A better deal for students
Journalism was the only thing I ever wanted to do and the only thing I was ever much good at. As a lagniappe to a long reporting career, I ended up teaching it at Humber College.
Teaching has been among the most gratifying experiences of my working life, and it’s true — as so many instructors say — that I’ve learned as much from my students as I’ve taught them.
Among the lessons I’ve learned is what a lousy deal post-secondary students have received in the past three years. What I would like to see in 2022 is some form of compensation and tangible acknowledgment of that fact.
The COVID-19 pandemic turned their experience into something almost unrecognizable from what previous generations enjoyed, those three or four years of learning, playing and growing into adulthood.
There are students who will graduate from three-year programs this spring who have been robbed of all the benefits social interaction brings: the bustle and energy; the chance encounters and new friendships; the stress relief of extracurriculars; hanging around gyms — to them, these are just stories told by their elders.
And yet, they’ve been required to pay the same tuition they would if it were business as usual. It isn’t right.
Surveys suggest that what students miss most in the postsecondary experience is the interaction with peers and instructors. Many have said they simply did not feel part of their college or university community, an emotional connection for luckier generations that often carries through lifetimes.
What takes the biggest toll is spending most of their waking hours in front of screens, locked in their rooms — often lacking privacy and frequently relying on dodgy internet connections.
Those circumstances sap their motivation, energy and ability to focus. In huge numbers, they report increased anxiety and depression, loneliness, stress and worry about their futures.
Simply put, online teaching does not deliver the same quality as in-person learning. On that, faculty and students overwhelmingly agree.
Attendance, participation and grades all seem to improve with in-person learning. Facing screens of names, instructors can’t bring the same energy or read the room, monitoring eyes or body language to see who’s getting it and who’s adrift.
If the purpose of teaching is not to fill a bucket with knowledge but to light a spark of learning, it is a very difficult task online. It would be an admirable thing in the new year if colleges and universities — supported by the provincial government — acknowledged this by cutting tuition for current students, and providing rebates to students who have paid during the past three years for services they did not truly receive.
Students are among those groups disproportionately disrupted by COVID-19. They are of a generation already too familiar with an unwelcoming economy and the mental-health consequences of the technological revolution.
Now, they fear graduating with fewer skills and facing even more hurdles in the labour market.
In Ontario, the provincial government could devise a modern iteration of the G.I. Bill, enhanced student loans and financial support, possibly some debt forgiveness.
The province could also provide incentives to employers to create more job and training opportunities for students and recent graduates.
A political party planning, say, for the 2022 Ontario election could do worse than aim to mobilize young voters by acknowledging their losses and rightful claim to a better deal.
If the purpose of teaching is not to fill a bucket with knowledge but to light a spark of learning, it is a very difficult task online