As each day passes and the pandemic situation gets worse, schools have, in many countries, been given a reprieve from closing down. However, one change, already used in a lot of countries, in particular France, is the wearing of face masks in class by children from age 6. One basic requirement is that with the usage of masks, teaching needs to be more animated. This article in TES suggests that this change in the classroom could trigger bad behaviour, according to Katharine Birbalsingh, head of Michaela School in north London, “Teachers need to be able to see the mouths of their charges in order to hold them to account for chatting, swearing and the like. Mask them up and teachers won’t have a clue who said it.” Apart from this warning the experience in France appears to have worked well aided in no small part by the very clear bi-weekly instructions from the government. Whatever changes are made in school to further stem the spread of the virus one thing is clear: governments need to be very precise and direct with instructions to maximise understanding and compliance.
https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-could-you-cope-teaching-class-full-masked-pupils