‘Nothing can replace face-to-face learning,’ laments Vaughan teacher

In time of COVID-19, teacher says some students are ‘working increased hours as essential workers'

Yorkregion.com
May 18, 2020

Like everyone else, Vito Totino -- a York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) teacher and father of two from Vaughan -- faces challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic sent its unwelcome shock waves to every household and business across Canada.

Totino called his challenges “two-fold,” one as a teacher and the other as a parent, much like other “parents who work with children are experiencing,” he said.

“Making sure my students have what they need to succeed and making sure that my own children have what they need to thrive is at the forefront of my mind all day long, and often as I try to fall asleep each night,” said Totino, who wrote his answers via an email in collaboration with his wife, Amelia Libertucci, a high school teacher.

“Let me be clear, absolutely nothing can replace face-to-face learning and what we are doing right now is certainly not ‘e-learning,’” explained Totino, who teaches Grade 9 Canadian geography, and Grade 11 introduction to anthropology, psychology, and sociology.

“This is online emergency learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

For Ontario students, COVID-19 means less homework plus a ministerial order that their grades won’t be lower than their pre-pandemic scores.

“This has been problematic for teachers and parents as they struggle to keep students engaged when some students who are happy with what their mark was as of March 13 are content to disengage and prioritize other things in their lives,” said the educator, who longs to return to “normalcy.”

“I recognize that the idea is to not penalize students who are essential workers, baby-siting their siblings, having difficulties with mental health (who isn’t) and other supports required to get through this time,” he added, alluding to the issue of equity, one of the biggest obstacles involving education in time of COVID-19.

Totino, himself, has students whom he dubbed as “heroes,” who are “working increased hours as essential workers at grocery stores and takeout restaurants.”

This “has cut into their learning time,” he lamented. To further describe education in the time of COVID-19, Totino wrote, “What is lacking is the luxury of simply learning for the love of learning.”

Both Totino and his wife “acknowledge” their “privilege” for being a two-teacher household for their kids as “other families are having serious difficulty with this emergency online learning.”

“I try to keep things light with my students, always asking them how they are and asking them to reflect on the positives of this process,” the teacher said. “I often provide them with appropriate lighthearted videos or editorial cartoons that will hopefully bring a smile to their face.”

But the challenges faced by educators, parents and students also involve the way technology is rolled out.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed schools to opt for online learning with much-reduced hours, it has also created a non-uniform pattern of some boards using video-conferencing technology more than others.

In late April, an online petition launched urging the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) to “allow teachers to use video conferencing.” As of May 11, the change.org petition had garnered 1,700 signatures, with a target of 2,500 supporters.

Unlike YRDSB, the Catholic board has given its teachers the “option to hold live, virtual teaching sessions as part of their delivery of distance learning.”

For Miri Blumenfeld, a YRDSB mother who has hired math, English and French tutors for her daughter, Lenore, the lack of student-teacher engagement isn’t just about grades, but about “Who is going to YouTube to learn Algebra?”

The mother described how her friends and relatives in Montreal and Simcoe shared word of their children’s ability to access video conferencing technology. Blumenfeld is now considering enrolling her daughter in a private school -- but affording it is a problem.

PROMS, GRADUATION

The cancellation of proms is another heartbreaking blow for Grade 12 students.

YRDSB decided to cancel proms and postpone graduations. For YCDSB, however, all events are cancelled until the end of the 2019-20 school year, but the board said there is a possibility of holding graduation ceremonies in the fall for Grade 8 and Grade 12 students -- if public health allows.

In a video posted on Twitter May 11, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce said Grade 12 students need their “hard work recognized,” and that’s why he sent a memo to school boards, saying that “proms and graduation ceremonies need to be protected and not cancelled.”

Grade 12 student Jared Weiner from Vaughan is showing some resilience amid the uncertainty and disappointment.

Weiner is among 35 other student leaders from across the country, who are planning #PromisOn2020 online on May 22, using Student Life Network (SLN), Canada’s largest online resource hub for students and recent grads with a built-in community of more than 1 million members.

“We’re celebrating our senior year together, apart,” said Weiner.