Losing face

On April 13th, COVID-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins, announced that all of New Zealand would move to the orange light traffic setting from 11.59pm on April 14th.

At orange, some masking requirements are lifted – most notably in schools – though for the most part, are still encouraged. Health experts from around the nation suggest that removing mask mandates in schools as the country moves to orange is “disappointing”. This is because some parents and caregivers contend that masks are potentially interfering with student’s social developmental skills. Recognising emotions is the cornerstone for how we interact, socialise, and resolve conflict with others. Unsurprisingly, children are better able to identify emotions in uncovered faces compared to masked faces. But are masks really stunting pupils’ ability to positively communicate with one another? Marina Bedny is an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University who studies brain development in people who are blind. Weighing in on the classroom debate, she feels that wearing a mask is not something that would, to her, seem like it would “matter at all for a child’s development.” “We tend to underestimate how flexible our mind and our brain is. “We’ve found that people who are blind have some superior abilities at understanding spoken sentences… perhaps because language is such an important source of information,” she reasons. With that being said, teachers and students may need to prompt themselves to communicate their feelings more using words when masked, rather than relying on their facial expressions. This can vastly lessen the chance of misunderstandings and conflict arising. Lynn Perry, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of Miami is part of a team that has been monitoring speech development in pre-school students since before COVID-19 arrived. The team compared a group of students from early 2020, before masks arrived, with a class in 2021, wherein they found no change in the amount of language production. “We’re seeing really similar amounts of talking, vocabulary development, language growth, language development, with or without masks,” she says. Here in New Zealand, developmental and community paediatrician Dr Jin Russell acknowledges that there is an educational, social, and developmental cost to wearing masks. However, this needs to be balanced against the price of lots of viral illnesses circulating which could subsequently impact students’ inperson learning time. She reasons that despite no longer being mandatory for pupils in year 4, and upwards, wearing masks in schools should still be “strongly recommended” – as they are an essential component of a “multi-layer approach” to minimising the spread of Covid. Russell believes that schools should maintain a strong mask-wearing philosophy while at orange, which could then be re-evaluated following what may be a “particularly difficult” winter, when viruses naturally thrive, and healthcare services are stretched. “Children will have lots of other opportunities for mask-free time when outdoors and outside of schools,” she says. Whether pupils are masked, or unmasked, maintaining regular check–ins with students as to how they’re thinking, feeling, and behaving regarding masks is perhaps the most important takeaway from this. Ultimately, keeping open lines of communication will help parents and schools respond more effectively to their pupil’s needs.

Mandate decision was no surprise

The Government’s decision to remove vaccine mandates for education workers comes as no surprise, says PPTA Te Wehengarua president, Melanie Webber.

“PPTA’s support of the mandates stemmed from our policy, led by members, that we would support public health advice around COVID-19.

“We supported the mandates as the best means of keeping teachers, students, and their communities, particularly the vulnerable, safe against a raging and deadly global pandemic. “For us, the mandates were always about protecting ourselves but equally importantly trying to prevent young children, elderly and those who are immunocompromised, from being infected. “While the vast majority of secondary teachers were vaccinated before the mandates were introduced, the requirement meant that vaccination rates across the education sector rose significantly, and we are now at the stage where the mandates have done their job and are not needed any longer. “The removal of them is a decision that has been made based on the best public health advice. However, this does not mean a return to any sense of normality at the moment.”

Melanie says the mandates had been extremely difficult for the relatively small number of secondary teachers who chose not to be vaccinated. “With teacher shortages continuing in secondary, it is likely that many of these teachers will be able to find new jobs in education now they are able to return.

“There will certainly be plenty of opportunities for relief teaching as schools continue to be hugely affected by Omicron.” Melanie says schools will need to work through details related to the employment of unvaccinated teachers.

“And they will need to support staff, particularly those who are immuno-compromised or have underlying health conditions, who feel anxious about working alongside unvaccinated people.” This will need to be worked through on a school-by- school basis but we hope there will be some clear national guidelines that schools can follow.

“The mandates are just one element of the huge disruption COVID-19 has wreaked in school life over the last two years. “Teachers have risen swiftly and impressively to the challenges of COVID-19 but there is no doubt the pandemic has really taken its toll on students and teachers. Hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel soon.”

Harness the power and opportunity of conflict

Our collective COVID-19 journey has created an unprecedented level of change and uncertainty across both our personal and professional lives for the past two years. The strong leadership of Principals and their staff has meant that our young people have continued to learn and grow, despite the uncertainty. The education sector has responded by leaning into its values of whakamana, manaakitanga, pono and whanaungatanga1 to guide decisions and manage the constant complexity that this pandemic has presented.

Crisis creates a sense of collaboration and drives innovation. We have become more agile out of necessity and because it was asked of us; the vast majority of educational organisations have delivered. Schools have responded to the demands of lockdown by embracing online classrooms, creating innovative ways to connect with learners and support student achievement. Crisis also creates overwhelm. Overwhelm is the sensation: “That our lives are somehow unfolding faster than the human nervous system and psyche are able to manage well.”2 This contributes to feeling ‘compassion drained’. While conflict and its management are norms within school communities, mandates and the additional pressures we are facing as we transition to living with COVID-19 have added a difficult dimension to the conflict. Maintaining a balance between procedure and acknowledging emotion in conflict is challenging and exhausting. With many leaders operating at capacity, ensuring that they have the resources to provide robust conflict management processes can be a struggle. The danger of this is that conflict is avoided rather than managed or that a course of action, once embarked on, proves to be more complex and time consuming than initially expected. Delays can also cause further difficulties, and the sooner conflict can be resolved, the less damage it can cause and the lower the overall financial and emotional cost. By embracing conflict as an opportunity for growth and change, we can choose to reintegrate in a way which sets our schools up for success, instead of allowing the disharmony to ripple through our communities. Having the right skills and support to harness the opportunity, take appropriate action and react accordingly will strengthen relationships and enhance your organisational culture. Acknowledging that the specific skills required to manage crisis-generated conflict sit outside of your BAU provides yet another opportunity to innovate.

At Fair Way, our expertise is in providing appropriate conflict management and processes to help organisations, including:

• Conflict coaching and training for leadership • Support to help resolve disputes quickly and cost-effectively • Using the principles of restorative justice to inform conversations with staff or school community members who feel marginalised by COVID-19 changes • Future-oriented mediations that respectfully address workplace issues • Investigations that lead with dignity and provide clarity for complex issues.

Fair Way partners with the sector to help frame and support how you show up in conflict. Working alongside your community, aligning with your values, your culture and your people, our experts will help you to design a bespoke process that is independent, fair and optimises the chance for an enduring resolution. In addition, Fair Way helps organisations to identify the hooks, triggers and causes of conflict, rather than just working towards a settlement. By taking an approach that embraces the whole community, Fair Way works with schools and educational organisations to help calm things down and navigate conflict. Kia tau, the words in our logo, mean ‘to calm’ and this reflects our commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti O Waitangi, which underpins everything we do. Whether you’re facing a dispute between a teacher and a parent, an issue involving the board or an employment situation pertaining to COVID-19, we will complement your existing approach and help to bring harmony to the discord. If you would like to find out more about how Fair Way can help to calm your conflict, including supporting difficult conversations and cost-effective mediations, please get in touch via

workplace@fairwayresolution.com

or 0800 77 44 08. Fair Way’s practitioners are fully accredited through either the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of NZ (AMINZ), NZ Law Society or the Resolution Institute and we have many years’ experience in education-based disputes. One of the greatest gifts people can give each other during crisis is a consistency and certainty in how they will show up, respond respectfully, and follow through on process. We help people in conflict to move forward.

1 Our Code, Our Standards: Teaching

Council of Aotearoa New Zealand 2 John Kabit Zinn (referenced from Brene

Brown: ‘Atlas of the Human Heart’)