Muna Kadri Profile picture
16 Mar, 33 tweets, 8 min read
Starting a thread on this important event.

This year hybrid learning crept into our classrooms under the false pretence that it's a necessity right now.

Hybrid learning steals learning opportunities from students & is an unacceptable ask of educators.

#OSSTF #ETFO #AEFO #OECTA
Starting with a talk about how the general public doesn't have a clear idea about what's happening in schools.

This has been designed as a community town hall on purpose, bringing together all of the stakeholders. Students, parents, education workers, an open invite.
We're all here because we all want quality public education.

We learned this year that if we're going to have any success in having strong public education in Ontario it has to be a combined effort.

Last year proved that community connections are essential to protect schools.
.@BBFarhadi is the first speaker tonight.

The hybrid model is a crisis model of education.

Wants to place an emphasis about the urgency of the situation. Hybrid learning has been snowballing at a rapid pace.
This model was originally designed for graduate students and required quite a bit of skills and resources from students and had supports built in for instructors.
In a post secondary context the model experienced a variety of challenges.

Nevertheless, #COVID19 caused this model to bleed into our schools and is spreading.

Elementary students are now being forced into this model that was originally designed for graduate students.
The hybrid model is not a sound pedagogical solution, but a response to financial problem.

This model creates a two tiered system of learning, we're forcing kids to adapt to a model built for an elite graduate program. We're also separating them from their network of peers.
Online learning has been politicized and that's why it demands a political response.

Crisis has been used to convince the public to accept this, but the underfunding of education is starting to make this feel more permanent. We need to organize to stop that.
Next up is parent organizer @romanaandahmad who has worked with many groups such as @parentaction4ed.

The pandemic has unleashed anxiety, stress, grief and other strong emotions.

After much advocacy from communities we received $1.6 billion in covid school funding.
At the start of the year, families were given the choice to learn in school or at home.

Being in class or online posed different sets of challenges for students.

The pandemic impacted people differently.
Black, Indigenous and racialized communities have been disproportionately impacted by covid and that was clear in Peel.

As more families moved to online learning, the #PDSB switched to a hybrid model.
Concerns about privacy, access, connections between teachers and students, the depersonalization of education and other issues arose.

Real communication strain in this model, difficult for students and teachers to read cues and adapt.
Presenting quotes from families about experiences and there are a vast range of experiences in the model.

Even in single families, siblings have very different experiences in the model.

Concerns about what next year will look like.
A push for families to go to supportourschools.ca to push @fordnation to renew the $1.6 billion of covid related funding to help keep the hybrid model out of our schools and bring in some stability.
Next up is teacher @JBradshaw01.

Comparing the hybrid model to "chess boxing". Chess boxing is exactly what it sounds like, rounds of chess and boxing happening back and forth.

You can win by succeeding in either round. (I need to google this.)
None of the students participating in the hybrid model get a dedicated teacher.

Each audience requires different strategies, creating an impossible situation for the teacher and students.
The time required to plan and set up teaching in the hybrid model are immense.

Managing in the classroom is almost impossible because it blocks the ability to meet the needs of students because they are in 2 separate places, learning in 2 different mediums.
The #PDSB switched to a hybrid model because it was more convenient than maintaining a virtual school.

Student and education worker experiences are being sacrificed for the sake of convenience for school boards.
This model creates a system where 1 group of students becomes an afterthought. 1 teacher can't meet the needs of 2 groups of students, in different places, at the same time.

There's also a lack of support for Special Education students who require my personalized assistance.
Teachers are burning out physically, mentally and emotionally.

They are filled with guilt because they know they are not providing the best education for students.

Who is winning in this scenario? (@fordnation)
Our last speaker is a #PDSB student, Sam Sarjeant.

Loves drama and community activism.

He doesn't represent all student voice and centres himself in his own lived experience.

He's watching his amazing teachers struggle in this model.
The hybrid model is forcing his teachers to become more generic and that has stripped the amazing learning experiences he had in his classes last year.

(He's doing an amazing job of describing the depersonalization and automation of education in this model.)
Authentic conversations are hard in this model, language has to be more deliberate.

No sporadic collaboration and communication between students because they are in separate places.

Shouts out amazing drama teacher @MaryFramilton.
The loss of interaction in his classes has degenerated the quality of ideas students feel like they can generate.

(As he talks you really feel like he's mourning over the loss of an education system he loved so much. We have to get this back for our kids.)
He acknowledges his financial privilege in buying the resources he needs to succeeds, many students don't have the same capability.

The hybrid model has also limited his ability to develop relationships with education workers.
The hybrid model limits community building experiences in schools.

It limits the ability for us to see the humanity in one another and creates more barriers.

This model disadvantages students who don't have certain skillsets, an example is initiative.
Questions now: what can unions do to work with parents to stop the hybrid model?

A: focus on working together. Before covid there was collaboration. We need to go back to not allowing the division. We need to focus on the common goal.
q: how can teachers resist this model?

A: lean on educators who are already involved (dm me and I'm happy to connect you with work that's already happening) Thanks for the shoutout @BBFarhadi.

We all have a voice. Social media can amplify your voice, use that voice.
q: no one is benefiting from this model, why was it picked?

A: Cost. It's clearly in the reports.
Q: What do we need to do to support students traumatized by this model?

A: Kids need to be safe, build relationships & dialogue.

We will heal through relationships.
Q: how can we pressure boards to stop this from continuing?

A: boards have leeway, but the pressure has to be placed on the provincial government. They need the will to spend the funding.

Unions, educators, families, grassroots movements we need to have our voices heard.
Stay mad.

Take political action.

Get your message out.

Replace politicians who don't know the value of public education.
And we're done for now, but we will likely come together again.

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