The challenges of teaching and learning, in times of pandemic, in a multigrade school in Colombia

Abstract

The following text wants to reflect on the challenges presented by the teaching and learning process in a multigrade rural school due to the suspension of face-to-face classes during the year 2020 and the first semester of 2021 until the return to classrooms from the second semester of the year 2021 and 2022, as well as the consequences that currently occur in this type of educational contexts because of the COVID 19 pandemic. The experience of the Departmental Educational Institution (DEI), Gonzalo Jimenez De Quesada Sede Rural Cuaya, in the municipality of Suesca, located in the department of Cundinamarca in Colombia, was taken.

The methodology used is based on a qualitative approach of a descriptive type. It begins by describing the educational context in the year 2020 and the first semester of 2021, explaining the challenges involved in the preparation of remote methodologies in the context of a multigrade school where connectivity was null, low pedagogical materials and sociocultural particularities from members of the educational community but also, the importance to promote the construction of a "Scholar Contract".

Finally, it is proposed as partial results that the attendance that took place from the second semester of 2021 and the year 2022 led to an adaptation of study habits, learning rhythms, and modification of topics, but above all, the necessity for a flexible curriculum that fosters the socio-emotional and citizenship competencies of both students and parents.