Maintaining a Firm Social Justice Lens During a Public Health Crisis

Abstract

School preparedness for national emergencies and natural disasters has long been part of the literature on global education. The recent COVID-19 crisis, however, has demonstrated the degree to which this literature had to date been ignored by school administrators in the Global North, and dismissed as a topic mostly relevant to Global South countries facing armed conflict, political instability, and lacking resources to address natural disasters. The global pandemic has been sustained, severe, and has led to the full or partial closure of schools in many Global North jurisdictions. While emergency measures have sought to maintain basic educational services, little focus has been given to inclusion and to the needs of diverse learners. In the absence of structured responses, parental support has become a key solution for many districts, and concepts such as the learning pod have popped up in various countries. These strategies have exacerbated inequities rather than offered sustainable and socially just responses. This chapter draws lessons from these initiatives.