With virus exposures in schools and changing education models due to COVID-19, a university instructor in Nanaimo is interested in examining effects of the pandemic on student learning and emotional well-being.
Marla Morden, a Vancouver Island University psychology professor and developmental psychologist, received $6,000 in B.C. Ministry of Health COVID-19 research grant money and wants to hear from families, particularly with kindergarten to Grade 4 students, about impacts of home-schooling, distance learning and classroom environments during the pandemic.
Morden and her team will be asking if distance-learning students experience more isolation from their peers, and if there will be related behavioural and mental health impacts. If another suspension of in-class instruction occurs, would that disruption cause mental health issues for those students and how long would that last, researchers wonder. Morden also hopes to hear about positive experiences and unexpected benefits of education models that families have selected.
sa国际传媒淚 think we will see some behaviour and some mental health impacts for children because thatsa国际传媒檚 what studies and parents are telling us, but Isa国际传媒檓 not sure how long-lasting it will be,sa国际传媒� Morden said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 hoping that wesa国际传媒檒l see even as early as next fall, or the following year, that children who are resilient will be back to normal, but itsa国际传媒檚 hard to say.sa国际传媒�
Information will be gathered through sa国际传媒渟tandard psychological-type surveys,sa国际传媒� such as ones to determine parents and caregiverssa国际传媒� stress levels, and open-ended questions to both children and caregivers.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e just giving them prompts and then wesa国际传媒檙e asking them to share their experiences about going to school this yearsa国际传媒a国际传媒� said Morden. sa国际传媒淲e might ask, sa国际传媒楬ow have your social relationships been? How have the teachers been? Have you found that there have been enough supports?sa国际传媒� and then just letting them share their experiences in a more open-ended way.sa国际传媒�
Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district has seen an increase of distance education enrolment in 2020-21, with K-9 registration recently halted due to demand. Denise Wood, teacherssa国际传媒� union president, said while she hasnsa国际传媒檛 heard from K-4 teachers about students expressing fears about coronavirus, that doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean itsa国际传媒檚 not happening.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 high anxiety levels throughout the schools, at all levels,sa国际传媒� said Wood.
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Students might not be explicitly expressing fears about the virus, but that doesnsa国际传媒檛 mean they arensa国际传媒檛 concerned, added Susan Riordan, junior school principal at Aspengrove School, an independent school in Lantzville.
sa国际传媒淭he age group I work with, theysa国际传媒檙e not likely to come and say, sa国际传媒極h hi Mrs. Riordan, Isa国际传媒檓 really worried about COVID-19,sa国际传媒� but we might see anxious behaviours a little bit moresa国际传媒a国际传媒� said Riordan of her primary students. sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e asking to wash their hands when they might not normally have been the type to do that. They might get upset if someone gets too close to them.sa国际传媒�
Subjects will be tracked for five years, and while it may be hard to isolate the effects of the coronavirus, there could be other benefits to the research, Morden said.
sa国际传媒淚t could help us to see if theresa国际传媒檚 any difference between the behaviour of mental health of children who are home-schooled and who go to [bricks-and-mortar] school,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淲e could see that theresa国际传媒檚 no difference there, so that would be really great, or we could see that one group has an advantage.sa国际传媒�
Anyone wanting to take part in the research can e-mail Morden at marla.morden@viu.ca. Shesa国际传媒檚 hoping to get in contact with somewhere between 90 and 120 families.
sa国际传媒淚 know a lot of families are really excited about this research and think itsa国际传媒檚 really important, so I want them to be aware that itsa国际传媒檚 happening,sa国际传媒� she said.
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