Spring break ended Monday without the usual influx of students returning to school from two weeks of R and R.
Instead, they are looking at a gradual transition to remote — or at least different — learning methods. Face-to-face instruction at schools around the province is on hold, suspended March 17 by Education Minister Rob Fleming in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministry hopes to have new learning methods in place by mid-April, said Don Peterson, president of the Saanich Teachers’ Association. In the meantime, teachers are being offered help with training they might need.
“This is a planning/learning week for teachers,” he said. “And it is going to expand into next week, as well.”
In the Greater Victoria School District, both teachers and students will need to collect necessary materials from schools, said superintendent Shelley Green. The procedure will vary from school to school. “That’s going to take us a little time, considering safe distance and organization of when they come and how they collect things.”
Developing a workable format for remote learning will take time, Peterson said, pointing out that it’s only two weeks since Fleming’s announcement that schools would close. “Everyone’s going to do their best, but the goal is to provide educational opportunities for students.”
He said it’s important not to be “overpromising” what education is going to look like, and it won’t necessarily all be online.
“There’s some challenges with that,” Peterson said, including the fact that some students might not have access to home computers. “We want to make sure that those students are getting the same opportunities as any other students.”
A teacher might choose to set up an outline on Monday to start the week, while encouraging students to submit questions as they arise, said Peterson, adding another logistical issue is child care for teachers. “Lots of teachers are going to be working with their baby on their side.”
All of the approximately 460 full-time equivalent teachers in the Saanich School District were working from home Monday, and most will choose to continue to work from home, Peterson said.
Sooke School District superintendent Scott Stinson said many teachers in the district have already begun the process of contacting students.
“The first piece is determining their ability to be able to connect, whether it’s online or whether we have to find some other provision for that connection to happen,” Stinson said. “So it’s doing a bit of an assessment with our students and families.”
Green said while teachers are getting prepared, the district’s website offers learning resources for parents in literacy, numeracy and health and well-being.
“We’ve got platforms on our website that they can link into as teachers themselves are getting ready and transitioning,” Green said. “You just link into the age group that your students are in and it will be updated on a continuous basis.”
Some teachers will be more readily able to use new learning methods because they have experience with online learning platforms, Green said.
The Ministry of Education said in a statement that learning options will differ depending on the individual school district, public school or independent school and the communities they serve.
Families will hear from their district superintendents and/or school principals in the coming week with an update, the ministry said.
For the Greater Victoria School District website platforms, go to sd61.bc.ca/news-events/covid-19-latest-developments/.
