PhD student Myrtle Sodhi will be exhibiting a sculpture called聽The Warp & The Weft, featuring "story-threads" that women and gender diverse people shared about the pandemic experiences. The stories wove in and out of each other similar to the way threads weave in and out of each other on a loom structure.

The weaving of the stories speaks to Stephanie Toliver's quilting analogy where she explores the ways stories come together and come apart as they come up against each other. 聽 The sculpture will feature sliced images where parts of the image is separated from other images in the same photograph to reveal the individual and collective stories they tell on their own and with the other images. These images are printed on layers of heritage washi paper. There will also be archival records and images that will speak to the way stories of the present day connect to stories of the past.

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Beyhan Farhadi, a post-doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Education at 快播视频, discusses the relationship between educational policy, online learning, and equity during COVID-19. Farhadi says 鈥渢he push for online learning is going to result in a lack of access to in-person programming.鈥�

"Let's begin with the fact that online聽learning was perhaps most taken advantage of by聽people who could take their kids聽elsewhere,聽maybe to聽the cottage,聽and set them up on the Wi-Fi and they聽could learn and all of that is wonderful, but we聽know that聽isn't most people in this province," says Farhadi,聽"The push for more and more online聽education will mean that for most families聽in Ontario,聽it's going to result in a lack of access to聽in-person programming and shortcuts to public聽education."

"With an opt-out option,聽you can only opt-out if you've聽got聽an option to learn in person," continues Farhadi, "But even if you opt-out, you risk losing the funding.聽I think this is one instance where聽what聽we're hearing doesn't really match what reality is."

Listen to the full podcast .

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The Feed is York Region鈥檚 only radio news magazine show with the stories, issues and events from across the region. They take you behind the scenes with in-depth news coverage as well as conversations with newsmakers, special guests and local personalities.

This week, Tina Cortese is joined with Dr. Sarah Barrett, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education and Special Advisor to the Dean, to discuss if it is safe to be back in the classrooms, how to ease student anxiety and how to support students who have fallen behind. 鈥淚 think the big problem right now is that there are a lot more anxious students than usual 鈥� students are dysregulated and the younger they are, the worst it gets because they can't cope as well,鈥� says Barrett, "There is all this back and forth, a lot of not knowing what's going to happen next, and I think that for a lot of teachers they will focus on what is regular, and that together, we can figure out ways to make everyone feel comfortable."

Listen to the full podcast at .

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Doctoral student Timothy Martin wrote an article for about how the coronavirus pandemic provides an opportunity to address homelessness.

鈥淚 research public responses to homelessness, and I believe that we can do better,鈥� says Martin. 鈥淭hrough education and dialogue, we can begin to recognize that we all want the same thing: the end of homelessness, safer neighbourhoods and adequate housing for all.鈥�

Martin also says that 鈥渉omelessness need not be viewed as an inevitable part of the fabric of North American society. It was not always omnipresent, and need not continue to be. It has only really become pervasive, and increasing since the 1980s in Canada. Research has argued that it is preventable.鈥�

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When COVID-19 hit a year ago, countless students from kindergarten through post-secondary were thrown into virtual schooling for the first time.

Though some have adapted well, many students, families and educators have spotlighted problems with online learning. As we look to post-pandemic life, online classes will be sticking around. But what's needed to make them better?

Students can definitely succeed online 鈥� typically those "at an age where they can learn independently. They can self-regulate and they are disciplined," said Beyhan Farhadi, a post-doctoral education researcher in the Faculty of Education at 快播视频, e-learning expert and teacher in Toronto.

While relying on online learning has been 鈥渦seful during an emergency,鈥� a host of issues Farhadi worried about prior to the pandemic have been underlined in the past year.

Read the full article on the CBC web site .

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Even before COVID-19, education experts were sounding the alarm about the future of racialized children in our schools. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored 鈥� even deepened 鈥� the divide. Carl James, professor of education at 快播视频 and Kulsoom Anwer, a high school teacher who works out of one of Toronto's most marginalized neighborhoods, Jane and Finch, were on The Conversation Canada Podcast episode 3 to discuss the injustices and inequalities in the education system 鈥� and the way forward.

Listen to the episode

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It is almost one year since schools began to close in Ontario, with closures happening again in January of this year. Barrett, a professor in York鈥檚 Faculty of Education, surveyed 764 teachers in May and June of 2020, and did in-depth interviews with 50 of them. These interviews informed specific recommendations which are documented in a new report. 

A number of themes emerged in the teachers鈥� responses outlined in the report, titled "Emergency Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Teachers鈥� Perspectives." Many were concerned about the sudden disruption to relationships with students of all ages. Play-based learning for young children became next to impossible, they said. They also cited lack of student engagement, exacerbated in special education courses in particular when students learned their grades would not drop below where they were on March 13.

The following were key recommendations informed by the data from the report:

• Emergency plans to ensure all students have equitable access to quality education should school buildings have to be shut down again.
• Communication that is two-way and timely during a crisis between the Ministry of Education and school boards and teacher federations, between school boards and schools, and between schools and teachers. 
• Flexibility as one size does not fit all student learning and teaching.
• Professional development through coaching rather than courses.

Due to the suddenness of the change to online learning, some disruption was inevitable. However, the experiences with shutdowns this year have highlighted the need for emergency planning, so the logistics are in place to address the needs of vulnerable students, says Barrett.

Emergency planning will be especially important in ensuring equitable access to education for students with special needs, those living in poverty, racialized or Indigenous students, English-language learners and adult students, she said.

鈥淲e now have a very good idea of what students need when school buildings are shut down. Having emergency plans in place which reflect what we have learned would help school boards and teachers respond to them more quickly in any future lockdowns,鈥� says Barrett.

Read the full report here.

Article from the March 10, 2021 issue of .

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The emergency shift to online teaching at the beginning of the pandemic disrupted teacher-student and student-student relationships and made it difficult to assess how students were performing, according to the findings of a survey of elementary and secondary school teachers.

As part of a larger study, Barrett surveyed 764 teachers in May and June, to explore and document the teachers鈥� experiences of the unprecedented closures in the winter and spring of 2020. The survey provides a snapshot of teachers鈥� familiarity with online teaching before the pandemic and their circumstances, professional development, and concerns during. Fifty-five per cent of participants were secondary school teachers and forty-five per cent were elementary school teachers. 

The survey found:

• 40 per cent of respondents reported having caregiving responsibilities that 鈥渟ignificantly impacted鈥� their ability to teach online. This was the strongest theme in the anecdotal responses. 
• 82 per cent of respondents said that they had several students that they were worried would 鈥渇all through the cracks鈥� with the new format. There were various reasons indicated in the anecdotal responses, including lack of equipment, special needs, and language difficulties.
• Vulnerable students were made more vulnerable by the situation and teachers were often frustrated trying to make sure all students鈥� needs were met. 

The survey respondents indicated they were most concerned about: 

1. balancing caregiving and teaching responsibilities 
2. equity, accommodations for students with special needs, and access to technology 
3. authentic assessment of student learning 
4. the disruption of relationships 

鈥淭hese findings about online teaching and learning need to be taken in context. It was an emergency situation,鈥� says Barrett. 鈥淯sually, online teaching and learning is a choice made by both the instructors and students.  Usually, teachers have the time to prepare and plan. However, in this emergency situation, there was no real choice on the part of teachers, students, or parents. And, importantly, teachers鈥� efforts to adapt were complicated by the incremental extensions of school closure. This is because short-term lesson planning depends on long-term curriculum planning. The uncertainty made this long-term planning impossible.鈥� 

These findings will inform a final comprehensive report to be released in early 2021. 

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