Summer of uncertainty ahead for teachers and parents

And with all that has changed in how education has been delivered over the past three and a half months, the Prince George District Teachers’ Association hopes this all has provided people an opportunity to reflect on the impact that teachers have on our children.

“I would like people to really recognize that we turned around on a dime and created an online program that no one expected, not everyone was comfortable with, but everyone did and – from what I’ve been told – did successfully,” said Joanne Hapke, President of the PG District Teachers’ Association. “Not everyone had 100 per cent online, but it was just the combination. And the teachers’ desire to reach out and continue to connect with the kids, with their students, that was huge.”

The Chairperson of the Prince George District Parent Advisory Council, Andrea Beckett, says this entire unprecedented experience has brought on a new respect for their children’s educators.

“I know personally I have always respected that. My best friend is a teacher and I have always said I could never teach, she has said she could never nurse, and we’re like ‘great, we’re on the same field.’ But I think for most families, they finally have a true understanding of complex it is, and probably they didn’t realize how hard it is to teach children that are all different.”

Beckett admits she quickly realized she couldn’t go about the at-home learning the same between her daughters.

“They’re totally different in how they learn. I’ve just figured out to get this one understand her math and now I’m clueless in how to make the older one, but she gets the language arts really well. You notice they all have different attention spans or those unique little nuances that teachers always knew.”

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, education has been a ‘rollercoaster of change’ according to Hapke, which has been one of the most difficult things for teachers.

“Even the fact that we have children back in our classrooms was a change because when we returned, and even into the beginning fo May, it was never expected that we would have children in our classrooms the rest fo this year.”

Teachers were very happy to see their students again, however, not knowing what education would look like has taken its toll on educators.

“Trying to support and online program with an in-class program at the same time has been difficult. The District was really good to say when the kids returned that we would do our remote learning on Wednesday, but a lot of teachers were wanting to combine the remote with the in-class instruction.”

According to Hapke, it was safer, both for the teachers and the students, to separate the two.

Hapke does state the current method of delivering instruction is unsustainable and hopes that changes, regardless of where we’re at in terms of the pandemic come September.

“Teachers are putting in even more hours than typical. Teachers are trying to maintain their professionalism and get through the curriculum, and trying to assess children the way we’ve always done even though our employer is saying it’s not necessary right now.”

She adds that they don’t know anything now with regards to schooling in September and probably won’t know until August 20, 2020.

“That’s the date we’re told that the Ministry is supposed to be announcing where we are for the return, and then there’s still another two weeks after that before school resumes. Anything can happen in those two weeks.”

Hapke acknowledged the fact that some teachers may be changing schools or changing grades that they’re teaching, which already presents some stress for teachers. She says there’s a lot of anxiety in the unknown, especially with COVID-19 keeping much out of anyone’s hands.

The same is felt by the parents as well.

“With families, we plan. We need to be able to plan and know who’s doing what. This unknown is probably the biggest stressor. I think people have realized that there’s been no outbreaks of COVID in our schools, we’ve been really lucky. But I think people are starting to feel safer about whether they can send their kids back to school, but it’s not as simple as ‘is it safe to send my child.'”

The first day of the 2020/2021 academic year is slated for September 8, 2020.

by Ethan Ready

Summer of uncertainty ahead for teachers and parents

What's Trending