Reflecting on BrowningConnect
April 7, 2020
As we finish our second week of BrowningConnect, I want to again say thanks to our families as they adapted to new systems and structures in the midst of a crisis unlike any that we have ever experienced, and to my colleagues for what we have accomplished thus far. I have seen transcendent care during a period that increasingly defies logic and strains the imagination. We are all working without a net, trying to be good employees and good parents, spouses, children and friends, and all at the same time. We have dealt with our own anxieties and fears, and those of our children and other loved ones, as the virus has breached the walls of our communities, our schools and sadly, sometimes our families.
For all the good that we see, of course, this remains a period of enduring stress and unresolved tensions. As we continue to learn about COVID-19, we surely notice that our previous understanding—about how it spreads, about its symptoms, about its gravity—was at least partially incorrect, and this does nothing to make us less anxious. For whatever success we are having with BrowningConnect, it is often undeniably stressful, as we simultaneously deal with an evolving program, a higher volume of screen time, and the uncertainty of when and how this crisis is going to end. And there are the tensions for families: between honoring our professional ideals and obligations, monitoring our children’s education and overall well-being, and recognizing and accepting the compromises that are not necessarily our preference. As we remain at home, what once might have seen a welcome respite and refuge in which to spend more time with family has undoubtedly led to cabin fever and concern about what life will be like on the other side of this period of social distancing. I am amazed at how hopeful we have all remained, but recognize that this hope has to be nurtured, and not taken for granted as all of this tumult churns about us.
We have learned so much as a faculty even in a week—about the challenges of our schedules, about how advising is different as it migrates online, about the techniques necessary for managing online class discussions, and so forth. We will continue to refine our program to make it both more effective and more humane—and, in fact, to argue that effectiveness and humanity must walk hand-in-hand with each other if we are going to be the community that we say that we are.
My other principal reason for hope is, quite simply, the strength of our community. All of our peer schools are wrestling with the technicalities of online learning, and in our own way, we are, too. This is appropriate: we should be thinking about what makes sense in terms of the balance between synchronous and asynchronous, what “homework” looks like, and how we evaluate, assess, and report on all of this learning. But getting these things sorted out will not convey the genius of Browning—that only comes from the adults who care for our boys and for each other. Whatever content we share, whatever modalities we employ, and whatever assessment structure favor, we can always hold onto the idea that it is our shared humanity, our deep instinct to care, and our model of what to prioritize that students will hold as enduring understandings from this peculiar time. We are in crisis, and it is easy to feel that our boys are “missing” the essentials of school, but—without derogating the importance of ongoing knowledge and skill acquisition—our first aim is still one of connection. As much as our boys rely on faculty to convey knowledge, they benefit even more from our faculty’s leadership, consolation, humor, calm, and perspective in this time of uncertainty and worry. As the educator Parker Palmer writes in The Courage to Teach, “The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods, but in their hearts.”
I continue to wish our families good health and the strength to bear whatever this crisis brings forth in the future. I know that the start of Passover and the Easter weekend has likely meant new routines, and perhaps some sadness as you cannot spend time with extended and chosen family while in quarantine. Neither of us could have imagined that we would be in the time and space that we are in today, and in which it seems we will remain for at least a bit longer. But know that your Browning community is with you and will remain with you in spirit. And that we can’t wait to welcome your boys back to school on Monday.