?  Are we going to be frantically trying to figure out where to start with the new year so we can get the students “caught up” to grade level, or are we going to help them process what they’ve just lived through?  Are we going to pay attention to their basic needs first or are we going to try to zip through or ignore them in the name of “achievement”.

I’m not a researcher by any means, but I want to use the anecdotal evidence of my grandchildren, both of whom were in and out of foster homes, both of whom acted out in school, both of whom were sent away from school to learn how to behave before they could go back.  One of them not in school long enough to actually begin to learn how to read.  Their basic needs weren’t being attended to and because of that they were acting out and then sent away, while very well meaning teachers and support staff were concerned about how they were “losing learning”.

Fast forward to now.  Both have been adopted.  Both are having their basic needs taken care of and they are intensely loved by all of their adoptive family.  Oh, and the little one reads up a storm and they’re both above grade level.  Did they lose learning?  Perhaps for a period of time they weren’t learning the prescribed curriculum, but I guarantee you they were learning.  It wasn’t until they had their basic needs met that they could allow personal excitement for learning to began, encouraged by great teachers who cared and parents who followed through.

As our students are dealing with the current crisis, maybe they’re too distracted by life right now to really get into their classes like we would want them to.  Maybe their parents or guardians are too stressed to help them deal with it.  But humans will continue to learn, because that’s what we do.  Maybe they’ll learn how to do an art project on their front sidewalk, or create a song with their siblings.  Maybe they’ll figure out how to build something really cool from found objects.  Maybe they’ll learn how to do projects around the home, or learn how to drive or change the oil in the car.  Maybe they’ll learn how to cook something or play a new game.  All of these things are important, they’re just not our curriculum.  They’re not losing learning, they’re just learning something different and in a different way.  And when they come back to school, it will look different and we’ll all be learning together. Hopefully we’ll take the time to make sure their basic needs are taken care of as best we can before we jump into the nitty gritty, and then we can encourage them to learn those additional skills and concepts we’ve always taught.  And because we are professional educators, we’ll do it with all of the love and expertise we always do.

I don’t believe our students are going to lose learning while they’re not physically in school.  Not as long as we take the time to love them and allow them time to love learning when they return.