The top 3 reasons to oppose the Hybrid Model

BY PAUL JUNOR

On Wednesday, December 9^th, 2020, between 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm, a Hybrid Education Action Forum was held to draw attention to the: challenges, issues and difficulties related to hybrid learning.

The online forum featured Beyhan Fardi, a postdoctoral visitor (2020-2021) at the Faculty of Education at York University. Her research focused on the relationship between e-learning and educational inequality in the Toronto District School Board. Her most recent post on May 11^th, 2020 was titled, “Centering Social Justice and Equity in Online Synchronous Learning.” The forum describes the hybrid model as occurring, “When a teacher instructs students in their classroom and online at the same time.”

OEWU was able to put together a list of resources that provided information to help combat against Hybrid Learning in your school board. The resources can be found at the Ontario Education Workers United Linktree site (https://linktr.ee/NoHybrid).

OEWU presented the top three reasons to oppose the hybrid model, which are:

1. It’s bad for student learning

Students receive less attention and support.

2. It’s inequitable

Working class and racialized students, who live in the neighbourhoods hardest hit by COVID-19, are more likely to be enrolled in online learning. As a result, they are the largest group of students without a dedicated teacher.

3. It erodes trust in public education

When students’ learning needs are not met, families lose trust in public education. Those who can, opt for private schools.

The online forum provides a letter template that will be sent to trustees addressing some of the fundamental issues. It reads, “Students are not passive spectators in their learning. Forcing students home to watch their peers receive feedback from a dedicated teacher, while they watch from the outside is not providing equal quality education to every student in our board.

Teachers and education workers dedicate a lot of time and effort to create a wholesome learning environment for all students. By forcing them to split this time even further to teach students in class, while at the same time somehow supporting students and watching them on a Webcam, you are diminishing that support and experience for everyone. There are privacy concerns, lack of equitable access to technology and other issues that are being ignored by those adopting this model.”

There is no doubt that hybrid learning is challenging for both teachers and students. It has also created stress on parents too, who often have to share computers or laptops with their children. OEWU sees it as, “Unsustainable and educationally unsound.” The fact that so many boards have adopted it across Ontario makes it seem like the preferred mode of learning.

The template letter to the trustees states that, “Forcing through hybrid learning breaks the promise made to our constituents as a guardian of our schools. If more teachers need to be hired to cope with these unprecedented times then hire more teachers, but don’t set the precedent that only some students’ education matters.”

The provincial government has continued to maintain its support of hybrid learning.