Pedagogical pivot

from The Nation | Vol. 27, No. 17

by nationmag

EDITORIAL

Cree School Board completes a unique academic year during pandemic

While in-class instruction for this school year was sus pended in March, the Cree School Board (CSB) has remained busy supporting students throughout this unprecedented period. With a new online learning platform (OLP) and other support services to admin ister, it has been a learning experience for everyone.

The submission deadline for Secondary 1 to 3 OLP assignments was June 5, though it was extend ed an extra week to June 12 for Secondary 4 and 5 students. As an extraordinary measure, certain students in these upper levels who are very close to completion also received extra in-class tutoring sup port.

“The executive committee passed a resolution to allow certain students into the schools to get some in-person support with teachers,” said CSB chairperson Sarah Pash. “We worked that out with public health and have really strict pro tocols in place to do that. This is a special measure so that we’re able to reach every student we possibly can before we have to submit their results to the ministry for this term.”

Public health agreed that this was an essential service because it involves people’s futures. To ensure adequate physical distancing in respect of pandemic precautions, there was a very limited number of students involved with close super vision of handwashing and contact with classroom materials.

While Pash hopes these addition al efforts will get as many students as possible on track for graduation, it’s less clear how the CSB will support those still needing credits. Quebec’s Ministry of Education is not offering their typical makeup exams this sum mer and in-class summer school is not yet possible.

Although most students impres sively adapted to online learning when Covid-19 arrived, about one-quarter of Sec 5 and a larger number of younger students haven’t engaged with the OLP. This is partly a result of technological barriers, such as lacking home internet access, but some students and their parents have decided to wait until in-person classes resume.

“Online learning is not for every body and we recognize that,” Pash told the Nation. “It’s not ideal as the sole way of offering learning expe riences – that’s something we need to respect. We’re here to meet the needs of diverse learners and we have to support each individual stu dent in the best way possible.”

by Patrick Quinn

Pedagogical pivot

As the school year wraps up, the CSB is entering an evaluation period to determine which students were able to engage, which supports helped them and what improvements could be made to overcome barri ers. An important discovery is that a significant proportion of students do enjoy online learning and alter nate paths to meeting course requirements.

“This period has shown us we need to broaden our ways of offering education,” said Pash. “I think that moves us forward into next year from a real position of strength because we’ve learned how to do it. Even if we’re largely back to normal and able to offer in-person classes, we’ll still be able to offer options for online learning and alternative ways of obtaining credit.”

Pash believes Sabtuan Adult Education is well equipped to contin ue General Education online if necessary. A partnership between the CSB, the Eeyou-Eenou Community Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation has yielded a generous supply of laptops and technical sup port for adult ed students.

Distance learning resources have been available for all General Education and some Vocational Training courses on an optional basis committing to exclusively online edu since May. The future of the latter, cation for next fall, the CSB must which often requires greater handsre-examine its policies. on support, will depend on the evolv “This period is forcing us to think ing pandemic situation. creatively and innovate in so many

“We have various scenarios and different ways,” Pash explained. “In I’m very confident we’ll be able to a lot of ways, it’s forced us to come move into the start into the present of school with a because we weren’t plan in place,” able to offer online asserted Pash. learning opportu “We’re looking at nities before. It’s ways to offer some sort of virtual expe This period probably some thing that all school rience if we need is forcing us to boards should be to and protocols to bring people into think creatively able to do and we know online options Vocational Training situations in-per and innovate in have been available in post-secondary son safely.” With so many unknowns about so many different studies for a num ber of years now.” The dedication how the pandemic will impact soci ways with which teachers and other employ eties in coming - Sarah Pash, ees have embraced months, the CSB CSB chairperson the changing cir is planning for dif cumstances has ferent possibilities been particular in each of its edu ly encouraging cation sectors. For as the CSB faces instance, post-secondary students an uncertain future. Administration are normally funded to go to their staff have tirelessly developed and place of study, but with numerous maintained the OLP, ensuring stu colleges and universities already dents can access the resources they need – even printing out packages and delivering them to students when necessary.

“We’ve seen so many actions of real love and caring for the com munity and students,” said Pash. “We’ve seen teachers sitting outside of students’ houses reading stories, teachers participating in drive-bys, principals delivering work to students and encouraging them to keep going. That’s the kind of thing that’s kept us going during this time.”

Although there remain many unresolved questions regarding the upcoming school year, this crisis has undoubtedly created exciting oppor tunities that can only strengthen the CSB in the long-term. Pash feels that expanding learning options enables them to improve student engagement, which will make a real difference to completion rates at all levels.

“I’m grateful that we’ve moved through this period with our commu nities being minimally affected by the virus,” she said. “But I’m also grateful for the opportunities it’s given us to be innovative and take a real prob lem-solving approach to the ways we’ve been doing things and what makes sense going forward.”