Hybrid high school classes going to be 'extraordinarily difficult,' teachers' union rep says

A local teachers' union representative insists a decision bythe Lakehead District School Board to change its learning model for high school students next month was brought on by the province andwill negatively affect both students and teachers.

Starting in February, the board will be adopting a hybrid model for high school classes, where in-person and online students will be taught simultaneously by the same teacher.

For most of this academic year, students who opted to learn online were taught separately in what the board called a virtual school.

Richard Seeley, the president of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation (OSSTF) District 6A who represents teachers and occasional teachers in the Thunder Bay area, said the hybrid model will pose a challenge for teachers.

"What that means for my teachers is they have to juggle teaching people virtually and live, at the same time, which is going to be extraordinarily difficult," Seeley said.

"You essentially have to have two sets of lessons, two kinds of evaluations, to keep integrity in your courses."

Seeley said the switch to the hybrid model is the product of the Ministry of Education not providing sufficient funding for the board to continue operating the separate virtual schools.

The announcement on the board's website cites benefits for the hybrid model, including keeping virtual students better connected to their school community, an improved transition for in-person students who have to shift to online, more variety in course offerings and the ability to pivot between provincially-mandated virtual days and regular days without altering student timetables.

Rather than two semesters with four class periods, the high school calendar was adapted this year to four quadmesters with two class periods. In-person students alternated weekly with one class taught in the physical classroom, and the other session done online.

Seeley said teachers are going to have a hard time with 150-minute lessons having both in-person and online students.

"Anyone who has ever taught will tell you the most important piece to being an effective teacher is to build and maintain relations with students. If you're teaching virtually, it's difficult but manageable. If you're teaching virtually and live at the same time, forming those relationships is going to be practically impossible so everyone is going to suffer in a hybrid model."

The first day of learning for the third quadmester is scheduled for Jan. 28, along with Jan. 29, would be done completely online before the hybrid model begins on Feb. 1.