ABSTRACT
Is COVID-19 the defining education crisis or catalyst of our time? Over the past 20 years, international research in wellbeing and resilience education has helped teachers to create positive learning environments in schools with evidence-based strategies. However, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education in extraordinary ways and may be the most significant disruption to education in 100 years. The pace of the pandemic and the severity of confusion and uncertainty about the impact on schools, schooling and education raise vital questions. There is a shortage of research investigating the impact of COVID-19 on schools and schooling. In this chapter, we examine the immediate impact of the pandemic on education, adopting Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework. Then we introduce a model to interpret the pandemic’s impact and the response of educational systems. We assert that wellbeing and resilience research has the potential to make a significant contribution to how teaching and learning are conceptualised within the next decade to create more resilient, robust and flourishing education systems, in which all young people believe they belong.
