Students will return to a different kind of school
There will be more online learning, extra cleaning and spread-out desks
Ontario elementary and secondary students will head back to schools in September that have been “reimagined” to keep kids safe from the novel coronavirus.
That’s the description used by Education Minister Stephen Lecce, who promises more details by the end of June.
But as long as physical distancing is part of the public health plan to protect against the spread of COVID-19, schools will have to be reconfigured to keep students apart.
That means not only transforming physical spaces but changing the way students learn and play at school.
How drastic those measures may be and how long they will remain depends on the course of the pandemic.
But some of the changes forced on schools by the emergency may have a lasting impact on publicly funded education.
Some experts even hope the crisis presents an opportunity to create a “new normal” that is better than the one students inhabited just a few months ago.
“We need an evaluation to understand more deeply, so we aren’t just thinking about ‘How do we do (distancing)?’ but what we have learned about education, and how do we need to evolve?” says Annie Kidder, executive director of People for Education, a research and advocacy group,
When Ontario schools closed in March, students shifted mainly to online education.
Schoolwork that’s moved online hastily might bear little comparison to carefully planned virtual courses. But many teachers have gained a better understanding of what works and what does not, says Kidder.
For some, it’s just reinforced the conviction that in-person classes are superior. Others may incorporate more elements of virtual learning in their teaching.
“There are huge possibilities in online learning,” says Kidder. “I hope some of the lessons learned are integrated.”
It’s likely schools will continue to lean more heavily on online learning, especially if there is a second wave of the pandemic or classes and schools are forced to close temporarily due to localized outbreaks of COVID-19.
“An important step to supporting safety in schools is allowing atrisk students and staff to stay home and ensuring that all suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 are immediately quarantined,” says a report by the non-profit Learning Policy Institute in the U.S., which summarizes guidelines used in five countries that have safely allowed students to return or continue in school during the pandemic.
“It is thus important for schools to provide ongoing distance learning and continuity plans to support students and staff who are in and out of school for health reasons.”
In Ontario, boards have distributed thousands of laptops and iPads to try to ensure as many students as possible can learn online while at home.
Kidder says one of the biggest lessons of the pandemic is the vital role played by public schools.
She says governments faced with the public cost of the pandemic may be tempted to cut education funding. That would be a mistake, in her opinion.
“We can’t make a generation suffer because there has been a pandemic. We really have to make sure these kids are not disadvantaged by this. We are going to have to spend money to make sure they get the education they deserve.”
If public health authorities determine classes must be smaller to keep students safe, that could be expensive.
Either more educators will have to be hired or the amount of time students spend in school will have to be reduced. It’s also not clear where extra space will be found in schools that are crowded.
The pandemic arrives at a time when Ontario has been trimming the education budget by cutting teachers and making classes larger.
However, Premier Doug Ford has also promised the government will do whatever it takes to keep Ontario kids safe at school.
Other jurisdictions give an indication of what may be in store for Ontario schools next fall if physical distancing is required.
In Quebec, schools opened for elementary students outside of Montreal last week. Classes are limited to 15 students, which is possible now because attendance is voluntary and many parents didn’t send their children back to school.
Desks are spaced apart. At some schools, students are confined to a two-metre bubble around their desk for most of the day. Sharing of books and other supplies is not allowed. That changes teaching methods, since group work is common in elementary schools.
Cleaning and sanitizing has been increased, and children wash their hands frequently.
Even at recess, children must keep two metres apart from each other. Some schools painted circles or lines on pavement to indicate where students should remain.
Some teachers got creative. At École St-Gérard in St-Jean-surRichelieu, southeast of Montreal, they invented a game called “walk the dog” by attaching picture of dogs to the end of hockey sticks, The Canadian Press reported. Children pretend to walk the dog while learning about the distance they must keep from each other.
Many questions remain about how and if students returning to school can be kept safe and two metres apart from each other, note Canadian education professors Pamela Osmond-Johnson, Carol Campbell and Katina Pollock in a recent article in Edcan.com. “Will there be Plexiglas for each desk? Will students wear masks? Will there be recess and how would it be supervised? How will applied courses take place? Will additional custodial staff be needed?”
In other countries, schools have adopted various measures, including taking the temperature of students; requiring masks; installing plastic shields or dividers around desks; and staggering arrivals, departures and class times.
In Denmark and Norway, classes are held outside as much as possible.
The physical changes, however, are easy compared to other challenges schools will face when children return, says Charles Pascal, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
He’s concerned about how schools will help both teachers and students deal with the emotional trauma some may have suffered due to isolation and stress during the pandemic, and how to support kids with special education needs.
“There are students falling through the cracks, big time.” jmiller@postmedia.com Twitter.com/JacquieAMiller