Learning Long Division under The Time of COVID-19

As we continue to function under the new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s understandable that things have shifted.  Our list of priorities is different, as we navigate daily schedules that looked much different a month or two ago.  Those with school aged children are experiencing this rather acutely, as parents are now fulfilling a dual role as mum/dad, and now, as teacher.  As we navigate these uncharted waters, there are certain realities that have come to light. First, online learning is proving to highlight the growing inequity in our public school system, and it's worth examining why our education leaders insist on pushing forward with screens, and chromebooks in the classroom. Second, during this lockdown phase, more parents are finding out what their kids are actually doing in school, and it's leading to some interesting observations.  Our assumption about what our kids should be learning, doesn't necessarily align with what they *are* learning. More on this point later on in this post. 

Our curriculum in British Columbia was implemented years ago, to create a more student centred learning environment.  Millions of dollars have been spent to ensure British Columbia’s education system would be cutting edge, revolutionary in fact, and there’s been a greater emphasis on technology which puts the bulk of the learning in the student’s hands.  Personalized learning is supposed to create a more meaningful learning experience, one that would create a more engaged student.   Teachers would become a “guide on the side”,  a facilitator in a collaborative learning environment where ideas would flow seamlessly between teacher and students, and creativity would replace mindless rote learning where facts no longer mattered (Just Google it!).

As with most progressive ideology, what we are now seeing is the reality of what student centred learning in a technologically driven environment looks like. It’s chaotic, with many teachers juggling both an increased workload and figuring out online platforms that they have almost little, or no experience with.  As for teaching the new curriculum, it’s so vague that no two teachers can discern what the learning standards actually are, and everyone is expected to have their own interpretation about what, and how their students should be learning.  

So how’s it working so far? 

Results indicate that since the new curriculum was implemented, academic achievement has plummeted.  British Columbia has been on a downward trajectory for the past 20 years, but since the BCEd plan was implemented in 2015/16, our academic performance has dipped even below the Canadian average in all three subject areas (Reading, Science and Mathematics according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) – the lowest level ever recorded in British Columbia. 

The equity gap between our brightest and struggling students has increased, and the number of our top performing students, has declined.  As student centred/inquiry based learning has infiltrated our classrooms across the province, we’ve seen a significant decline in academic achievement, leaving our kids even less prepared post-graduation, than in previous generations.

So when I hear our education leaders, and Trustees say, “Trust us, we’re the experts” and caution parents to be more patient, it reminds me of when our eldest was struggling in elementary school. “Don’t worry, she’ll get it eventually” was a common refrain.  For years. Until we finally had to enroll her in a tutoring centre because she never did get it. So how much longer are parents expected to wait? What solutions are magically waiting to transform my youngest’s efforts in her final year of high school, so that she will be ready for post-secondary this September?

The BCEd plan has claimed to embrace self directed/online learning since its inception.  British Columbia has been a frontrunner in promoting this view nationwide, so why are they so far behind?  This entire fiasco is not a failure of teachers to mobilize in the face of crisis.  Rather, it is what it has always been:  a house of cards built upon a premise of platitudes and horrible science.  We're just now finally seeing it in real time.

It’s acknowledged that not everyone is set up for online learning at home.  I agree.  However in our own household, and many others, we are.  Yet the learning gap grows larger with every passing day that goes by without receiving any meaningful instruction from our school.

Another flaw in our new curriculum is that it does not support any cognitive data about how kids learn best.  Based on the list of resources, and guidelines provided by our School Districts, and  our Education Ministry, many parents are finding out these supports are rather useless.  We know that many kids learn better via textbooks and worksheets, yet none are being provided on a formative level. It's been left for individual teachers to come up with them on their own for some of their students, but this has only added to their increasing workload.  There are still way too many kids that aren't receiving any meaningful instruction from their schools, pushing them further behind.

So this leads to my second point:  what are parents finding out about their child's education thus far?

Many are learning their kids can't count properly.  In the advent of Google and calculators, kids haven't memorized their times tables, or even heard the term "long division" (There's no mention of it in the curriculum).  We've seen a decreasing trend in our kid's reading and writing abilities as well.  Perhaps without even knowing why, most parents simply know that without these basic facts, kids cannot possibly grasp more complex problem solving, and they're finding out it's not that difficult to do so.  So why aren't our kids learning these basic principles in school, yet seem to be capable of learning them at home?   

Courtesy of Facebook

There's no question that the connection between a teacher and their students cannot be replaced by an online learning environment.  My own two kids despise online learning, and want this to be over.  However this goes beyond criticism of online learning.  Even when they're in the classroom, why is there such a huge deficit in our children's learning?  Why aren't they mastering fractional arithmetic even when we know it's *the* foundation of understanding higher order mathematics?  Why can't they spell?  Evidence based learning is lacking in today's schools, and there's no reason for this.  

It’s inexcusable that so many of our kids, and teachers, have been left to fend for themselves, with parents expected to fill the gaps, for hours every day. The fact that multiple jurisdictions elsewhere have managed to connect meaningfully systems wide with their teachers, and their students, means that our education system here in B.C. requires much more scrutiny, especially when it’s being held as a shining example of 21^st century learning.   Kids require explicit instruction and teachers need to teach. There are ways to move forward, without patronizing us about how every child learns differently, and that parents need to be patient.  The sooner this can be acknowledged, the sooner we can move forward to our kids learning again, even in a COVID-19 environment.