Changes & The New Normal

It was June 2020 and students in Australia were returning to the classrooms and online learning was being wound up I heard many breathe a sigh of relief. Ahhhh, now, at last, we can get back to normal. This really got me thinking and I wanted to share my thoughts & reflections about the anticipation of ‘going back to normal’ in the wake of a pandemic. Should we be going back, or should we go forward, to a ’new normal?’ But wait, there’s more. Protests over police brutality & the struggle to bring changes to racism, social injustices, Black Lives Matter and the work to be anti-racist was brought to the world’s attention. Here in Australia this also included another wake-up call for changes to be made to the recognition, injustices & treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Then in late June 2020, the 2nd wave of COVID 19 has struck parts of Australia, particularly the state of Victoria & it is back into remote teaching & learning.