Union leaders say the Catholic board’s hybrid model compromises learning and makes teachers’ jobs harder
About 600 Catholic board students across Hamilton logged in remotely from home last week to join their peers in brick-and-mortar high school classrooms.
The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) has opted to continue to offer hybrid learning for secondary students - a model that has one teacher simultaneously providing instruction to kids both in and out of the classroom - as a way to accommodate remote learners.
It's a way of paying one teacher to teach students in two different places at once," said Annie Kidder, executive director for People for Education, an Ontario advocacy group. It is a way for boards to manage the fact that they have to provide online learning."
In May, the Ministry of Education announced all Ontario school boards would be required to offer a virtual option for the 2021-22 school year. A recent People for Education report shows that Ontario is one of the only provinces with this requirement.
Kidder said boards have insufficient resources ... to run purely online classes," which is why many boards have opted for a less expensive option: hybrid learning.
Catholic board chair Pat Daly said the hybrid model ensures equal access to a variety of courses, allows the board to meet provincial requirements for synchronous learning - 225 minutes a day for secondary students - and keeps kids connected to their classmates, teachers and school communities.
For the first half of the 2020-21 school year, the board offered about 30 per cent of its high school courses through a virtual school, where classes are staffed by dedicated remote teachers.
In a virtual model, we just are unable to offer the whole breadth of course selections for high school students," said Daly.
The board then shifted to hybrid in the winter so remote students would have access to the same courses, Daly said.
Hamilton's Catholic board is one of a number in Ontario - it remains unclear exactly how many - offering hybrid learning, which has come under scrutiny in recent months.
In a pair of HWCDSB surveys earlier this year, some parents and students expressed concern" over the hybrid model, Daly said.
We don't suggest for a minute that the hybrid or any virtual model is ideal," he said. Our strong, strong preference and belief is that students are best-served by in-school learning, but considering all the options we had, we determined that hybrid was the best for our students."
But parents, unions and advocacy groups aren't so sure. In a recent Spectator survey of nearly 500 Hamilton families and educators, many conveyed frustration with hybrid.
It doesn't work," said a parent, who responded anonymously.
One teacher responded that hybrid is the worst pedagogical model there is," and another said they are worried it will put students even further behind."
Sergio Cacoilo, president of the Hamilton Secondary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association, said he thinks hybrid is a bad idea" and compromises learning for students both in and out of the classroom.
It becomes very, very difficult because you are trying to teach one or two kids at home, and you don't know if they're there," he said. You're trying to move around a classroom, give a specific individual instructions and you can't be in front of that little laptop."
Expected technical glitches are an added stress for teachers and eat away at class time.
Cacoilo said having the virtual school model, which is being used this year at Catholic and public elementary schools, would be more effective.
But the problem is we do not have enough students to fill a virtual school," he said.
The Ministry of Education says there are a number of different remote models and it's up to each board to decide which to use.
Cacoilo said an asynchronous model like the public board's eLearning program - in which high school students learn at their own pace - would also be appropriate.
Either one would be better than hybrid," he said.
Hybrid learning specifically harmful'
According to the Learning Disabilities Association of Halton-Hamilton (LDAHH), Hamilton's Catholic board is one of four in the organization's region, which extends from Toronto to Niagara, that has opted to use hybrid. Public boards in Toronto, York and Peel are also using the hybrid model.
Halton's public and Catholic boards, as well as the Grand Erie District School Board and the Brant-Halidmand-Norfolk Catholic District School Board, are using virtual formats with separate teachers for remote and in-person learners.
LDAHH executive director Alison Brindle said hybrid learning is specifically harmful for children with learning disabilities."
Generally, our children fall through the cracks anyway," she said.
She said students with learning disabilities - such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, as well as ADHD - will have a harder time recouping lost learning. Hybrid learning could further jeopardize learning opportunities for students both in and out of the classroom.
They don't generally get the focus that they should be entitled to," she said. If a teacher has to bring up the whole class, take care of the kids at home and look after kids with learning disabilities ... we know that our children will fall further behind."
Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com