Midterm Project

#TempleSocEd.

People interviewed: My little brother, my mother and my uncle who is a professor for the University of District of Columbia

Questions asked:

1. What is school like right now?
2. How included/excluded do you feel in how school is going? Why?
3. How has the pandemic affected school for you?
4. How has it affected your family?
5. What stresses and stressed behaviors have you felt or exhibited while going to school (or teaching school, or helping your kid go to school) during the pandemic?
6. What has helped you with going to school (or teaching school, or helping your kid go to school) during the pandemic?

Covid-19 has had a major impact on the school systems. Due to Covid-19, many places were forced to begin laying off employees and stopping all face-to-face learning, shifting to online learning. Although this method is considered the best and safest option, it has been very difficult for many children, their families and all staff members. At the beginning of class, we took a look at a few articles that discusses the transition from face-to-face to online, as well as its effects. “There Are Other Options Besides Reopening Schools” took a look at the disadvantages of the switch. When children were in school, they were able to have access to more effective face-to-face interactions with their teachers, as well as make friends and enhance their socialization skills. School also gave children the ability to move around and be active. Parents also benefited because many saw schools as daycares. They had the freedom to go to work, make an income to support their families or get things done that would have been troubling to complete if the children were with them. Unfortunately once Covid-19 hit, children were forced to switch to online learning platforms, causing strain on families. Many households had to adjust to now having their children home 24/7, caring for them and their education while trying to juggle work.

Although in order to make sure people are safe, it’s safer and better to have things closed, “The Public Purposes of Schooling in the Age of Coronavirus” explains that from a broader public health perspective that views public schools as the place where many children receive social services, closing them means that children may go hungry and not have some of their basic needs met. There are even more public purposes of schooling to consider. For example, Schools ensure that children have their physical and emotional needs met, and remain free from abuse and neglect, prepare students to resist social inequalities and provide them with tools to work towards justice and many others.

Access to learning platforms and the ability to properly use it raised concerns for many parents, students and teachers. While many schools provided chromebooks and learning tools/books for students and parents to feel more comfortable working from home, many schools were not able to provide students with the materials needed.

In today’s generation, although segregation is not as prominent as before, “Education’s Limitations and Its Radical Possibilities” goes into detail about how one’s income can and will greatly affect where they will live and which schools their children will attend; race and class come hand in hand when it comes to education. The ability to afford education is stemmed from the income of households. Speaking from personal experience, I was a Case Manager for a Refugee Resettlement Agency and as the school year approached, I was responsible for reaching out to families/clients who lived in sot-so-fafe areas, who had low incomes or no income with children to ask if they needed any material or help from us in regards to gaining access to the learning platforms. Many parents expressed that they did not have internet connection, computers, but also expressed that they don’t know how to navigate the platforms, turning to other families for guidance. The article continued to explain how the spectrum of the color line corresponds to the class line. Particular racial-ethnic groups are represented disproportionately in the lowest household income and other groups in the highest.

There have been articles that discussed how low fundings was in lower-income areas and how that hinders students from learning and progressing. In the article “Without Fixing Inequality, the Schools are Always Going to Struggle”, many teachers step forward and speak of their experiences teaching in racially segregated schools. Teachers spoke about how their buildings weren’t the safest and the sturdiest, but most importantly the lack of funding and materials provided to the students. Now that things have shifted to online learning, it makes things harder for students who still live in those areas because they (including their parents) are left to figure things out on their own in order to gain access to their child’s schooling. This is a major challenge when it comes to the switch.

To have more of an insight, I interviewed my mother, brother and uncle. My mother has been monitoring my brother’s zoom classes closely to make sure he’s not having any difficulty. My little brother is autistic and attends a private school for children with special needs. I asked him a few simple questions that he could answer about his experience with online classrooms, as well as online learning in general. Lastly, I reached out to my uncle who is a professor for the University of the District of Columbia.

This pandemic has a major effect on parents who need to provide for their families. Without being about to work their normal and regular hours due to the fact that children are at home, it makes it hard to receive an income. According to my mother, school has been going smoothly for her and my brother. It was a bit hard for them when it began because my mother doesn’t know too much about technology and there was no one to show her how to operate zoom. Another challenge my mother spoke of, as a parent it’s hard for her to find employment due to the fact that my brother needs supervision while he’s at home and while he’s taking his classes in our dining room. It is extremely hard for her to find a work schedule that correlates with my brother’s schedule. While she struggles to cope with the switch to online learning, she always has a support system to help her when she feels lost or stuck. Although there are major challenges, there are some good things that came with Covid-19, according to my mother. She expressed that she’s been able to spend more time with family and that she’s learned to cherish and be more appreciative of her family members and life as well.

My brother, on the other hand, has been loving being at home. He started high school this year and has really enjoyed getting to know his new classmates through zoom. He enjoys being able to work, but also be close to his games and electronics immediately after classes end. School has been the same for him; his teachers try very hard to make the lessons more fun and engaging than tasking. It is to the point where he becomes very excited for classes everyday. The only challenges that my brother now faces with Covid-19 is the fact that he cannot go outside as much as he used to. He’s required to move around a lot and often finds himself running back and forth through the house as a way of getting exercise. This has caused him to adapt to staying inside to the point where he refuses to go outside. A once active child is now reserved and, as my mom likes to say, lazy. Another challenge would be concentration and focus. Although he enjoys his classes, he has a hard time concentrating. He often tries to sneak his game systems in order to play, or gets distracted from his classes if someone is walking throughout the house.

Adapting to the switch and being forced to stay in our homes while attending school is very hard, as well as obtaining and learning to navigate unfamiliar learning platforms. From a teacher’s standpoint, it had been proven to be just as hard. After interviewing my uncle, a college professor, I learned that he’s been having the hardest time creating material that will keep their students interested and mentally challenged. From connection difficulty on his end, as well as his students, to a lack of attendance or focus (when students have their cameras off), it’s been a challenge overall. Many times his presentations do not reflect well through zoom nor do lessons come out the way he had hoped, causing him to scrap his ideas and start over. He is a mathematics professor, which makes things even harder for him when trying to show equations to his students. Covid-19 has caused him to become more creative with his lessons, which has been the only positive thing after the switch. He’s shifted offline and decided to stop making presentations. Instead, he presents a white board where he completes all math equations for his students. Many times, he records himself and sends that to his students. By doing this, he’s able the incorporate the online learning portion, but also keep the authenticity of face-to-face learning.

After gaining all this information, it’s easy to conclude that Covid-19 has not been easy for anyone. There are many people that are still neglected and many holes that need to be filled. Luckily because this has to do with our children’s education, more people have been vocalizing concerns in order to gain awareness. Many communities have been working together in order to ensure that everyone is kept afloat. Many restaurants provide free lunches to children in lower income families, many organizations have been funded in order to help parents with babysitting, help students with homework, etc. The government is also trying to help citizens financially, for example the stimulus check. Things are not the best, but what has been making it great has been everyone coming together, taking action and helping one another.