Midterm
#TempleSocEd
No one saw COVID 19 coming, it took the entire world by surprise, affecting the daily lives of many including children. Adults lost their jobs and still do not have a reliable source of incoming to provide for their children and families. Children are not attending school as they did prior to COVID 19, making it harder for some parents and beneficial to some. Students are attending classes virtually while others attend classes in person two or three day of the week. For many, learning has becoming extremely harder and frustrating while for some online schooling has been very instrumental in their learning. I spoke to two boys, one in elementary and the other in high school, I then spoke to their parents and multiple teachers and asked questions about the impact COVID 19 has on their lives, education and families.
I spoke to my nephew about his school experience since the pandemic begun. Jaylen is a 15-year-old in the 9th grade who misses attending classes in person and being with his friends. For him his school reopened to in person classes since the beginning of the semester but due to his mother having chronic asthma, his parents made the decision to keep him, his brother and his 5-year-old sister home and enroll them into K12, an online public school. For starters, he mentioned that he absolutely hates it. He feels as if he is teaching himself everything and it so hard to focus on what his instructors are saying without becoming tired or frustrated when the instructor asks a question he cannot answer. Jaylen believes he learns better when in an actual classroom surrounded by classmates. Jaylen also misses the discussions about a topic in class and hearing the feedback from his peers on topics being taught. He believes these were very helpful as hearing and having discussions with his classmates would further help him understand certain topic. At 15, he understands why we could not go back to school but would have still preferred to be there than at home.
For my other nephew Jayden, he enjoys virtual learning, he prefers being home and working on his own pace. While Jayden was in school, he felt rushed and this would make him give up easily, at home he is able to get assistance from his brother or his mother while taking his time when trying to understand something, especially in Math. Math is his problem subject but now feels more comfortable doing Math through virtual learning.
I then spoke to their mother Sherese, because of the decision she made in order to protect her health, things have been much harder for her. She was in school herself to become a registered nurse but had to put that on pause so she could better assist her three children with school, even though her classes would have been virtual as well. Sherese was disappointed when during her first week of classes she realized that she could not properly focus on her studies while working and helping her children. COVID 19 has affected her tremendously especially financially, there are many times when she has miss work when she has no one to be home to assist the children especially her daughter. Her main priority is her children and will always choose to support their education and wellbeing over everything else.
I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to three teachers, but there was one teacher in particular whose story stood out the most. Janet is a kindergarten teacher and also a registered nurse. She teaches full time at a school in the North East Philadelphia and works as a nurse some weekends or nights when she can. Before COVID 19 she would only work as a nurse when school was closed. She works both jobs now because her husband in still unemployed and they have four children, one in college, two in elementary school and a two-year-old son which she needs to provide for. Janet reveals that the most frustrating part about her day at school is trying to make sure the children keep their mask on especially due to the fact that she works in a hospital. Even though she is tested on a weekly basis she is very concerned about herself and the children in her class. For Janet, this pandemic has been one of the most challenging times she has experienced.
On a large scale I found that this pandemic and the shift in education for students has proven to be more harmful to students especially those in urban areas. A form of inequality that has been more present or evident since the pandemic has been the schools that have re-opened and the ones that have shifted to online school. It has been seen where schools in urban areas and communities of lower income have gone back to in person learning while schools and suburban areas students are able to stay home and do virtual classes. When thinking of parents, teachers and students and the health of these persons it can be seen where people in low income families and communities have to suffer or put themselves at risk. Though students attending classes in person is not ideal when trying to prevent the spread of the virus this helps most parents who do not have the opportunity to work from home and need their children to be in school so they can go to work. While schools located in higher income areas are able to do virtual classes other schools may not as the resources in these schools are very limited. There are students in urban neighborhoods who previously relied on school to get a meal but are not able to do so anymore. In the article ‘The Public Purposes of Schooling in the Age of Coronavirus’ the author Doug Larkin states that, “from the perspective of stopping the spread of disease, it absolutely makes sense to close the schools and send children home. But from a broader public health perspective that recognizes public schools as the where may children receive social services, closing them means that children may go hungry and not have some of their basic needs met”.
This pandemic has caused destruction in the economy and has completely disrupted the lives of adults and children. It has affected the learning of students and for some virtual learning has caused improvement in their education.No one saw COVID 19 coming, it took the entire world by surprise, affecting the daily lives of many including children. Adults lost their jobs and still do not have a reliable source of incoming to provide for their children and families. Children are not attending school as they did prior to COVID 19, making it harder for some parents and beneficial to some. Students are attending classes virtually while others attend classes in person two or three day of the week. For many, learning has becoming extremely harder and frustrating while for some online schooling has been very instrumental in their learning. I spoke to two boys, one in elementary and the other in high school, I then spoke to their parents and multiple teachers and asked questions about the impact COVID 19 has on their lives, education and families.
I spoke to my nephew about his school experience since the pandemic begun. Jaylen is a 15-year-old in the 9th grade who misses attending classes in person and being with his friends. For him his school reopened to in person classes since the beginning of the semester but due to his mother having chronic asthma, his parents made the decision to keep him, his brother and his 5-year-old sister home and enroll them into K12, an online public school. For starters, he mentioned that he absolutely hates it. He feels as if he is teaching himself everything and it so hard to focus on what his instructors are saying without becoming tired or frustrated when the instructor asks a question he cannot answer. Jaylen believes he learns better when in an actual classroom surrounded by classmates. Jaylen also misses the discussions about a topic in class and hearing the feedback from his peers on topics being taught. He believes these were very helpful as hearing and having discussions with his classmates would further help him understand certain topic. At 15, he understands why we could not go back to school but would have still preferred to be there than at home.
For my other nephew Jayden, he enjoys virtual learning, he prefers being home and working on his own pace. While Jayden was in school, he felt rushed and this would make him give up easily, at home he is able to get assistance from his brother or his mother while taking his time when trying to understand something, especially in Math. Math is his problem subject but now feels more comfortable doing Math through virtual learning.
I then spoke to their mother Sherese, because of the decision she made in order to protect her health, things have been much harder for her. She was in school herself to become a registered nurse but had to put that on pause so she could better assist her three children with school, even though her classes would have been virtual as well. Sherese was disappointed when during her first week of classes she realized that she could not properly focus on her studies while working and helping her children. COVID 19 has affected her tremendously especially financially, there are many times when she has miss work when she has no one to be home to assist the children especially her daughter. Her main priority is her children and will always choose to support their education and wellbeing over everything else.
I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to three teachers, but there was one teacher in particular whose story stood out the most. Janet is a kindergarten teacher and also a registered nurse. She teaches full time at a school in the North East Philadelphia and works as a nurse some weekends or nights when she can. Before COVID 19 she would only work as a nurse when school was closed. She works both jobs now because her husband in still unemployed and they have four children, one in college, two in elementary school and a two-year-old son which she needs to provide for. Janet reveals that the most frustrating part about her day at school is trying to make sure the children keep their mask on especially due to the fact that she works in a hospital. Even though she is tested on a weekly basis she is very concerned about herself and the children in her class. For Janet, this pandemic has been one of the most challenging times she has experienced.
On a large scale I found that this pandemic and the shift in education for students has proven to be more harmful to students especially those in urban areas. A form of inequality that has been more present or evident since the pandemic has been the schools that have re-opened and the ones that have shifted to online school. It has been seen where schools in urban areas and communities of lower income have gone back to in person learning while schools and suburban areas students are able to stay home and do virtual classes. When thinking of parents, teachers and students and the health of these persons it can be seen where people in low income families and communities have to suffer or put themselves at risk. Though students attending classes in person is not ideal when trying to prevent the spread of the virus this helps most parents who do not have the opportunity to work from home and need their children to be in school so they can go to work. While schools located in higher income areas are able to do virtual classes other schools may not as the resources in these schools are very limited. There are students in urban neighborhoods who previously relied on school to get a meal but are not able to do so anymore. In the article ‘The Public Purposes of Schooling in the Age of Coronavirus’ the author Doug Larkin states that, “from the perspective of stopping the spread of disease, it absolutely makes sense to close the schools and send children home. But from a broader public health perspective that recognizes public schools as the where may children receive social services, closing them means that children may go hungry and not have some of their basic needs met”.
This pandemic has caused destruction in the economy and has completely disrupted the lives of adults and children. It has affected the learning of students and for some virtual learning has caused improvement in their education.
