SCHOOL LESSONS READ BY TEACHERS ON RADIO WAS PIONEERED IN CHICAGO DURING 1937 POLIO OUTBREAK

A UNICEF survey found that 94% of countries implemented some form of remote learning when COVID-19 closed schools last spring, including in the United States and Canada.

After coming to my attention the above priceless photo, obviously set up by a photographer of the day, I learned through some hasty research that this is not the first time education has been disrupted -- nor the first time that educators have harnessed remote learning. In 1937, the Chicago school system used radio to teach children during a polio outbreak, demonstrating how technology can be used in a time of crisis.

That particular year, a severe polio epidemic hit North America. At the time, this contagious virus had no cure, and it crippled or paralyzed many of those it infected. Across the country, playgrounds and pools closed, and children were banned from movie theaters and other public spaces. Chicago it seems had a record 109 cases in August, prompting the Board of Health in that city to postpone the start of school for three weeks.

This delay sparked the first large-scale “radio school” experiment through a highly innovative, though largely untested  program. Some 315,000 children in Grades 3 through 8 continued their education at home, receiving lessons over the radio.

By the late 1930s, radio had become a popular source of news and entertainment. More than 80% of  households owned at least one radio. *The radio shown in the accompanying photo is almost a replica of the one that sits in my office-study -- a family heirloom from the 1920s and '30s.

In the Chicago case, teachers collaborated with principals to create on-air lessons for each grade, with oversight from experts in each subject. Seven local radio stations donated air time. September 13 marked the first day of on-air school.

Local papers printed class schedules each morning. Social studies and science classes were slated for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were devoted to English and math. The on-air school day began with announcements and gym. Classes were short – just 15 minutes – providing simple, broad questions and assigning homework.

The objective was to be “entertaining yet informative.” Curriculum planners incorporated an engaging commercial broadcasting style into the lessons. Two principals monitored each broadcast, providing feedback to teachers on content, articulation, vocabulary and general performance. When schools reopened, students would submit their work and take tests to show mastery of the material.

Sixteen teachers answered phone calls from parents at the school district’s central office. After the phone bank logged more than 1,000 calls on the first day, they brought five more teachers on board.

News stories reporting on this novel radio school approach were mostly positive, but a few articles hinted at the challenges. Some youngsters were distracted or struggled to follow the lessons. There was no way to ask questions in the moment, and kids needed more parental involvement than usual.

Radio instruction officially ended at the end of September when schools reopened. Though the program ran for less than three weeks, it transformed the role of local radio for future generations of educators. 

Fast forward to 2020. When the current pandemic shut down schools last spring, nations around the world instituted remote learning. But many countries used multiple platforms: About three-quarters also offered classes on television and about half used radio learning – which was particularly important in developing nations.

    
Instruction through multiple technologies helps, but many kids simply have no access. Approximately one-third of students worldwide cannot participate in digital or on-air education because they don’t own a computer, TV or radio, lack reliable internet access or live in remote areas that lie beyond the range of broadcasts.

Certainly in Ontario the past year with its multiple school closures, teachers have worked feverishly and commendably in creating on line lessons for their students, virtually overnight and, heaven help us, this has been valuable ground work for the future.

Chicago’s handling of remote education during its 1937 polio epidemic offers lessons on ways to use technology to address the current educational disruptions. But even where most students have access to reliable internet service, the pandemic has highlighted the mass-scale burdens of the digital divide.

This certainly highlights the need for funding in nations worldwide, to address technological inequalities in schools and to teach educators, administrators, parents and students how to better use digital platforms.

The current pandemic could reshape education once school safely shifts back to the classroom. Innovative use of digital tools and platforms could enrich curriculum, provide online makeup material and create new ways to connect with students beyond the traditional modes of learning. It would also reduce the environmental impact from distributed papers and help teachers, students and parents to more easily connect outside of the classroom.

Pandemic teaching may not just be a temporary means to an end. It could ultimately improve education, much like the Chicago radio experiment in 1937.