Barbour, M. K., LaBonte, R., & Nagle, J. (2020, December). A fall like no other (Part 2): Voices from the field [Webinar]. Canadian eLearning Network. https://youtu.be/BV6DySJIzlA

1. Joelle Nagle Randy LaBonte Michael K. Barbour
Stories from the Field:
Voices of K-12 Stakeholders During Pandemic
December 2020
A Special Report of the Canadian eLearning Network
https://www.flickr.com/photos/51035597898@N01/544654854/

2. WebinarFormat
1
Highlights
from the
vignettes
Insights
2 Discussion
Questions

3. SpringAttendanceExpectations
Most jurisdictions expected some level of attendance per
grade level:
• Alberta
• Manitoba
• Ontario
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• PEI
• NorthwestTerritories
• Yukon
Except for:
• Nunavut
• British Columbia
• Saskatchewan
• Quebec
• Newfoundland & Labrador

4. Fall2020StartDatesAcrossJurisdictions
Jurisdiction Delayed start
BritishColumbia Two day delay
Alberta No delay
Saskatchewan One week delay with a staggered start by last
name
Manitoba No delay
Ontario Two weeks or longer delay for remote and one
week delay for in-class with a staggered start
by grade level for in-class
Quebec No delay
New Brunswick No delay
Nova Scotia No delay
Prince Edward Island No delay
Newfoundland & Labrador No delay
Yukon No delay
NorthwestTerritories No delay
Nunavut No delay

5. MethodologyandSelection
• Unlike previous studies in this series, no systematic collection of data
• The researchers leveraged their professional and personal networks to solicit
• Cross selection of stakeholders included students, parents, teachers, school
and district leaders, trustees, and higher education personnel
• In instances where networks were lacking, cold contacts of individuals
identified through traditional and social media as representing a different
group of stakeholders, geographic region, and/or schooling level
• Each individual was simply asked to describe how the fall unfolded from their
perspective. Care was taken to ensure representation from across Canada in
each of the stakeholder groups (see Table following)

6. MethodologyandSelection
Jurisdiction Student Parent Teacher Leader Trustee Higher Education Total
BC 2 1 3
AB 1 1 1 3
SK 1 1 2
MN 0
ON 2 1 1 4
QC 1 2 2 5
NB 1 1
PE 0
NS 1 1
NL 1 1 1 1 4
NV 0
NT 0
YK 0
Total 6 4 4 5 2 2 23

7. LearningOptionsprovidedatthestartoftheFall
Fully in-class learning with distance learning an option
Fully in-class learning with distance learning an option
Fully in-class; remote learning with Google Classroom (LMS) for
elementary and asynchronous and synchronous (150 min/day);
blended learning using Blackboard with the Online Learning
Center and asynchronous and synchronous learning
Fully in-class; blended options for any student sick with COVID-
19 or secondary students
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba

8. LearningOptionsprovidedatthestartoftheFall
Fully in-class for grades K-8; remote for grades K-12 with either
offline packages or online synchronous and asynchronous
learning for five hours per day; blended for grades 9-12 with
asynchronous and synchronous learning; blended learning can
be a quadmester
Fully in-class for elementary; fully in-class or blended for
secondary
Fully in-class; remote paper-based for grades K-2; remote
paper-based with some online technology for grades 3-5;
technology-based asynchronous and synchronous for grades 6-
8; blended with asynchronous and synchronous for grades 9-12
Ontario
Québec
New Brunswick

9. LearningOptionsprovidedatthestartoftheFall
Fully in-class
Fully in-class instruction; remote learning for students home due
to COVID-19
Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland
and Labrador
Not specifiedNova Scotia

10. LearningOptionsprovidedatthestartoftheFall
Fully in-class for K-9; grades 10-12 can choose fully in-class or
blended
Fully in-class
NorthwestTerritories
Nunavut
Fully in-class for grades K-9;
Fully in-class in rural areas for grades 10-12; Whitehorse area
offers a blended asynchronous and synchronous approach
Yukon

11. SeptemberStartUpSummary
Required by most students out of class and where physical
distancing was not possible
Few jurisdictions offered new approaches beyond spring
offerings; some announced specific skills-building initiatives
Fewer number of courses in secondary programs to reduce
cohort groups and mixing; subject teachers rotate to cohorts
Some teachers shifted to teaching classroom and remote online
simultaneously, while students switched from class to home-
based learning or the reverse
Masks
Remote Learning
Quadmester Schedules
Shift to Hybrid

12. Active COVID-19 cases across Canada During the Re-opening
of Schools (September 8 and December 1, 2020)

13. Stories from the field on how school re-opening looked from their perspective
The
Vignettes
Photo by Maximilian Scheffler on Unsplash

14. Student Summary
• Procrastination in isolation
• Interactions with few
• Too many things to remember to do
Personal
Pace
• Too fast, too slow
• Too overwhelming, too boring
• Simply unengaging
• Too close, too far
• Too structured, too boring
• No fun, no more
People

15. Student Voices
• “a roller coaster of ups and downs”Experienced
Thinking
• “without bad things… you’ll never get to see how
amazing good things are in the long run”
• “I began to doodle on a sheet of paper that lay
beside me, gazing outside at the grey sky while I
was vaguely aware of what my fingers were up to.
I’ve been doing a lot of that recently. Not much
else to do besides homework and chores. Not
exactly my idea of fun.”
Feeling

16. Teacher Summary
• Students feel trapped, pandemic has altered school life entirely
• Keep these four underlying philosophies in mind to support
practice: equity, engagement, excellence, and empathy
Personal
Pace
• All eyes were on government announcements, health protocols,
physical distancing in schools, and masks.
• Calls for smaller class sizes, more effective cleaning protocols,
funding for remote learning, and mask mandates dominated the
social and media conversation.
• Tried and true practices of hand delivering print materials and
resources directly to students filled in gaps when digital and
online delivery was not reaching
People

17. Teacher Voices
“in the past teaching online typically meant content delivery and
marking… online teachers are more than that now, busy with emails,
phone calls, meetings, marking, reporting, and curriculum
development”
Experienced
Thinking
“accepting that the exact opportunities and learning experiences will
be different for students at home was an important part of successful
hybrid teaching for me”
“it is essential that class size limits be put in place for online schools
given the increasing numbers and the demands of a quadmester”
“However, pandemic fatigue is prominent. Students either forget or
simply do not pull the mask up. As a teacher, the constant vigilance for
perceived breaks in protocol is exhausting.”
“Christmas break is close, and we need the break to recharge…”
Feeling

18. Leaders Summary
By being “nimble and alert” schools and programs were able to offer
online resources and learning opportunities for parents and students
working at home, and now are focusing on how teachers can shift
their pedagogy to better support remote teaching.
Personal
Pace
Some students and parents chose at first to be in school, others at
home, then many changed their minds. School leaders were expected
to “pivot” – a word widely used during this pandemic that implies
inherent simplicity, which is not the case in such a broad and
encompassing social enterprise that is public education.
The vignettes tell the tale of the toll extracted from school and district
leaders as they continue to navigate in a deadly game of dodgeball
with COVID-19 and the resulting chaos of unpredictability and ever-
changing needs.
People

19. Leaders Voices
• “We are now being asked more than ever to provide resources
and services linked to SEL, and while we introduced
mindfulness into our online classes two years ago, this is an
area where an organization has much more to do.”
Experienced
Thinking
• “Transitioning to teaching online is a very complex process,
particularly shifting to an online format in such a short time
frame.”
• “Finally, without knowing what the pandemic future might
bring, we are revisiting all of our start of year processes to find
efficiencies should we see anywhere near a repeat of the fall of
2020.”
• “Even with all the challenges of building a new school in such a
short period of time, it has been an extremely rewarding
experience to see what has developed out of a few ideas on a
notepad and the hard work of the teachers, support staff,
curriculum supports, and leadership.”
Feeling

20. Others Summary
Broadcasting classroom to homes “Zoom school” does not work
– students need individual, small group sessions to establish
rapport and engage.
Personal
Pace
The value of being in the classroom and school for social and
emotional connection with other adults and peers is only more
confirmed by experiences during the pandemic.
Starting a virtual school from scratch was also a major
challenge, despite having the most incredible and capable staff
working on it.
People

21. Other Voices
• ”I did not expect to see so many underprivileged families
choose remote learning. One of the main reasons why they did
was due to living in susceptible multigenerational families.”
Experienced
Thinking
• “socio-emotional and developmental benefits of in-person
instruction for our child seem far more apparent than they did
before”
• “there is no substitute for human connection – and that it is
possible to experience this sense of connection with a teacher
online”
• “I fear that we will go back to the way things were, rather than
considering and responding to the amazing learning
experiences happening everyday in our K-12 online contexts.”
Feeling

22. https://sites.google.com/view/canelearn-ert/