Archive

• Supporting Educators through the Post-COVID-19 Recovery Phase

  June 2, 2020 10:46 AM Comments Off on Supporting Educators through the Post-COVID-19 Recovery Phase

  On behalf of the EdCan Board and Advisory Council, I would like to wish our network members across the country continued safety and well-being during this challenging time. If you’re feeling over-Zoomed, over-burdened and isolated, you are not alone.

  We recognize that the stressful uncertainties associated with the “new normal” back-to-school awaiting teachers, staff and students will place even more strain on their mental health and well-being.

  When the pandemic arrived in Canada, EdCan temporarily pivoted our Well at Work initiative – which aims to shift mindsets by showcasing research, policy and practice that results in healthier, happier, and more resilient K-12 staff – to Well at Home. We continue to offer our original, and carefully curated, tools and tips to help you (the front-line first-responders and system leader heroes) to take care of yourselves.

  We unfortunately have had no choice but to postpone our Pan-Canadian Summit on K-12 Staff Well-Being that had been scheduled for November 2-4, 2020, but we continue to feature the foremost experts on this topic in an ongoing series of free webinars over the next few months with the goal of maintaining momentum on this crucial issue. I also encourage you to consider using our Well at Work Professional Development Discussion Kit, which offers group discussion and self-reflection guides that can help you and your colleagues unpack how you can strengthen social and emotional well-being together to achieve healthier schools.

  Please continue to follow our social media accounts and subscribe to our e-newsletters for our latest blog posts and podcasts with a pan-Canadian perspective, from some of our country’s leading education thinkers, about how we move forward together. We encourage you to add your voice to this ongoing dialogue and please let us know how we can continue to support you and your colleagues to be at your best. Most importantly, please continue to be mindful and kind to yourselves by acknowledging how quickly this situation was cast upon us and how well we’ve all done to ensure that all children continue to learn.

  Find Us Online

  www.edcan.ca/wellathome

  www.edcan.ca/wellatwork

  https://edcansummit.ca/webinar-series

   

• Trading Up

  10:36 AM Comments Off on Trading Up

  As we finalized the articles for this issue of Education Canada, schools and campuses across the country had been closed for about a month to reduce the spread of COVID-19. It looked like students would not be back in class anytime soon. And we were wondering how much sense it made to ship boxes of magazines to empty buildings.

  Those closed schools are the reason we are not printing our May issue. Like the teachers and profs who have turned to online technology to connect with their students, we have created an online-only magazine. We invite you to enjoy the PDF version as you “shelter in place.”

  In this issue of Education Canada we focus on the skilled trades, and specifically on the K-12 system’s role in connecting students to trades training.

  So here’s the dilemma. While I still devoutly believe in the value of a liberal arts education, our world is full of highly educated young adults working precarious minimum-wage service jobs because that’s all they could find. Many of them never even considered skilled trades. Probably nobody ever suggested that they were worth looking into. Some students may have even been steered away from trades when they expressed interest.

  Meanwhile, well paying, challenging, steady jobs are going unfilled in many trades sectors. While it’s not up to K-12 schools to qualify students for a trade, we think we could be doing a better job of introducing them to the trades as a desirable career path. We also need more options that allow secondary students to “try before they buy” (and ideally earn credits at the same time), and more fluid pathways that allow students to combine academic and skills-based training.

  In our theme section, two innovative Canadian programs that give high schools students a great head start in trades (“TAP into Trades, p. 14, and “Youth Train in Trades,” p. 22) share how they fill that gap. And looking at the bigger picture, David Livingstone and Milosh Raykov (p. 18) discuss the need for expanded apprenticeship programs and better linkages between our education and apprenticeship systems. Paul Stastny (p. 25) examines our other big labour need – digital technology skills – and how the digitizing of many trades creates new opportunities, while Alison Taylor (on our website) argues for experiential and work-integrated learning programs as a means of breaking down “the binary between vocational and professional education.”

  Perhaps it comes down to that old ideal of a “well-rounded education.” Shouldn’t an education include learning how to do things as well as how to know things? And can’t we, as Taylor suggests, educate students in a way that prepares them for both democratic citizenship and employability?

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  Photo: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, June 2020

• The Power of Why

  June 1, 2020 4:32 PM Comments Off on The Power of Why

  On Instagram, a quote from Stuart Shanker’s Mehrit Centre pops: “It’s not misbehaviour, it’s stress behaviour and how you react will make all the difference.”

  I philosophically believe the statement. As a Vice-Principal, I work with my staff to build a welcoming and understanding school. But I saw the true power of that message the day my daughter quit her job.

  Sixteen was tough. For my daughter, it brought an utter disconnect from school. There were suspensions, missed credits, and daily attendance calls. We had loud fights, and I’d let her go for a walk afterwards because she needed it, even though I was scared she might not come home.

  School has never been easy for her. At age eight, she was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder, which affects the nerves running between her ears, blurring the sounds before they reach her brain. Because she can’t process sounds clearly, it is hard for her to decode words and writing is difficult.

  In Grade 8, there was a test she didn’t study for and failed dismally. She told me it was on Lois Reilly and the Mets. I searched my brain for any knowledge of a Lois Reilly in Canadian History, and the Mets… all I could think of was the baseball team.

  Slowly I connected the dots. “Do you mean Louis Riel and the Métis?”

  That was it. In class, she had worked on writing the notes while the teacher had talked. She couldn’t focus on both. It was all in her Individual Education Plan, but her disability is invisible, and often people only see a disengaged teenager. People don’t understand her needs, so she shuts down.

  Her work life was good, though. McDonald’s hired her, and she liked it. She loved the kitchen camaraderie and the money. McDonald’s was structured. First, she learned the deep fryer, then the grill, and then the prepping area.

  This success gave me hope. With work, I saw the girl I’ve always known.

  Then they moved her to the front counter. Some voices were easy for her, but some she couldn’t hear at all. Stress seeped into her workplace. I told her to explain her situation to the manager, but acknowledging differences is hard at 16. She started showing up late and missing shifts. Then she no longer had a job.

  Months later, she was hired at Subway for one three-hour shift a week. When people ordered specialty sandwiches she couldn’t remember the toppings, and when she asked her co-workers for help, they told her to read the support sheet. But with a line-up of people, processing written instructions was stressful. The complaints about work began.

  Circumstances didn’t help. She traded one shift, but her co-worker cancelled en route. The next week, she wrote her schedule down incorrectly. Her boss texted her halfway through the shift, and she was hysterical.

  “I’m going to get fired. I’m not ready for a job right now.”

  I managed to get her to text him back, but he wanted to speak with her.

  “I’m going to quit,” she said. “I can’t do this.”

  On the phone, she took full responsibility for missing her shifts. She apologized and then gave her two-weeks’ notice.

  And instead of accepting her resignation, her boss asked her why. He told her she’d been doing a great job and that both customers and staff had said positive things about her.

  She told him everything. She told him about her hearing and that reading instructions when there was a line-up was stressful. She said the shifts were too short and too few, so that she had to re-learn everything each time. She said she’d mentioned she couldn’t work Tuesdays but kept getting her shift on Tuesdays.

  Then he asked her what she needed.

  Her answer was simple: longer shifts, more of them, and Tuesdays off.

  He said he would work on it.

  I cried from the other room.

  The impact of that simple “why” was monumental. His questions gave her dignity and respect. She was able to acknowledge her challenges and identify what she needed. He listened to and supported her.

  I wish for that in her classroom. I wish her teachers would ask her why, and that she felt comfortable enough to share her reality, but it doesn’t happen. Yet as educators we have that power. “It’s not misbehaviour, it’s stress behaviour and how you react will make all the difference.” It’s truer than we know.

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  Illustration: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, June 2020

• Reconceptualizing Disability in Education

  4:17 PM Comments Off on Reconceptualizing Disability in Education

  Luigi Iannacci’s Reconceptualizing Disability in Education elevates the discussion of how we “do” school for learners with disabilities and outlines pedagogical practices and discourses that favourably shape the identities of such learners.

  Iannacci’s narrative style will appeal to all levels of educators, from elementary to graduate schools of teacher education, and to scholars working in the areas of inclusion, special education, and literacy. I have used this book in both an undergraduate class and a graduate class on personalized learning, to elucidate the connections among inclusion, 21st century notions of student-centered practices, and the implications of using multiliteracies to reach the needs of all learners. The pre-service teachers in my class were particularly moved by Chapter 3’s recounting of the story Evan’s Paper Crane, a transformative anecdote about a student who finds joy and empowerment in becoming the “knower” and “the skillful one.” My graduate class was taken with both the scope and boldness of the writing, as Iannacci explains why current practices for students with disabilities are woefully inadequate, and calls for a reconceptualization of disability in education

  This carefully crafted book will inspire educators to develop an inclusive learning environment informed by multiliteracies. Eschewing prescriptive strategies for setting up such an environment, Iannacci points to foundational principles that involve immersion in a variety of multimodal texts that enable literacy development for all students by thinking about them in asset-oriented ways, then differentiating instruction to ensure their success.

  The book’s special chapter for parents provoked a productive discussion in my classes of how to approach and support the families of these learners.

  It is rare to find a “good read” that also serves as an excellent reference text for educators who are advocating for learners with disabilities. This book does just that.

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  Photo: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, June 2020

  Lexington Books, 2018. ISBN-13: 978-1498542753

• Effective Collaborative Practices in ESL Education

  3:55 PM Comments Off on Effective Collaborative Practices in ESL Education

  English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers need to work with classroom teachers and other colleagues to ensure optimal learning for English Language Learners. This qualitative study looked at the barriers and facilitators to effective collaboration.

  Contemporary English language learners (ELLs) have language learning needs that are often supported through a complement of in-school professionals, including English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, classroom teachers, educational resource teachers, coaches, ESL consultants, and administrators. Integrating content-based teaching with appropriate skill-level tasks for ELLs requires a collaborative effort between classroom teachers and ESL teachers.

  To understand the factors that facilitate collaboration in ESL education, we interviewed and observed the teaching practices of four ESL teachers in Southern Ontario. Based on the findings of these qualitative data, which complement and are supported by existing research, we provide some conditions that truly nurture innovation between ESL teachers and classroom teachers.

  When ESL teachers and classroom teachers collaborate, each educator brings a unique perspective and repertoire of knowledge and experience, and it often takes time to negotiate ways of combining these lenses to create an educational plan. Thus, one condition of collaboration is for educators to feel supported in contributing their specialization area within a collaborative relationship. Administrative support is also essential. When collaboration is prioritized by school administrators, resources and allocated time for collaborative practice are designated with an ESL focus, facilitating more authentic collaboration.

  Our research revealed that ESL teachers negotiated collaboration based on a desire to work together and a belief that a cohesive educator team is important in ESL education. However, these ESL teachers encountered barriers such as a lack of training, technology and tools to facilitate collaboration and lack of time to do so. This resulted in limited and informal, surface-level collaboration.

  Teaching approach

  ESL educators often work with several different students at several different schools, so collaboration with the classroom teachers is essential. When ESL teachers and classroom teachers collaborate, there is potential for consistency and efficiency in pedagogical planning of targeted learning strategies for ELLs. Caroline, an ESL teacher, told us, “I love collaborating with teachers because I feel like it’s taking a little bit of stress off of them, initially, but it’s also giving them a toolkit so they’re prepared the next time around.”

  Echoing this sentiment, other ESL teacher participants talked about successful collaborative relationships with classroom teachers that develop over time. Professional relationships among ESL teachers and classroom teachers that were described as authentic extended beyond situational conversations about particular events in the classroom. These relationships were rooted in a sense of reduced role differentiation between the ESL teachers and classroom teachers.

  The time crunch

  To collaborate effectively, educators working with ELLs need to have dedicated time in order to meet and co-plan, co-teach to some extent, and co-evaluate curriculum planning for ELLs. This need for devoted time for teachers to meet is a pervasive issue cited by others as well.¹ Grant, an ESL teacher, talks about the challenge of finding meeting time:

  “The challenge I think in terms of collaboration is sometimes finding that time to meet with the teacher… Because classroom teachers have so many things going on, so it’s tough…”

  Caroline spoke of the difficulty of carving out time for ESL among competing priorities:

  “I try to invite myself to those collaboration meetings [laughs], because then you can put an ESL perspective on the table. We have a half day each term that we’re allowed to use… to meet with teachers, but a lot of us find that’s just not enough time to meet with all the teachers we need to meet with… I do a lot of my meetings unofficially… And I’m always apologetic for using their time, because I know that prep time for them is so precious. But… in the end, it’s beneficial for both of us, because I can do a lot to help support them. I might co-teach a lesson, or I might, you know, plan a lesson based around something that they’re working on so that they don’t have to plan that lesson, and now they have time to do something else.”

  This is a testament to the struggle experienced by all ESL teachers to liaise and support classroom teachers’ practice as well as meet Ministry of Education mandates to complete required documentations for ELLs.

  Central to this collaboration is a shared desire to approach curriculum mapping with an ESL-specific focus, to set goals for as well as with ELLs, and to evaluate and modify plans along the way. ESL teacher Nicole talks about collaboration to build on ELLs’ strengths: “It’s like optimizing the support, but seeing that all the kids are capable and competent. [Focusing on] what do they know, and how can we move them forward, instead of looking at them as having a deficit.”

  When educators took the time to co-plan in preparation for an upcoming unit, observations showed that they used instructional strategies such as small groups or one-on-one conferencing with ELLs, and as a result, provide differentiated instruction. There are recent examples of ESL teachers and content-area teachers co-planning using the principles of differentiated instruction in cooperative learning-centered approaches.² This is beneficial to ELLs, as each of these students has unique learning and language needs.

  When ESL teachers and classroom teachers collaborate, there is potential for consistency and efficiency in pedagogical planning for English language learners.

  The crucial follow-up to this teaching approach is creating opportunities for teachers to discuss their observations and review effective teaching strategies. Thus, in addition to planning and teaching systems, it is crucial to also incorporate assessment systems in order to adjust pedagogy to meet ELLs’ needs. Collaboration among educators on assessment that informs ESL instruction (and not just program placement)³ is also an area for professional growth.

  Technology as a collaborative tool

  We asked how ESL teachers collaborate with in-school teams of educators to use instructional resources (digital and/or non-digital) to promote language instruction with ELLs.

  We found that ESL teachers supplemented non-digital resources with resources created by classroom teachers. Collaboration was focused on the goals of educational plans for ELLs, and resources to support ELLs in achieving these goals. In terms of non-digital resources, an emergent theme was that ESL teachers had over time created a repository of tools that could be adapted to fit individual ELLs’ learning needs. One aspect of collaboration that teachers considered valuable was how the ESL teachers shared these resources with other educational professionals (such as resource teachers) as a way of optimizing the time of all educators.

  A second important finding was that, although ESL teacher participants saw the benefits of using technology to aid ELLs, collaboration in relation to the use of technological platforms in ESL education tended to remain at the surface level. For example, imparting technological resources was limited to sharing websites and pass codes for English translation or leveled texts.

  Google Drive is one technology that is being used as a dynamic tool to support sharing and collaboration in literacy pedagogy and language instruction in the Canadian ESL classroom.⁴ Caroline, for example, had developed a bank of resources that she was willing to share with any teacher that could use them: “The beautiful thing about Google Drive is, once you kind of get it organized, it’s there for you. So next year, I don’t necessarily have to do that again, I can just pull it out and add or adapt what I need to do.”

  To improve the use of technological platforms in ESL education, it is imperative that the technological tools chosen by educators provide students with immediate feedback, to prevent students from making schematic integrations of incorrect responses. In this way, students gain an awareness of where errors are made, and can apply this new learning in the future. Platforms such as chatrooms in educational apps are being used with great success.⁵ Educators need opportunities to collaborate on integrating technology in instruction in ways that promote critical thinking and problem solving to guide students to meaningful learning.

  Expanding collaboration

  Our research reveals that ESL teachers value shared professional development as a way of enhancing collaboration with classroom teachers.

  ESL teacher participants in this research project recognized that collaborating with educators within as well as across other school boards, may introduce them to innovative practices that they had otherwise not considered. Lauren recalled her involvement in an ESL symposium during the summer hosted by the local school board. The symposium was focused on ESL instruction and included ESL educators from various boards. Lauren found it beneficial to share experiences with different ESL teachers. Her recommendation was for more ESL teachers to be aware of such initiatives and become involved in large-scale events to interact and collaborate with various educators. Both Caroline and Lauren talked about the benefits of partnering up with other school boards to collaborate and share strategies. These ESL teachers recognized that collaboration is required to improve and incorporate strategies that have been successful for other educators.

  Facilitating connections among educators working with ELLs across the province to share successful approaches and develop tools that can be adapted and utilized in ESL education is a way to hasten the spread and uptake of innovative practice.

  A collaborative approach in ESL education creates more supportive and nurturing environments for ELLs to thrive in. When ESL education is prioritized and approached as an inclusive practice aimed at blending the professional knowledge of several educators and backed by administrative support,⁶ ELLs as well as ESL teachers are not marginalized, and the success of students with various literacy requirements are considered as part of an inclusive practice.

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  Photo: iStock

  First published in Education Canada, June 2020

  NOTES

  1 A. Honigsfeld and M. Dove, “When Do Teachers and ESL Specialists Collaborate and Co-teach?” in Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (SAGE: 2010).

  2 G. M. Awada and K. H. Faour, “Effect of Glogster and Cooperative Learning Differentiated Instruction on Teachers’ Perceptions,” Teaching English with Technology 18, No. 2 (2018): 93-114.

  3 B. A. Green, and M. Andrade, “Guiding Principles for Language Assessment Reform: A model for collaboration,” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9, No. 4 (2010): 322-334.

  4 N. Slavkov, “Sociocultural Theory, the L2 Writing Process, and Google Drive: Strange bedfellows?” TESL Canada Journal 32. No. 2 (2015): 80-94.

  5 A. Sari, “EFL Peer Feedback Through the Chatroom in Padlet,” LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching 22, No. 1 (2019): 46-57.

  6 Honigsfeld and Dove, “When Do Teachers and ESK Specialists Collaborate and Co-teach?”

• Vocational Education in Canadian Schools

  1:32 PM Comments Off on Vocational Education in Canadian Schools

  “A rich and deep vocational education involves helping students explore linkages and possibilities as they crisscross the boundaries between school and work. To better help students find their way in our complex world, such a vision of expansive experiential learning holds much promise.”

  Vocational education in Canadian schools has a checkered history. On one hand, it was given a boost in the 1960s with the Technical and Vocational Training Assistance Act when federal government resources were provided to build new schools and facilities across the country. On the other hand, vocational education has long been seen as a second-best choice for less able students, gaining attention mainly in times of labour shortage in key industries. 

  The under-valuation of vocational education reflects historical struggles. Recall the well-known debate in the early 20th century between social efficiency proponent David Sneddon and progressive educator John Dewey, who held very different visions for vocational education. Dewey opposed the separation between general education and trade education: he believed that vocational education should be liberal and liberal education should be vocational. Sneddon, in contrast, believed vocational education was largely about training working-class kids to meet industry needs. The distinction between education seen as “academic” and education seen as “vocational,” which persists to this day, supports the hierarchy that values academic knowledge and the professional occupations associated with it over practical vocational knowledge.

  Currently, however, experiential learning, and especially work-integrated learning (WIL), is a hot topic in higher education policy discussions. Universities in Canada and elsewhere are encouraging all students to get a taste of the work world through internship, practicum, and cooperative education opportunities. The WIL movement is driven by a number of factors, including the concerns of employers about the “employability skills”¹ of graduates, and the predominance of human capital discourse.² In response, a burgeoning literature about how to foster effective experiential learning in higher education has emerged. 

  Another tendency in North American higher education is growing concern about students’ civic engagement as well as employability skills. As writers from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement in the U.S. argue in their 2012 report “A Crucible Moment,” higher education should be an incubator for fostering democratic voice, thought, and action rather than simply an engine of economic development.³ This report, coupled with the rapid growth of community service-learning in higher education, challenges the seemingly contradictory aims of educating for employability and educating for citizenship.

  What does all this mean for education systems across Canada? This article argues that K-12 educators can learn from higher education approaches that: 

  • break down the binary between vocational and professional education
  • consider how experiential learning can be structured most effectively, and 
  • see education as more than simply training for work.

  In what follows, I elaborate on these points using examples.
  

  Breaking down vocational-academic binaries

  Although the historical legacy of devaluing vocational education still haunts current descriptions of course streams and attitudes of educators and career counselors, steps have been taken in Canada and elsewhere to better integrate “vocational” and “general” qualifications, and to increase student access to higher education programs. In Europe, the term “hybrid qualifications” has been used to describe qualifications resulting from education and training pathways that provide access to both employment and higher education. For instance, in countries like Germany, with its highly institutionalized dual system of apprenticeship training, there is greater policy interest in encouraging young people to extend their technical training into university studies. In the Canadian context, university aspirants are also considering technical training. Toward this end, dual credit and joint degree programs are becoming more common.

  Dual credit programs are being used in B.C., for example, to “enable high achieving, career oriented, and at-risk students to gain credit towards post-secondary credentials.”⁴ The description suggests that these programs are mainly targeting students who need encouragement to pursue education beyond high school. Dual credit courses, which involve a college credit course team-taught by a secondary school teacher and a college teacher or certified journeyperson, can be used toward a college certificate, diploma program, or apprenticeship as well as towards a high school diploma. Exposing students to the college environment is seen as a good way to expand their educational and career horizons and better prepare them to succeed in higher education. While this initiative requires greater collaboration between secondary and post-secondary systems, it is a promising way of expanding access to higher education.

  Joint degree programs between colleges/technical institutes and universities represent another partnership that erodes the vocational-academic binary within the post-secondary education system. I’ve found it striking that a desire for “hands on” learning has been expressed by very different groups of students – by those participating in my earlier research into high school apprenticeship and by participants in my more recent research on university community service-learning programs (programs where students work, often in non-profit organizations, as part of an academic course). The “massification” of higher education and increasing labour market uncertainty has meant greater diversity in the student population, and an increased proportion of students who value practice-based learning. 

  Dual credit programs require secondary schools to collaborate with post-secondary institutions in their municipalities on partnerships that will benefit students – ideally, partnerships in areas of student interest where institutional supports can be provided. Sustainable provincial funding is a prerequisite for these initiatives. Joint degree programs encourage high schools to think differently about how they advise and stream students. We know that there is a great deal of mobility within the post-secondary system, with students taking transfer programs as well as moving back and forth between technical and academic programs and institutions to acquire additional qualifications. The idea of a “linear pathway” has not been the norm for some time. Therefore, high school course streams said to destine students for the Workplace or College or University/College (U/C) or University make less and less sense.⁵ Students need flexible systems that respond to their non-linear development and shifting identities, but there is much institutional work to do, starting in the K-12 system. There is also room for more dialogue across different kinds of research on experiential learning.

  Learning from research on Professional Vocational Work Learning

  As a university faculty member, I have observed a growing interest in WIL across campus. Not only are university students encouraged to enroll in the wide range of cooperative education programs that are available, but they are also encouraged to seek part-time jobs at the university related to their studies (e.g. Work Learn program at UBC) or take on internships to gain experience. While high schools can learn a great deal from research on vocational education and training, the literature on Professional Vocational Work Learning (PVWL) also yields important insights.⁶ For example, the literature finds that the effectiveness of WIL depends on how those experiences are organized and integrated with other student learning. 

  WIL tends to rely on the ideal of the student as a learner who is able to engage independently and direct and manage their own learning; however, to support them, attention must be given to how experiential learning is integrated with formal classroom learning before, during, and after such experiences.⁷ Planning effective WIL involves: preparing students for what they will be expected to do; providing opportunities to engage with both peers and experts to extend their learning; helping students develop the capacity to think, question and critically reflect on workplace practices; and helping them develop “work process knowledge” and recognize the social relations they’re participating in and creating through their work.⁸ Since it’s infeasible that high schools or universities can provide WIL for every student, educators might consider drawing on students’ part-time work experiences in classroom discussions about working life in general as well as specific kinds of issues at work. Voluntary as well as paid work can provide excellent opportunities for students to develop boundary-crossing skills. This observation leads to my final point about expanding the discourse of “learning for earning.”

  Expansive experiential learning

  In higher education today, there is considerable emphasis on graduates’ employability. However, as noted, another trend in higher education (that complicates this economic focus) calls on higher education to develop ethical and engaged citizens through programs like community service-learning. It seems to me that the aims of employability and citizenship are more easily reconciled when service-learning programs, like cooperative education, is valued as a way of helping students make transitions after graduation. My research on the impact of service learning on university graduates’ pathways found that such learning opportunities were often instrumental in helping them find their vocation, and more broadly, their place in the world. Unlike some other WIL, service learning encouraged creative, multi-disciplinary approaches to thinking about societal problems while developing substantial work process knowledge. In fact, because of its relative lack of formal expectations, coupled with a deep commitment to fostering reflective practice, service learning has great potential to foster socially critical vocationalism.⁹

  Based on my research and experiences as an instructor, I am arguing for experiential learning as a way of preparing ethical, socially aware, and capable graduates. This vision for education draws inspiration from Dewey and his followers in the U.S., who envision a collaborative, and I would add, seamless system of K-12 and higher education engaged in real world community problem-solving. Founded in the tradition of community schools, these educational institutions work collectively across age levels and function as a hub for broadly based community partnerships that create knowledge “made in the world and for the world.”¹⁰ 

  The suggestions I’ve made here are not “pie in the sky,” so to speak. Rather, volunteer work has been encouraged, even mandated, as part of most high school programs. Nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity already have programs for youth aimed at providing them with trade and life skills while strengthening communities.¹¹ What is lacking is more collaboration across K-12 and higher education systems in coordinating opportunities for students and in recognizing their role in achieving aims related to democratic citizenship as well as employability. 

  Further, many committed educators in K-12 and higher education systems are seeking ways to help students combine workplace and formal learning in ways that help them integrate their understanding. What is needed, in my opinion, is more dialogue across vocational education and training and professional education research literatures about promising practices. Despite the legacy of devaluing vocational education in Canadian schools,¹² initiatives like dual credit and joint programs encourage access to higher education for more students and erode the distinctions between academic and vocational knowledge. 

  A variety of forms of experiential learning in K-12 and in higher education can be combined to create meaningful and pedagogically appropriate experiences for students – experiences that build on one another and that encourage exploration and learning from mistakes. A rich and deep vocational education involves helping students explore linkages and possibilities as they crisscross the boundaries between school and work. To better help students find their way in our complex world, such a vision of expansive experiential learning holds much promise.

  NOTES

  1. For many policy makers and employers, the term “employability skills” refers to individuals’ credentialed knowledge; a more nuanced understanding attends to the interactions between individuals’ knowledge and circumstances and labour market policies and conditions (supply and demand).

  2. Regarding human capital discourse, see Malcolm Harris, Kids These Days: Human capital and the making of millenials (New York: Little Brown and Company, 2017).

  3. The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, A Crucible Moment: College learning and democracy’s future (Washington: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2012).

  4. British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfers, Dual Credit Forum. www.bccat.ca/about/dual

  5. For example, see Toronto District School board description of Ontario course streams in grade 11 and 12: www.tdsb.on.ca/High-School/Guidance/Course-Types

  6. For a discussion of Professional Vocational Work Learning, see David Guile, The Learning Challenge of the Knowledge Economy (Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2010).

  7. Stephen Billett, “Key Findings About Integrating Experiences,” in Practice-Based Learning in Higher Education: Jostling cultures, Eds. by Monica Kennedy et al. (Dordrecht: Springer, 2015).

  8. Nicholas Boreham, “Work Process Knowledge in Technological and Organizational Development,” in Work Process Knowledge, Eds. Nicholas Boreham et al., (London: Routledge, 2002).

  9. Sam Peach, “A Curriculum Philosophy for Higher Education: Socially critical vocationalism,” Teaching in Higher Education 15, no. 4 (2010): 449–460.

  10. Lee Benson, Ira Richard Harkavy, and John L. Puckett. Dewey’s Dream: Universities and Democracies in an Age of Education Reform: Civil society, public schools, and democratic citizenship (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007), 99.

  11. For example, see information about Habitat for Humanity’s Every Youth Initiative: https://habitat.ca/en/ways-to-partner/partner-with-us/every-youth-initiative

  12. Alison Taylor, Vocational Education in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2016).

  Photo: courtesy of Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board

• Doing is Believing

  12:38 PM Comments Off on Doing is Believing

  One school board is giving students a hands-on taste of trades as early as Grade 7, in the belief that early awareness of the value of the trades will help them make more informed career choices when they graduate.

  Six  Grade 7 students cluster around the car as the Auto Mechanics instructor explains and  traces the flow of electricity from the power supply in the vehicle. Next they will complete a  hands-on activity where they build their own circuits on two separate lighting boards. Meanwhile, the students visiting the Vocational Health program are taking part in a state-of-the-art simulated medical intervention – one that they might experience as professionals in a hospital. 
  

  “Lester’s shaking! I think he’s having a seizure!”

  “Justin! Call for help! Put the bed down!”

  In the Electro-technology department, students have the opportunity  to test circuits, and   Electricity  teachers provide a visual interactive display using a Google app voice activation to control lights.

  The students are naturally curious and these hands-on introductions to various skilled trades, experienced as part of the Lester B. Pearson School Board’s inaugural “Doing is Believing” tour, fascinated them. They walked away from the experience realizing that vocational careers are combining the use of the highest technology and equipment with a hands-on approach. “Super cool” and “I love this” are expressions we heard often from students during the tour. 

  Why introduce trades?

  Introducing and exposing all students to the many skilled trade options as early as Grade 7 is embedded in the culture of the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Dorval, Quebec. It is a core belief that every student should understand the value of the trades and what programs are offered to ensure our students will be highly skilled and ready for the many challenges in their future careers. 

  For many years there has been a stigma that went along with the trades that only the “non-academic” or those that did not have the grades to enter university would consider the trades. In fact, there is a true shift occurring in the thinking about vocational programs; students in our schools who are the  highest academic achievers are realizing the trades can offer “skills for life” and steady, well compensated, technical, creative and intellectually challenging and satisfying careers.

  Partnering youth and vocational sectors

  What better way to build curiosity and esteem for the trades than through action? The LBPSB Continuing Education department (Vocational Education) in partnership with the LBPSB Youth Sector, hosted its second annual Doing is Believing vocational centre tour in March 2020. The program offers every Grade 7 student in our school board (1,700 total) an opportunity to experience an insight into a variety of skilled trades in the following sectors: Beauty, Food Services, Health, Administration, Commerce and Computer Technology, Building and Public Works, Electro technology, Motorized Equipment Maintenance, and Arts. A unique aspect of the tour is that the Grade 7 teachers and administrators, many of whom have never visited a vocational centre, accompany the students. Pedagogical consultants and guidance counselors from the Youth Sector also lend a hand at the event and have their own opportunity to learn even more about the skilled trades offered.

  It’s an important shift in post-secondary education planning for students, and very often parents. There can be a resistance or skepticism from parents about their children pursuing a vocational career instead of what they feel is a more valuable university education.  We are working to inform parents and all stakeholders of the value of these valuable vocational careers through programs such as our Doing is Believing tour.

  The Doing is Believing tour came about through partnerships built among trade schools, school boards, guidance counselors, teachers, administrators, and parents. It requires a huge commitment and planning on the part of our vocational centres to gear the program to a Grade 7 audience. All centres create a fun-filled hands-on learning experience for the younger students. The goal is that these students have a unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of a vocational centre. It is all about encouraging students to find their passion, work hard in school, and recognize the many educational choices they will have for careers in their future, whether that be skilled trades training, a technical program or university (see sidebar, “Quebec’s post-secondary system”).  How can a student know what they want to be if they are not shown what they can be? One student, after visiting a mechanic on his tour, asked, “Why is a mechanic not a doctor? They have to fix a car or airplane to make it safe for passengers… and that’s a big responsibility.” 

  Maggie Soldano, Director of Continuing Education at LBPSB, and her team were very pleased with the success of the first annual Doing is Believing tour. “When I saw the faces of the Grade 7 students light up during the tours, I knew our goal was achieved. Not only did students take pictures to later share with their families, they also left the tour with knowledge of the many career opportunities offered through vocational education,” said Soldano. 

  Start small; keep growing

  The Doing is Believing tour is a large event; however, the key is to start small. Building partnerships between early high school and nearby vocational trade schools is the way to start. Schools can begin by inviting teachers and students from the trade schools to speak in their schools and to begin building those relationships. If there are several high schools in proximity to a trade school, perhaps a career fair can be planned where trade schools can showcase their programs. Students registered in trade schools can have a very powerful message to younger students about the value of a career in a skilled trade. In fact, many students currently in trade schools have already gained a university degree but have returned to further their skills by enrolling in a trade. Spending the time to cement these partnerships will help to ensure buy-in and success for future more complex initiatives. 

  Quebec’s post-secondary system

  Vocational education (skilled trades) are an integral part of education in Quebec. Many of the programs are a part of our public school system, with a DVS (Diploma of Vocational Studies) being attained in 6 to 18 months, depending on the program. Students may also pursue a technical three-year program in the Quebec Cégep system for programs such as Graphic Design, Medical Laboratory Technology, Police Technology, Business Administration, Youth and Adult Correction programs, and more. Alternatively, they may enter a two-year Cégep pre-university program leading on to a university degree.

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  Photo: Joan Zachariou, LBPSB

• Meditation Rocks

  May 29, 2020 5:31 PM Comments Off on Meditation Rocks

  “Okay, move back to your seats. You have to stay at your desk for this from now on.” I sounded disappointed and a bit defeated, because I was.

  It was my first day trying meditation out on my students. 

  Do you try meditation out on somebody?

  No, I suppose you do it with them.

  But for me it felt like a try out. One that was going very wrong.

  I had tried meditation for myself about ten years previous. My vice-principal at the time did it regularly, and had begun a meditation group after school. Although we only managed to have three sessions before it disbanded – after school being a prime time for other meetings, interviews, extra-curriculars – the peace and stillness I remember experiencing during that last session, when for a few minutes my mind had actually become blank and I felt in its blankness that it had expanded in some way – was motivation enough to try meditation with my class when a colleague gave me these CDs she had bought at a workshop.

  “You might like these. Probably better for older kids.”

  My colleague taught Grade 3 and it was my first year teaching Grade 8.

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  The CDs – Open Our Hearts, Christian Meditation for Children – were a set of four meditations, five minutes, seven minutes, nine minutes, and eleven minutes.

  They sat on my desk for four weeks before Joshua said, “Hey Mrs. Ranby. Are we ever gonna use those?”

  “Of course we are Joshua. I was just waiting for the new month to begin.”

  “Sweet.”

  So I had felt pressure by the turning of the calendar to March 1st, and there we were, me telling the kids to get back to their seats, and all of us feeling not at all relaxed and calm.

  It had all started so optimistically.

  Innocently.

  “So class, you’ve heard a bit about meditation in health class, but now we’re actually going to practice it. Remember, it’s about calming your mind. You get to actually think of nothing. You can go home and answer “we did nothing at school” and you’d be right!”

  I grinned at my joke.

  You could hear the sound of crickets. The 25 fourteen year olds just looked at me.

  

  Well, one gave me a pity laugh.

  “Good one, Mrs. Ranby.”

  “Thank you Ben.”

  I carried on.

  “So you can go anywhere in the class where you will be comfortable. It’s important that you’re comfortable. If you want to lay down, sit against a wall, whatever. Just be sure you can be quiet and still…”

  What was I thinking?

  Except for a couple of kids who laid completely down on the floor, every other one sat around the periphery of the room. Against the brick walls, looking nice and comfortable.

  I sat up in my chair, feet on the floor, feeling pumped and competent and pressed “play.” 

  I didn’t realize they were all going to do that as well. 

  More on that later.

  The CD begins with a song and a short scripture reading, and then the mantra: Ma-ra-na-tha, which means Come our Lord. The mantra fades out and then there is silence, for five minutes.

  And I closed my eyes, trying to say the mantra silently, trying to clear my mind, but mostly thinking – meditation rocks. They are all quiet! No, not quiet…silent. Perfectly and completely silent. How good am I? Why didn’t I do this before? Even Ben is silent! And he’s never silent. They’ve longed for this. They practically begged me to do this. Meditation…who knew? Can’t hear a single thing…

  And then I made my mistake.

  By this time we were probably three minutes in. Doesn’t seem long, but three minutes of silence when you’re just waiting for a kid to start laughing, or worse, can seem like an eternity.

  But they were killing it! And I just had to open my eyes, to see them all concentrating, trying to clear their minds, to see them relaxed, in states of total calmness, not moving a muscle, totally concentrating…

  On their cell phones.

  Yep. Every student was on their cell phone.

  

  They had seized the opportunity to relax and when they knew I’d have my eyes closed for a full five minutes, well…

  Let’s just say they relaxed the old-fashioned way.

  With technology.

  That’s why they were so silent.

  I was aghast surveying the scene.

  Even Lydia, sprawled out on the floor, was texting someone!

  It was Ben who looked up first and saw me, eyes open.

  “Uh guys…”

  Everyone else looked up at Ben, and then at me.

  Busted.

  They put their phones away. 

  “Move back to your seats.”

  The remaining 70 seconds of the meditation was spent with all the students at their seats, heads on their desks, being silent.

  I took a few deep breaths to try to get back to relaxation land, but that ship had sailed.

  Still…when the gong sounded at the end of the five minutes, there was a sense of calmness in the room.

  Lydia spoke first.

  “Sorry Mrs. Ranby,” she said. 

  The other students nodded.

  “So…will we do it again?” Joshua asked. 

  “Would you like to?” I asked. I tried to be angry, but deep breathing and mantras and silence and anger just don’t go together.

  “Yes,” they all said, as one voice.

  “Ok..no cell phones, no moving places, just at your desk, eyes closed.”

  They nodded.

  “Let’s try the seven minute one!” Joshua suggested.

  “Whoa whoa whoa…don’t think we’re quite there. Let’s do the five minute one again.”

  “Fair enough.”

  So I pressed play, the only pressing of play in the classroom, and we meditated together as best we could.

  Lydia fell asleep, Preston started drumming a pen on his desk, Alyssa began giggling, joined by Maddy and Sophie R., but Ben stayed quiet. And so did Joshua. 

  And so did I. 

  And for five minutes we all tried to concentrate on nothing. On being still. On letting our cares float away.

  And when the gong sounded at the end of the five minutes, I felt relaxed and recharged, all at the same time.

  And when Joshua looked at me and nodded, I agreed with him.

  “You’re right Joshua…we could have handled the seven minute one.”

  And with cell phones firmly out of sight, I made my way to the front of the room, ready to teach algebra, and thinking, while writing the first equation, “Meditation rocks!”

  

   

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  Photos: Adobe Stock

• Skilled Trades in the Digital Age

  May 27, 2020 7:28 AM Comments Off on Skilled Trades in the Digital Age

  The digitization of trades demands new skill sets, makes some trades more appealing to a wider range of apprentices and is creating new career and training pathways. For educators, this will require a better understanding of the overlap and differences between trades and information/communications technology and the new opportunities they present to students willing to consider less traditional careers.

  The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway, as a combination of digital technologies permeate every sector of the economy and most every occupation – including those in the skilled trades. The digitization of trades demands new skill sets, makes some trades more appealing to a wider range of apprentices, and is creating new career and training pathways.

  At the same time, the blurring of lines between information and communications technology (ICT) and skilled trades has created a confusing occupational grey area. The two sectors notably share one feature: both ICT and trades need more workers.

  For educators, this evolution in the workplace will require a better understanding of the overlap between trades and digital tech, its extent and limitations, and the new opportunities it presents to students willing to consider less traditional careers.

  Size of the prize

  The digital economy has been growing at roughly double the pace of the wider economy for more than a decade now. According to the most recent labour forecast by the Information and Communication Technology Council (ICTC), by 2023, the demand for digitally skilled talent in Canada is expected to exceed 305,000. If filled, ICTC expects total employment in the Canadian digital economy to reach more than 2.1 million tech jobs.¹

  Interestingly, more than half of the current tech work is outside of the ICT sector per se. That means most tech jobs are now in sectors such as banking, insurance, and oil and gas, and in organizations across the entire economy looking to digital technology for better operational, safety and environmental performance.

  The rapid growth of the digital economy has outstripped available ICT talent. In Canada’s major tech hubs – Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal – the shortfall in senior-level tech workers has even prompted international hiring symposiums such as the one last year in Calgary, hosted by Calgary Economic Development and international ICT recruitment firm VanHack. In October, VanHack vetted 36 intermediate and senior tech job seekers from five continents to help local Calgary companies hire the talent they desperately need to grow. The skilled trades tell a similar story. Fewer youth are learning the skills needed to replace an aging generation of soon-to-retire tradespeople. Critical shortages in skilled workers are on the horizon.² In Alberta, during the economic downturn, trades groups reported continued healthy demand for skilled workers, but during the province’s oil and gas boom years, worker shortages were so acute that projects also imported tradespeople from abroad. This practice is expensive and risky, and almost always “the option of last resort,” whether in trades or tech.

  Messaging

  By now, educators have surely heard a well-honed message from Canada’s trades groups. “If we want to have a well-functioning society, we need people with diverse interests and diverse skills,” says Shaun Thorson, Chief Executive Officer of Skills/Compétences Canada. Students should be led to consider all occupations and not just those that shepherd them through a university education, he says.

  This message, however, doesn’t seem to be translating into more tradespeople. Despite steady, well-compensated work in trades, there remains a deeply entrenched perception that trades are a lesser career path to one that requires a university education – even as increasing numbers of university graduates struggle to find employment.

  “It’s worth repeating that not everyone wants an office job in front of a computer,” Thorson says. “And not everyone wants to be out on a worksite, working with tools and materials. The main thing is to tell students to do their research and not get trapped in the six to ten occupations that you mostly hear about.”

  Digitization of trades

  Some of the obvious examples of digitized trades are the diagnostic tools that automotive and heavy-equipment technicians use today. GPS-guided excavation is now run-of-the-mill technology in road construction and natural resource extraction projects. Schematic drawings are now mostly read on tablets rather than from rolls of paper blueprints.

  Pretty much all trades contractors rely on scheduling, invoicing and other software programs to expedite their paperwork. The ubiquitous smartphone and the many communication platforms such as Teams and other video/chat/file-sharing apps allow for greater collaboration and problem solving among tradespeople, designers and engineers. And new digital applications are being introduced each year.

  Janis Lawrence-Harper, director of research and development with Careers: The Next Generation, an Alberta trade group launched in 1997 to support the growth of the oilsands industry by promoting skilled trades, adds some of the latest developments along this digital journey. “In the oilsands, the heavy haulers have a tremendous number of sensors that collect data about everything from how hard the equipment is hitting bumps, to how inflated the tires are and where the bumps are located so the road can actually be fixed,” she says. That data is tracked and processed by the mechanic, whose job it is to optimize the efficient running of these machines. (What Lawrence-Harper doesn’t mention is that autonomous vehicles are also becoming the norm in some mining operations in Alberta and around the world.)

  Agricultural equipment technicians also rely on data to do their job. Advanced agricultural equipment today can seed a field within an inch of the previous year’s seeding plan. To maximize crop growth, drones help run and monitor fertilization programs.

  “As technology continues to play a bigger role in many skilled trades, we are going to see changes in the required skillsets,” says Lawrence-Harper. “That might mean those occupations change, or in some cases, it might create new specialized positions that could fall into the categories of skilled trades and ICT. It will be up to the Alberta government to decide where those occupations belong.”.

  ICT as a trade

  The Working Centre, an Ontario group established in 1982 as a response to unemployment and poverty in downtown Kitchener, now lists several ICT roles as skilled trades under the “Services” banner. These occupations include Contact Centre Customer Service Agent, Technical Support Agent, Hardware Technician, and Network Technician.

  The grey area between tech and trades has prompted Careers: The Next Generation to launch an Information and Communication Technology Internship Program to help meet the growing demand for tech workers in the next decade. The program offers six-week hands-on-learning internships to high school students interested in expanding their understanding of ICT opportunities in the workplace and to help define their potential career paths.

  “We’re piloting it this year – though it’s a bit of a stretch right now with the COVID 19 pandemic,” Lawrence-Harper says. “We see a huge synergy between skilled trades and ICT. These two directions build on each other and this program bridges that gap between tech and trades.”

  Careers: The Next Generation works with companies and organizations whose primary role isn’t ICT, but which have an ICT dimension. These have been in transportation, construction, marketing, the not-for-profit sector or others. At the other end, Careers works with high school staff to match Grade 11 and 12 students who have specific ICT skills and interests with target company needs. “Pacific Western, for example, has a lot of heavy-equipment technicians, so we talk to them about what role ICT plays in their company, what the crossover is in their heavy-equipment garage and how they could benefit from hiring a student intern,” Lawrence-Harper says. The company or organization foots the bill for the six-week internship, and benefits from the placement to the extent of the type and scope of work identified for the intern. Part of this value proposition is a line of sight to future ICT hiring, development of mentoring capabilities, strengthening of its ICT focus and connection to community.

  To date, about 30 students have taken part in this internship, but the program is expected to expand into something bigger. Lawrence-Harper says that the skilled trades’ training model, which combines on-the-job mentoring and post-secondary education, could apply to learning certain ICT roles.

  The blurring of lines between information and communications technology (ICT) and skilled trades has created a confusing occupational grey area.

  Limitations and pathways

  Despite the overlap of skilled trades and tech, Skills Canada’s Thorson is careful not to oversell the razzle and dazzle of tech to prospective apprentices. “The digitization of trades is exciting and interesting and may initially attract more students to learn about what’s involved in these occupations, but I don’t think digital tech will necessarily keep them in a skilled trade occupation [if they don’t enjoy the trade itself],” he says.

  ICTC’s manager of data analysis and research, Rob Davidson, puts a finer point on this. “Trades are typically tactile occupations. So they are almost the opposite of digital jobs, which are mostly abstract,” he says. Many tech roles, in fact, involve high levels of abstract thinking and knowledge of programming languages. This is true of the top five in-demand digital occupations identified by ICTC’s Canada’s Growth Currency: Digital Talent Outlook 2023 (software developer, data scientist, data analyst, UX/UI designer, and full stack developer).

  Thorson, however, urges people to move beyond the idea that students are either abstract learners or experiential learners. Students fall somewhere along a continuum between these poles. This perspective opens the door to “helping students find the right comfort level with abstract concepts that are married to tactile occupations that manipulate objects.”

  Moreover, Davidson notes that the growing importance of digital technology challenges other sterotypes. The image of the socially inept techie in a dim backroom full of computer screens is giving way to tech workers who can fluently explain digital functionalities and present the business case for a new technology platform to C-suite executives.

  A parallel trend in the skilled trades is driven by the collaborative nature of digital technology, which is allowing tradespeople to share their expertise. Construction outcomes, for example, can be improved when trades collaboration is sought earlier in the planning and design process rather than later in the execution stage, as has traditionally been the case. Shared digital platforms are facilitating this type of stakeholder consultation.

  Exposing students to these tech and occupational trends is key. Educators can play an important role in helping students find meaningful careers by sharing their understanding of digital technology developments and their impacts on in-demand occupations. This awareness could extend to keeping abreast of new tech curricula developments in Canada’s post-secondary institutions, and various initiatives such as the Careers ICT pilot, or ICTC’s nationwide CyberTitan program, which provides middle and secondary school students with a foundation in digital skills by participating in a competition to fend off simulated cyber attacks. Career options have never been as diverse as they are today.

  Photo: iStock

  First published in Education Canada, June 2020

  Notes

  1. ICTC is in the process of revising this pre-COVID-19 forecast. Moreover, ICTC’s previous forecast to 2021 projected a significantly lower demand of 216,000 tech jobs, which was largely due to a change in methodology; more ICT-related National Occupational Classification codes were included in the 2023 forecast.
  2. Again, how this will be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic was unknown at the time of writing.

• WEBINAR PANEL DISCUSSION: June 11, 2020

  May 26, 2020 1:56 PM Comments Off on WEBINAR PANEL DISCUSSION: June 11, 2020

  WHEN: Thursday, June 11 at 1:00-2:00 pm (EST) 

  

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  This webinar is primarily for governments, education professional organizations, school and school district leaders, teachers and education support workers, and anyone interested in understanding current issues for changes to K-12 schooling for the education sector across Canada in the COVID-19 era. 

  In March of 2020, Canadian education systems first began to close schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as the emergency response shift to remote learning from home,  we must also begin to turn our attention to the inevitable task of planning for the future of schooling over the short and medium term. As school reopenings internationally are showing, this is not simply a return to schooling as normal. Moreover, since education in Canada is a provincial responsibility, responses to COVID-19 have been diverse and we would expect plans for the future to be appropriately varied. Fundamentally, what we will need to ask ourselves is: “What conditions need to be in place for students to learn and for teachers to teach, and how will leaders across the system adapt to support these conditions?”

  This one-hour webinar panel discussion will explore how we will understand effective leadership across the education sector for the coming months and years by considering implications for governments, teacher organizations, and school leaders. 

  Register Here

   

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  IN THE MEANTIME, CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE by DR. pamela OSMOND-JOHNSON, DR. carol CAMPBELL, AND DR. katina POLLOCK:

  

  Read the full article

   

• Global Recess Alliance Statement on Recess

  May 25, 2020 5:12 PM Comments Off on Global Recess Alliance Statement on Recess

  The Global Recess Alliance, a newly formed group of scholars, health professionals, and education leaders, argues that attention to recess during school reopening is essential. Recess is the only unstructured time in the school day that provides space for children’s physical, social and emotional development, which are essential for well-being and learning. When schools reopen, children will need space to heal from their collective trauma.

  The Global Recess Alliance have combined their expertise to provide answers and concrete strategies for a recess that not only works under the current circumstances but paves the way for a fundamental shift in the ways schools approach recess.

  Learn more here

• WEBINAR: A Taste of SMART: An introduction to mindfulness, self-care, and resiliency for educators

  4:17 PM Comments Off on WEBINAR: A Taste of SMART: An introduction to mindfulness, self-care, and resiliency for educators

  Cofounded by Heidi Bornstein and Stephen Chadwick in 2009, Mindfulness everyday is a diverse team of experienced professionals dedicated to educator well-being. Mindfulness Everyday offers various mindfulness programs and practices for educators to provide them with the skills and coping strategies required to support their own mental and physical health.

  This webinar first broadcasted on April 15th, provided an experiential introduction to mindfulness research and practices that benefit educators personally and professionally.

  Watch the full webinar below:

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  About Mindfulness Everyday

  At Mindfulness Everyday, we envision a society in which we relate to others, the environment, and ourselves with clarity and compassion. We promote mindfulness practices to enhance positive mental and physical health, compassionate action and resilience by providing stress reduction training and life skills for young people, educators, professional support staff and parents in the schools, and for organizations and members of the community.

• How can parents contribute positively to their children’s career choices?

  10:04 AM Comments Off on How can parents contribute positively to their children’s career choices?

  As their children’s first teachers, parents contribute to their academic and professional development. While parental engagement is crucial to children’s well-being and positive development, parents can also have a negative impact by failing to meet children’s fundamental psychological needs, which are essential to academic and professional success.

  THE THREE FUNDAMENTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN ARE:

  • Autonomy: Feeling like they’re making their own choices (e.g. choosing high school and post-secondary classes that interest them).
  • Competence: Understanding that their actions have consequences (e.g. feeling capable of passing a class in order to take a more advanced course or be admitted to post-secondary programs).
  • Relatedness: Developing positive relationships with important people in their lives (e.g. getting along well with teachers or their parents).

  TO MEET THESE NEEDS, HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR WHAT PARENTS SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT DO TO HELP THEIR CHILDREN CHOOSE A CAREER:

  Things to Do

  • Support your children’s sense of autonomy by acknowledging their opinions and feelings, trusting their judgement, showing empathy, explaining the reasons behind your expectations, and entrusting them with age-appropriate responsibilities (e.g. household chores).
  • Get involved by showing your children that they are important: listen to them, show your affection, be available when they need you, and be receptive to their questions, interests, and the options they explore.
  • Provide a structured, predictable environment by clearly communicating and explaining family rules, your expectations, and the consequences associated with respecting them. It’s important to be consistent when applying your rules and expectations, to maintain supervision, and give feedback, when needed.

  Things to Avoid

  • Controlling your child by imposing your own choices and opinions, telling them what to think or feel, neglecting to explain the reasons behind your expectations, or using punishments and rewards to control their behaviour or choices.
  • Rejecting your child by withholding affection, acting indifferent, failing to participate in activities they’re involved in, or leaving them to their own devices with no guidance or support when they need it.
  • Creating confusion by setting unclear expectations, constantly changing rules without clear communication, and failing to offer children an opportunity to meet your expectations.

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  Research demonstrates that children generally perceive their parents as being supportive of their psychological needs. It’s important for parents to recognize that they can have a significant impact – positive or negative – on their children’s development. Therefore, parents hoping to guide the positive development of their children are well advised to meet their fundamental psychological needs, thereby encouraging greater academic and professional success.

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES

     

  Canada Research Chair on Parenting and Academic and Vocational Trajectories 

  Centre for Self Determination Theory

  REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

     

  Guay, F., Ratelle, C.F., Larose, S., Vallerand, R.J., Vitaro, F. (2013). The number of autonomy-supportive relationships: Are more relationships better for motivation, perceived competence, and achievement? Contemporary Educational Psychology. 38, 375-382. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych. 2013.07.005

  Guay, F, Ratelle, C.F., Lessard, V., Dubois, P., & Duchesne, S. (2018). Mothers’ and fathers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviors: An analysis of interparental contributions. Parenting: Science and Practice, 18, 45-65.

  Duchesne, S., & Ratelle., C.F. (2010). Parental behaviors and adolescents’ achievement goals at the beginning of middle school: Emotional problems as potential mediators. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 497-507. doi:10.1037/a0019320

  Duchesne, S. & Ratelle, C.F., Feng, B. (2017). Psychological need satisfaction and achievement goals: Exploring indirect effects of academic and social adaptation following the transition to secondary school. Journal of Early Adolescence. doi: 10.1177/0272431616659561

  Maltais, C., Duchesne, S., Ratelle, C. F., & Feng, B. (2017). Learning climate, academic competence, and anxiety during the transition to middle school: Parental attachment as a protective factor. European Review of Applied Psychology, 67, 103-112.

  Ratelle, C.F., Morin, A.J.S., Guay, F., & Duchesne, S. (2018). Sources of evaluation of parental behaviors as predictors of achievement outcomes. Motivation and Emotion,42, 513-526. doi: 10.1007/s11031-018-9692-4

  WITH THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: 

            

• COVID-19: The Demoralization of Educators

  May 21, 2020 9:45 AM Comments Off on COVID-19: The Demoralization of Educators

• Teaching and Learning from home

  9:41 AM Comments Off on Teaching and Learning from home

• Trauma and the Post-COVID Teacher

  May 14, 2020 11:03 AM Comments Off on Trauma and the Post-COVID Teacher

  It was on the third walk of the day, a couple weeks into our COVID isolation norms, that it hit me. My little girl, at the formative age of five, was living in a global pandemic. We were pointing out the teddy bears that neighbours placed in their windows for children to spot during the pandemic. It warmed my heart that so many of my community members, many without children, found old teddies and dolls to place on display to join in the bear campaign. A couple walking their dog approached from the opposite direction, and my daughter, who was walking ahead, without hesitation or reminder took her long six-foot arc around them as we passed. She turned and mouthed the word “virus” to us and carried on. 

  As we all attempt to restore normalcy in our lives and jobs (whatever our “normal” may be) in the aftermath of a global crisis, there is much to consider. For teachers, this is above and beyond the daily challenges we already face. For some students, COVID 19 may result in, or amplify preexisting, anxiety, depression or trauma. For others the transition back to school and routine will be seamless. Coronavirus will become a distant memory for them, and life will carry on as it did before. I think about my daughter and her support system and how she’s been so fortunate in her life. Others aren’t as lucky, before or after COVID 19.

  Much is unknown about the circumstances in homes across this country during the pandemic. What happened in the months of isolation? We may never fully know. How did the long confinement affect homes where domestic violence, abuse or neglect was already present? Of course we know there were students and families who were struggling long before the global pandemic. Some children live within circumstances that are troubling and far beyond their control. Families living on the edge of poverty may have already been struggling with food and home insecurity, lack of childcare, stress over jobs, community violence and more. We know that along with increased risk factors from COVID 19, families have also been deprived of many of their normal coping measures. Spending time with friends and family, going to the mall, seeing a counselor or engaging in extra-curricular activities, among others, have been disrupted. And for many students, their place of refuge, connection or support, is school itself.

  Trauma has and will continue to be a pervasive and challenging issue for teachers and students alike. This global crisis has placed a spotlight on various aspects of society, including its multi-faceted inequities – trauma included. It also has certainly served as a reminder that children in schools need more than just their educational outcomes, and that schools serve as more than just educational institutions.

  Teaching students with trauma

  Students who experience chronic trauma (persistent and ongoing, such as adverse living conditions or abuse) are at risk for developmental deficits, attachment disorders and difficulties with learning and behaviour.¹ This causes problems for them in school as they attempt to navigate the social, academic and behavioural expectations for their chronological age, while potentially lacking skills in one or more of these areas. Teachers are faced with a multitude of challenges as they work to meet the needs of all their learners. It is challenging to give each child individual attention in addressing their needs while also managing the classroom and curriculum outcomes. This may result in compassion fatigue, feelings of being overwhelmed or exhausted, and a reduced ability to function as they normally would. Some identify compassion fatigue as the cost of caring.

  So where do we go from here? What is the teacher’s role in supporting students impacted by trauma? Teachers are not therapists, psychologists, counselors or social workers. Many therapeutic interventions do exist, that support students in one-on-one or in small groups. These are often beneficial and necessary for some students. However, due to limited resources and access, not all students have the opportunity to engage in such programming. Additionally, as Perry² and Bath³  have noted, research shows that the most healing for trauma-impacted children actually takes place in what some call the “other 23 hours” of the day. A supportive environment for children in all aspects of their day is essential. Equipping teachers with the understanding and strategies to provide this supportive environment can benefit both the students in need, and fortunately, also the teachers themselves.

  Knowledge of trauma

  Being trauma-informed requires educators to have a knowledge base about trauma itself. This does not require teachers to become experts in brain functioning or psychology, but rather a general understanding for the potential impact of chronic trauma for students they teach. This means understanding that trauma is a result of experiences that exceed an individual’s capacity to cope in healthy ways, and which render them unable to function normally. Chronic trauma may be a result of living in poverty, experiencing forms of abuse, experiencing racism, being witness to violence, experiencing significant loss, and more. While adversity is common (and often productive) throughout life, trauma results when our support systems and coping mechanisms for that adversity are not enough. Therefore, trauma is less about events themselves, but our responses to them.

  When a child has experienced chronic trauma, the result may be delays in various aspects of their development. This may affect their social skills and ability to form relationships, their cognitive, physical and emotional development, their ability to regulate, learn and cope with daily demands. Trauma-impacted children walk through their world with a heightened sense of danger and can be triggered into a fear response for situations that are perceived as threatening. School is a place where students not only learn, but navigate various situations, relationships and challenges. Children who are trauma-impacted therefore often struggle in many aspects of school. 

  Relationships are key

  Attachment is protective factor against trauma. Many children who experience chronic trauma, however, struggle with relationships and trust. They also may not have fully experienced secure and healthy relationships in their lives. Building positive relationships with students is therefore critical, for feelings of safety, acceptance and love. Giving unconditional positive regard and showing patience are ways to build this trust. This does not mean lifting boundaries and expectations. In fact, boundaries are more important than ever. Setting and sticking to limits is essential, but done with patience and compassion. Teachers have the opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time with their students throughout the school year. They can demonstrate and model positive and consistent relationships and establish new understandings of what a healthy relationship is. Child psychiatrist and trauma expert Bruce Perry talks about the power of small positive encounters and interactions for children throughout the day. “Therapeutic dosing”⁴ as he calls it, is a simple yet effective way for these new patterns to develop. He asserts that “just as traumatic experience can alter a life in an instant, so too can a therapeutic encounter.”⁵

  Safety

  Children impacted by trauma often are on high alert, ready to respond. Learning is virtually impossible for children who feel unsafe. Physical and emotional safety are essential in schools, as is the importance of felt safety. It is possible for trauma-impacted children to feel unsafe regardless of whether or not this is reality. Teachers are able to increase feelings of safety by creating consistent and predictable environments. This means creating a safe space where classroom community is a primary focus, and being cognizant of preparing children for transitions and change. Our responses and behaviours as teachers must also be consistent and predictable. We can recognize that some behaviours we are witness to, may be a response to feeling unsafe, versus a desire to misbehave. Behaviour is about communication. A meltdown or act of defiance, might be a fear response, or manifestations of a need. Maintaining a consistent and supportive role in responding to all behaviour with compassion and understanding, strengthens the teacher-student bond and establishes trust. We can be the calm they need, when they are not. Students will often mirror our reactions and behaviours. Keeping this thought in our minds can support us in our reactions and the way we assist students in regulating their emotions.

  Teach to strengths and lacking skills

  All children have strengths. Seeking them out and helping students to see them for themselves, as “inner-wealth,”⁶ is an important part of supporting growth and learning. As previously mentioned, students impacted by trauma may also have deficits in areas of development. Teachers can support all students by teaching to specific “lagging skills.”⁷ Lessons on social skills, problem solving, organization, self-regulation, friendship skills, mindfulness, conflict resolution and more, may be valuable in filling gaps in much-needed development. Social-emotional learning is a necessary component of trauma-informed classrooms. We can acknowledge and begin with student strengths that build confidence and engagement, and seek out the areas where more explicit teaching is needed.

  Self-care and community support

  An often-neglected focus for teachers, yet an essential component of trauma-informed practice, is self-care. As teachers, we simply cannot give what we don’t have. We must not only take care of ourselves through intentional self-care planning (exercise, leisure activities, support networks, eating well, etc.) but also be vigilant in noticing and identifying when we feel overwhelmed. There is vulnerability in reaching out to our colleagues and administrators when we require support, but it is a valuable step for our own wellness. As colleagues, we need to support one another and create a space where everyone feels empowered to reach out. This work is not easy and cannot be done in isolation.

  Returning to work after months of remoteness may bring new feelings of anxiety and fear, or heightened preexisting mental health issues. Let us name it. We must be patient with ourselves and check on our colleagues. Let’s debrief our days and take a breath. We are not alone, and the load should not be solely ours to bear. Focusing on strong working relationships and a team approach will be crucial. As teachers, we need to open our classroom doors and support one another. The feeling of pressure on the shoulders of the classroom teachers alone, increases the risk of burnout and fatigue. “Our” students are also part of the whole school community and the community beyond the school. We benefit from creating partnerships outside of the school, building relationships with parents and community members and collectively wrapping our arms around our students and ourselves. 

  TEACHERS’ DAYs are often a whirlwind. Decision-making is happening constantly, and our attention is split in many different directions. Teachers don’t need more on their plates. We do, however, benefit from new knowledge for making teaching and learning more successful. Fortunately, trauma-informed strategies, such as those listed above, are good teaching practices for all students – and many are already happening all through Canadian schools. If we keep relationships at the centre and have more understanding for our students through a knowledge of the pervasive impact of chronic traumatic experiences, we will be making a difference. We will be contributing to the supportive environment that children require, to reach their full potential. With this understanding, teachers too, can feel the positive impact of a trauma-informed classroom and school. Caring doesn’t always have to come at significant cost, but instead, can provide meaningful and effective experiences that leave teachers feeling more empowered and connected.

  As we transition into our post-COVID lives (whenever “post” will be), it is important to recognize how this virus may have impacted the lives of our students, and our own. We must also keep in mind that well before COVID 19, some of our students have struggled with trauma and adversity that will continue to impact their lives and learning. Our students who were accessing counseling or psychological services prior to school closures, and making gains, may experience setbacks. We may feel that impact throughout our schools. During these last devastating months, this virus has certainly opened the eyes of many to various societal inequities, in addition to forms of trauma. Those issues, however, were always and will always be present in the lives of many of our students. This unprecedented event has also taught us how precious life and time truly are. The entire world seemed to stand still at moments, causing many of us to reflect upon our jobs, roles, purpose and values. I was certainly one of them. It reminded me of how strongly I believe in our nations’ teachers and our ability to care beyond the curriculum.

  With small doses of kindness, intentional teaching, and a heightened awareness of trauma’s impact, we can add to the environment needed for all to heal and grow. Our students are worth it, and so are we. 

   Notes

  1. M. Blaustein and K. Kinniburgh, Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents:  How to foster resilience through attachment, self-regulation, and competency (New York, NY: The Guildford Press, 2010).
  2. B. Perry and M. Szalavitz, The Boy who Was Raised by a Dog: And other stories from a psychiatrist’s notebook – what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love and healing, second edition (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2017). 
  3. Howard Bath, “The Three Pillars of Traumawise Care: Healing in the other 23 hours,” Reclaiming Children and Youth Journal, No. 4 (2015): 5-11.
  4. Perry, The Boy who Was Raised by a Dog, 307.
  5. Perry, The Boy who Was Raised by a Dog, 308.
  6. D. Zacharian, L. Alvarez-Ortiz, and J. Haynes, Teaching to Strengths: Supporting students living with trauma, violence and chronic stress (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2017).
  7. Ross Greene, Lost at School: Why our kids with behavioural challenges are falling through the cracks and how we can help them (New York, NY: Scribner, 2014).

  PHOTO: ISTOCK

• WEBINAR: Strengthening Resilience, Leadership, and Well-Being During and After COVID-19

  May 13, 2020 2:20 PM Comments Off on WEBINAR: Strengthening Resilience, Leadership, and Well-Being During and After COVID-19

  This webinar first broadcasted on May 12th discussed individual and organizational resilience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this hour-long webinar, Dr. Graham Lowe explained:

  • The features of a healthy organization, especially its culture and inclusive approach to leadership, that can support your workforce now and prepare it for the recovery

  • How resilience is one of the defining characteristics of a healthy organization

  • How resilience is a psychological health and safety skill that can be cultivated within school and school district teams.

  • How resilience is part of a broader set of capabilities called Psychological Capital (PsyCap)

  • The ways that Psychological Capital (PsyCap) supports a transformational leadership style and contributes to K-12 workplace well-being.

  Watch the full webinar below:

  Want to watch upcoming webinars as they are released? Visit our webinar series to sign up today!

• How does teacher stress and burnout impact student achievement?

  May 12, 2020 2:38 PM Comments Off on How does teacher stress and burnout impact student achievement?

  The mental health and well-being of students in Canadian schools has become a growing concern – but it’s not just children’s well-being that’s concerning. Recent research demonstrates that the well-being of both students and teachers go hand-in-hand. In particular, increased teacher well-being leads to more supportive teacher-student relationships. Despite this evidence, a Canadian Teachers’ Federation survey shows that 85% of teachers find that poor work-life balance is affecting their ability to teach the way they would like to teach. 

  THE IMPACTS OF TEACHER STRESS AND BURNOUT INCLUDE:

  IMPACT ON TEACHERS

  • Poorer health outcomes: High blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, and depression.
  • Increased absenteeism: In Canada, the average work days lost per educator (i.e. in schools, colleges, universities and training centres) jumped from 8.9 in 2014 to 11.9 in 2018.
  • Lower job satisfaction: There’s a close relationship between high levels of teacher burnout and low job satisfaction and commitment.

  IMPACT ON STUDENTS 

  • Reduced motivation and achievement: Teacher burnout and depersonalization (i.e. feelings of disinterest towards one’s job) negatively impacts teaching quality and student motivation (e.g. disruptive behaviour, low sense of belonging, weak belief in ability to succeed, lower grades).
  • Higher stress levels: Higher levels of teacher burnout is linked to higher cortisol levels in children, which is a biological indicator of stress.

  ON THE FLIPSIDE, HERE ARE THREE WAYS THAT LEADERS CAN CREATE A SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE THAT PROMOTES TEACHERS’ WELL-BEING:

  Promote mental fitness:

  Teachers who have a positive sense of how they feel, think, and act generally have a sense of relatedness (i.e. connectedness) with fellow staff, believe their strengths and skills are valued, and have autonomy to collaborate and provide feedback.

  DEVELOP TEAM RESILIENCY:

  School staff who persist, bounce forward, and thrive in the face of adversity usually demonstrate strong relationship practices and professionalism, positive attitudes, emotional intelligence, and adaptation skills.

  EMBODY POSITIVE LEADERSHIP:

  Administrators who are committed to helping teachers achieve their highest potential and succeed show compassion and gratitude, know the strengths/interests of their staff, clarify roles and expectations, and provide opportunities for growth. 

  ---

  The factors that promote student well-being are, in many ways, the same as the factors that promote teacher well-being. A positive school climate leads to reduced teacher absenteeism, fewer teachers leaving the profession, stronger teacher-student relationships, and improved student achievement. Targeted training for school teams and leaders on mental fitness and resiliency practices that foster teachers’ sense of relatedness, competency, and autonomy represent an important first step in improving school climate, reducing teacher stress, and enhancing student achievement. 

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES

     

  Work-Life Balance and the Canadian Teaching Profession by Bernie Froese-Germain via Canadian Teachers’ Federation

  Three key conditions to create a healthy workplace by Bill Morrison via The Globe and Mail

  Infographic: The Positive Workplace Framework (PWF) via Well at Work by EdCan

  REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

     

  Burke, R., Greenglass, E., & Schwarzer, R. (1996). Predicting teacher burnout over time: Effects of work stress, social support, and self-doubts on burnout and its consequences. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 9(3), 261-275. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10615809608249406

  Briner, R., & Dewberry, C. (2007). Staff well-being is key to school success. London: Worklife Support Ltd/Hamilton House.

  Darr, W., and Johns, G., (2008). Work strain, health, and absenteeism: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,13(4), 293-318. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012639

  Hoglund, W. L., Klingle, K. E., & Hosan, N. E. (2015). Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children’s adjustment in high needs elementary schools. Journal of School Psychology, 53(5), 337-357. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2015.06.002

  Jennings, P.A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Davis, R., DeMauro, A. A. & Greenberg, M. T. (2017). Impacts of the CARE for teachers program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010–1028. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000187

  Laurie, R. (2019, December). Measuring school well-being: The mental fitness and resiliency inventory and the School Happiness Index (SHI). Education Canada Magazine, 59(4). Retrieved from:  https://www.edcan.ca/articles/measuring-school-well-being

  Laurie, R., Morrison, B. & Peterson, P. (2019, December). The Positive Workplace Framework (PWF): A strengths-based approach for thriving schools. Education Canada Magazine, 59(4). Retrieved from: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-positive-workplace-framework/

  McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third‐grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child Development, 86(3), 945-954. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12344

  Miller, R. (2012). Teacher absence as a leading indicator of student achievement: New national data offer opportunity to examine cost of teacher absence relative to learning loss. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. 

  Miller, R., Murnane, R., & Willett, J. (2008). Do teacher absences impact student achievement? Longitudinal evidence from one urban school district. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 181-200. doi: https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373708318019

  Molero Jurado, M. D. M., Pérez-Fuentes, M. D. C., Atria, L., Oropesa Ruiz, N. F., & Gázquez Linares, J. J. (2019). Burnout, perceived efficacy, and job satisfaction: Perception of the educational context in high school teachers. BioMed research international, 2019. doi: 10.1155/2019/1021408

  Núñez, J. L., Fernández, C., León, J., & Grijalvo, F. (2015). The relationship between teacher’s autonomy support and students’ autonomy and vitality. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(2), 191-202. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.928127

  Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine, 159, 30-37. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.031

  Roffey, S. (2012). Pupil Wellbeing – Teacher Wellbeing: Two sides of the same coin. Educational & Child Psychology, 29(4), 8-17. Retrieved from: https://www.sueroffey.com/wp-content/uploads/import/32-Roffey%20ECP29-4.pdf

  Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher turnover harms student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 4-36. doi: https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0002831212463813

  Statistics Canada. (2020). Work absence of full-time employees by industry, annual. Retrieved from: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410019101

  WITH THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: 

            

• How does teacher stress and burnout impact student achievement?

  9:25 AM Comments Off on How does teacher stress and burnout impact student achievement?

  The mental health and well-being of students in Canadian schools has become a growing concern – but it’s not just children’s well-being that’s concerning. Recent research demonstrates that the well-being of both students and teachers go hand-in-hand. In particular, increased teacher well-being leads to more supportive teacher-student relationships. Despite this evidence, a Canadian Teachers’ Federation survey shows that 85% of teachers find that poor work-life balance is affecting their ability to teach the way they would like to teach. 

  THE IMPACTS OF TEACHER STRESS AND BURNOUT INCLUDE:

  IMPACT ON TEACHERS

  • Poorer health outcomes: High blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, and depression.
  • Increased absenteeism: In Canada, the average work days lost per educator (i.e. in schools, colleges, universities and training centres) jumped from 8.9 in 2014 to 11.9 in 2018.
  • Lower job satisfaction: There’s a close relationship between high levels of teacher burnout and low job satisfaction and commitment.

  IMPACT ON STUDENTS 

  • Reduced motivation and achievement: Teacher burnout and depersonalization (i.e. feelings of disinterest towards one’s job) negatively impacts teaching quality and student motivation (e.g. disruptive behaviour, low sense of belonging, weak belief in ability to succeed, lower grades).
  • Higher stress levels: Higher levels of teacher burnout is linked to higher cortisol levels in children, which is a biological indicator of stress.

  ON THE FLIPSIDE, HERE ARE THREE WAYS THAT LEADERS CAN CREATE A SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE THAT PROMOTES TEACHERS’ WELL-BEING:

  Promote mental fitness:

  Teachers who have a positive sense of how they feel, think, and act generally have a sense of relatedness (i.e. connectedness) with fellow staff, believe their strengths and skills are valued, and have autonomy to collaborate and provide feedback.

  DEVELOP TEAM RESILIENCY:

  School staff who persist, bounce forward, and thrive in the face of adversity usually demonstrate strong relationship practices and professionalism, positive attitudes, emotional intelligence, and adaptation skills.

  EMBODY POSITIVE LEADERSHIP:

  Administrators who are committed to helping teachers achieve their highest potential and succeed show compassion and gratitude, know the strengths/interests of their staff, clarify roles and expectations, and provide opportunities for growth. 

  ---

  The factors that promote student well-being are, in many ways, the same as the factors that promote teacher well-being. A positive school climate leads to reduced teacher absenteeism, fewer teachers leaving the profession, stronger teacher-student relationships, and improved student achievement. Targeted training for school teams and leaders on mental fitness and resiliency practices that foster teachers’ sense of relatedness, competency, and autonomy represent an important first step in improving school climate, reducing teacher stress, and enhancing student achievement. 

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES

     

  Work-Life Balance and the Canadian Teaching Profession by Bernie Froese-Germain via Canadian Teachers’ Federation

  Three key conditions to create a healthy workplace by Bill Morrison via The Globe and Mail

  Infographic: The Positive Workplace Framework (PWF) via Well at Work by EdCan

  REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

     

  Burke, R., Greenglass, E., & Schwarzer, R. (1996). Predicting teacher burnout over time: Effects of work stress, social support, and self-doubts on burnout and its consequences. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 9(3), 261-275. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10615809608249406

  Briner, R., & Dewberry, C. (2007). Staff well-being is key to school success. London: Worklife Support Ltd/Hamilton House.

  Darr, W., and Johns, G., (2008). Work strain, health, and absenteeism: A meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology,13(4), 293-318. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012639

  Hoglund, W. L., Klingle, K. E., & Hosan, N. E. (2015). Classroom risks and resources: Teacher burnout, classroom quality and children’s adjustment in high needs elementary schools. Journal of School Psychology, 53(5), 337-357. doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2015.06.002

  Jennings, P.A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Davis, R., DeMauro, A. A. & Greenberg, M. T. (2017). Impacts of the CARE for teachers program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010–1028. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000187

  Laurie, R. (2019, December). Measuring school well-being: The mental fitness and resiliency inventory and the School Happiness Index (SHI). Education Canada Magazine, 59(4). Retrieved from:  https://www.edcan.ca/articles/measuring-school-well-being

  Laurie, R., Morrison, B. & Peterson, P. (2019, December). The Positive Workplace Framework (PWF): A strengths-based approach for thriving schools. Education Canada Magazine, 59(4). Retrieved from: https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-positive-workplace-framework/

  McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third‐grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child Development, 86(3), 945-954. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12344

  Miller, R. (2012). Teacher absence as a leading indicator of student achievement: New national data offer opportunity to examine cost of teacher absence relative to learning loss. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. 

  Miller, R., Murnane, R., & Willett, J. (2008). Do teacher absences impact student achievement? Longitudinal evidence from one urban school district. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 181-200. doi: https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373708318019

  Molero Jurado, M. D. M., Pérez-Fuentes, M. D. C., Atria, L., Oropesa Ruiz, N. F., & Gázquez Linares, J. J. (2019). Burnout, perceived efficacy, and job satisfaction: Perception of the educational context in high school teachers. BioMed research international, 2019. doi: 10.1155/2019/1021408

  Núñez, J. L., Fernández, C., León, J., & Grijalvo, F. (2015). The relationship between teacher’s autonomy support and students’ autonomy and vitality. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 21(2), 191-202. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2014.928127

  Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine, 159, 30-37. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.031

  Roffey, S. (2012). Pupil Wellbeing – Teacher Wellbeing: Two sides of the same coin. Educational & Child Psychology, 29(4), 8-17. Retrieved from: https://www.sueroffey.com/wp-content/uploads/import/32-Roffey%20ECP29-4.pdf

  Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher turnover harms student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 4-36. doi: https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0002831212463813

  Statistics Canada. (2020). Work absence of full-time employees by industry, annual. Retrieved from: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410019101

  WITH THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: 

            

• WEBINAR: Testing and Adapting Innovative Approaches to Workplace Well-Being in K-12 Education During COVID-19

  May 7, 2020 12:58 PM Comments Off on WEBINAR: Testing and Adapting Innovative Approaches to Workplace Well-Being in K-12 Education During COVID-19

  While a breadth of empirical evidence has been published on ways to increase student well-being, there has been little empirical research on how to address whole school well-being.

  Based on this gap in the literature, The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) has created two organizational approaches to school well-being in Canada that are currently being tested in numerous K-12 schools.

  In this hour-long webinar first broadcasted on April 30th, Emily Larson explains the two approaches including tips for leveraging them during COVID-19, which include:

  • A weekly well-being program where staff are sent supportive text messages.
  • An email template for principals to use to communicate the value they place on staff well-being.

  Watch the full webinar below:

  Want to watch upcoming webinars as they are released? Visit our webinar series to sign up today!

  MESSAGE FROM BIT – SHARE YOUR STORY!

  As part of our efforts to support school wellbeing during these times of uncertainty, we would love to hear from you on how you are coping. While you cannot be together, sharing stories with other teachers in Canada is a powerful way to connect and support one another. We are collecting stories, which we may use in some of our messages to teachers, principals, and support staff over the next few weeks. If you are willing to share your story (which will be used anonymously) please email wellbeing@bi.team. These stories may be on the struggles you are facing right now, how you have managed to find meaning while working from home or how you are trying to maintain a work-life balance – there are no right answers! We thank you for everything you are doing to support your students – and remember to take care of yourself!

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