Midterm

COVID-19 means forceful adaptation for k-12 education right now. Everyone has been affected by this global pandemic which has forced them to alter their lives accordingly. Things like new social norms have been put in place, as well as, work and education routines being shifted. Humans’ adaptability throughout history has allowed us to continue living, specifically, because our ability to adapt to our environment. However, in a social context, not everyone was made equal in adaptability. When the world’s most valuable man-made asset is money, it is hard to assume that everyone will have equal access to it or even a chance at it. Through talking to a variety of people involved in k-12 education, the presence or lack of money is undeniable in predicting the chances of successful adaption, as it relates to COVID-19. The patterns we have been looking at for students who have less of a chance at succeeding in school lead back to the race of the child.

The interviews’ purpose was to understand, on a personal level, the impact COVID-19 has had on people involved in education. The educator’s interview provided further backing on how people from the lower status group are faced with harsher realities of COVID-19. The student’s interview provided backing on how students are struggling with learning, in which patterns can be seen within different status groups. The parent’s interview provides insight on different struggles that connect to being from a ‘financially better off’ status group.

The educator I chose to interview for this project is Nhi Thi, who closely works with children at a non-profit organization in South Philadelphia at the Access Center at Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia. Her official job title is, Out of School Time Supervisor (OST Supervisor). OST is a program run by the City of Philadelphia which, as stated on their website, “Supports working parents and caregivers/ Benefits a child’s academic, social, and personal development/ and Helps children stay safe and avoid high-risk behaviors.” The program was made to help poor minorities with childcare after school. The building in which Thi works at is also an Access Center. I should also mention that the size of this building is relatively small. When asked about the diversity of her students, Thi states,

“There are 23 students in my group, 8 Latinos and 15 Southeast Asians (Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Laos). 7 out of 23 have learning disabilities or diverse needs. 10 out of 23 are English learners. Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, our organization enrolled 48 students for the school year of 2019–2020. Now, we have 23 students enrolled. The other 25 students that are not in program are really struggling with school because their parents are working.”

Part of Thi’s job is to maintain communication with each child’s teachers in order to help them keep up with the work, in other words, to be heavily involved with the school life of the children. As she mentioned, the children not enrolled in the program are suffering academically because there is a lack of involvement on the parent’s behalf. However, she also mentioned later on the interview that most of the parents are immigrants, work, and speak very minimal English, which are the driving factors of the lack of communication. This has been one of the challenges Thi has observed. On top of this, an even bigger challenge has emerged for her. Her hours of caring for these children went from 3:00 PM- 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM- 4:30 PM in person. The organization is now responsible for the children nearly three times as much as before. With the limited staff and small space, frustration and added stress has definitely been put on the staff that work at this organization. Proper sanitary procedures are often times difficult to oversee while having to supervise the children. They are understaffed and underfunded. Although the number of students went down by half, the number was ever even lower for a few months. The lack of funds urged them to take on more kids in order to receive more money.

On the note of class engagement, Thi states,

“Public schools are having classes from 8:30AM to 3:09PM. Those hours are very long for students. It has been almost 2 months of digital learning, and only some students are catching on with the routines and transitions. Most students are having trouble with completing classwork and homework. Students are not as focused. Some like to play games while in class. Younger students such as K to 2nd grade have trouble with understanding the materials and are not able to sit in front of the computer for long hours.”

The lack of focus in digital classes is something that all students have faced. Jasmin Zavaleta is a junior student of the Public-School District of Philadelphia’s high school, Franklin Learning Center. During her interview, the lack of engagement was one of the biggest factors in her dislike of online schooling. She was part of a few sports teams before the pandemic hit. Her daily routine consisted of waking up early to catch the train to go to school, grabbing some coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts, going to school, practice, hanging out with friends, then returning home. She said, “Every day is the same now…” There seems to be not much to look forward to anymore. She also expressed how the lack of engagement in class has led to the teachers going over the material too fast. She said there is an even bigger disconnect with most of her teachers. The activities her teachers have tried, such as breakout rooms during zoom classes, have not been positively received. She expressed feelings of awkwardness, only using the chat box to communicate, or only enabling her mic if others were the ones to initiate it, but also, having insistences of quiet breakout sessions. Like the children Thi has observed, Jasmin also spoke on how easy it is to be distracted in class. For her, the app of choice is TikTok.

While access to technology and other basic necessities have not been a problem to Jasmin, school has not been the only challenge she now faces. Being a single mother to an only child, Jasmin’s mother has always been a very hard-working woman. Although, she is now together with her partner, who does help out financially, working has become a part of who she is. When asked about the effects on family bond COVID-19 has had, she expressed feelings of isolation. Where before, she had school and friends to distract her from how much her mother works, now she is left alone in the house for most of the day.

Patricia Viacaba, a former Spanish professor at Temple University, is the mother of fraternal twins, Maxima and Roman. Fall 2020 marks the beginning of their K-12 education at a charter school in Philadelphia. Both Mr. and Mrs. Viacaba have been very involved in their children’s education, choosing the school they thought best. My mother is nanny to the children and holds witness to the dedication the Viacaba family has to their children, from eating only the most organic foods, receiving adequate physical play time in and outside, and taking frequent trips to museums and outdoor locations. When asked about the level of inclusion she feels in how school is going, Mrs. Viacaba said, “I feel included but not as much as if school were taking place in person.” Having been very involved with her children’s pre-school education, the Viacaba family has very close connections to the children’s current teachers. As a result of the pandemic, Mrs. Viacaba has become unemployed, however her husband is still working. When asked about the stresses she faces and the effects on family bond COVID-19 has had, she said, “I have less time for myself. The kids’ learning engagement is less and there is lack of social development skills. But it has definitely helped the family bond and there is no more stress, only during the first two weeks.” The stresses Ms. Viacaba has had focused more on her children’s education than anything else. Like Thi has observed, it is particularly difficult for younger children to pay attention and to grasp a good understanding of what they are learning. My mother has tried her best with keeping the children’s attention to the teacher but has said it is very difficult, especially towards the end of the day.

Doug Larkin’s article, “The Public Purposes of Schooling in the Age of Coronavirus” goes over 10 purposes that schools, public schools, have/serve. Throughout reading the article, it is very clear that the more privilege, in form of money, a family has, the less they rely on school to supplement their children. Going over his first point of schools providing academics, not all families can afford to solely focus on that. For example, the children in Thi’s program rely on it primarily for care. They are put at risk so that the children’s parents can go to work. For Jasmin, like many older children of a slightly better status group, she can afford to stay home and count on her family for meals in the fridge and on having a safe environment. So, for her, she can focus a bit more on school. For the Viacaba family, they can afford to only focus on the academics their children receive without worrying about missing payments for rent, bills, or food. In contrast to the family discussed in the “Reopening Schools” episode of the podcast, Office Hours hosted by Walter Allens et al, the single mother had to decide on leaving her two young children at home alone while she went to work. There are mental health setbacks with this, as discussed in the podcast and through Jasmin’s story, for both parents and children. The second point of child welfare, the less privileged you are, the more you rely on schools to supply adequate care for your children. The Viacaba family and families alike have done an excellent job at nurturing their children with lots of quality time and attention during the pandemic which has helped improve family bond. However, the burden not having enough has hit many unemployed families even more as a result of the pandemic. This has caused much more stress to these families. When asked if she has reported cases of child maltreatment, Thi said, “No, but I am not surprised if the number of cases increased.” Which, as we learned though Rick Hess’s article, the number has actually decreased because of teachers not reporting, but it is more than likely to have increased.

Through the data collected, the readings and podcasts, the inability to successfully adapt to COVID-19, as it relates to K-12 education, has been shining light to the inequalities currently in place. As discussed in the Walter Allens et al’s podcast, there is still more systematic racism to uncover apart from police brutality. Unlike the grappling violent nature of police brutality, racial inequalities in education has a much more subtle but sinister effect. The realities that minorities are facing as a result to Coronavirus will impact their futures.