This week, Thomas Hatch pulls together some of the blog posts and news stories that look back at 2021. Next week: A roundup of predictions for 2022.
Schools Week in the UK summed up what many may have been feeling, declaring “The year a return to normal only got further away” while US News & World Report looked for a silver lining, exploring “How 2021 set the the stage for a seismic overhaul of education.” For my own part, I tried to both look back and look ahead in a commentary for the Journal of Educational Change on what can change in schools (“We will now resume our regular programming”):
“What if this is a moment when we can re-imagine education?” But “What if it isn’t? What if, despite the changes wrought by the pandemic, the conditions that sustain conventional schooling remain in place?”
Here, in no particular order, are a few more headlines from the “reviews” of 2021 from some of our regular sources.
Around the World
From learning recovery to the futures of education, UNESCO
Grave violations of children’s rights in conflict on the rise around the world, UNICEF
Meet Gen Covid: Growing up under the shadow of Covid-19, the young in Asia talk about loss, gain and hope, Straits Times
2021 in education: a year in review (UK), Twinkl Digest
The year a return to normal only got further away (UK), Schools Week
2021 in Review, FreshEd Podcast (Will Brehm with Susan Robertson & Mario Novelli)
In the US
Education in 2021: 10 Photos That Capture a Chaotic Year, Education Week
Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP
2021 in pictures: Images that captured the tragedy and resilience that marked 2021, Hechinger Report
16 charts that changed the way we looked at America’s schools in 2021, The 74
Education data legislation review 2021: State activity, Data Quality Campaign
Top 2021 education legislative trends, Education Commission of the States
Survival Mode: Educators Reflect on a Tough 2021 and Brace for the Future, EdSurge
After A Year Of Uncertainty, College Presidents Reflect On COVID-19’s Impact, EdSurge
2021 education year in review, The Report Card with Nat Malkus (in conversation with and Erica Green, Laura Meckler, and Eesha Pendharkar)
Proof Points 2021 Year in Review: A reading mystery, test-optional admissions and the problem with small classes, Hechinger Report
Philanthropy Awards, 2021, Inside Philanthropy
International Education News 