Changes that Stick (and Some that Don’t)

As with most big events—9/11 comes to mind—many of the this-changes-everything notions we had early in the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be less long-lasting while others still endure. Global business travel still lags pre-pandemic levels while leisure travel rebounded quickly. Mask-wearing remains normative in a few hyper-cautious Zip codes while doing so in airports, restaurants, and other public places seems so 2020. Remote work continues for many while a headline in The Information reads, ‘100% in Office Every Day, Including Weekends’: The Rise of the Hard-Line Return-to-Office Policy.

Nearly every school head we speak with as a new academic year begins in the Global North  talks about how good it feels to be opening “normally;” that is, without masking, testing, and social distancing. Will any pandemic changes persist in the education industry? What changes should persist, not because of the pandemic but for what we learned in the process? Good generative discussion material for board and administrative retreats.