Pia Knudsen and Birgitte Boel are kindergarten teachers in Silkeborg, Denmark. Due to the difficulty of parents juggling both work and childcare, primary schools were among the first things to reopen in Denmark. Thus, teachers were one of the first people to return to the office.
Safety precautions from the Danish government have forced teachers to get creative in the classroom. Both classroom layout and teaching methods had to be reorganised.
Classes were moved outside to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus, and new games were invented to encourage social distancing. They share lessons about the virus, and why new precautions should be followed, answering questions from students without making them worry.
Despite the new routines, the calmness and patience of teachers like Pira and Birgitte helped students feel safe.
Katrine Noer is originally from Silkeborg, Denmark. She is currently studying photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark. She has recently worked with corona-related topics; specifically, “Far from Near” which focuses on primary schools’ reopening after the lockdown in Denmark and the global photo project “Lockdown Diaries”. View her profile here.
‘The Other Hundred Healers’ is an initiative by the non-profit organisation GIFT. The 240-page, full-colour, hardcover book can be purchased here at US$40 per copy for a minimum order of 20 copies.
