The pandemic created seemingly insurmountable obstacles to learning and wellbeing. It also aggravated existing vulnerabilities in the education sector. Amid these disruptions, Faculty of Education researchers lead crucial initiatives during the public health crisis and its aftermath.
Our professors filled key leadership and advisory roles in the Royal Society of Canada’s Task Force on Covid-19, with working groups on Children and Schools, the Impact of COVID-19 in Racialized Communities, and Learning Loss. With major support from a LEGO Foundation COVID Recovery Grant, our researchers developed a bilingual, play-based learning initiative that was implemented in 41 schools across Canada. They were sought out by the media for op-eds and expert commentary on numerous issues, including absenteeism, accessibility, bullying, digital disparities, Francophone education, inequality, learning loss, mental health, and teacher attrition.
These urgent responses and subsequent research findings continue to expand our knowledge of the harms and the new capabilities that emerged during this period.
We spoke with several professors—each from a different field of expertise—about their post-pandemic perspectives. Here’s what they had to say about the “lessons learned.”
Rethinking resources, focusing on play
“I think we learned that emergency remote instruction, imposed during a health crisis that disrupts everything about children’s lives, is not the healthiest approach. Although public health directives were essential, systems of schooling were insufficiently resourced to meet the ongoing and evolving needs of children, teens and their families,” says Michelle Schira Hagerman, Teacher Education program director and founder of the edstudiO.
“From my own research, I learned that learning through play in schools is an essential dimension of recovery from crisis. The pandemic also exposed the a priori inequalities of access to digital resources, digital literacy instruction, and broadband infrastructure for children growing up in rural communities. Although investments have been made in rural broadband across Canada, digital divides remain,” she adds.
Exposing digital inequalities
For Megan Cotnam-Kappel, who holds the Research Chair on Digital Thriving in Franco-Ontarian Communities, the pandemic exposed inequalities in Francophone education that previously went unnoticed.
“My research during the pandemic revealed that emergency e-learning highlighted digital inequalities that already existed but had not been visible before. Teachers drew attention to gaps in digital access, skills and empowerment that were exacerbated by the crisis, but are still present today,” she explains.
“These challenges are even more pronounced for Francophone communities in Ontario, who face linguistic digital inequalities, including limited access to French-language resources and the development of the linguistic repertoire needed to create and participate online.”
“This highlights the importance of inclusive solutions adapted to minority contexts to support more equitable digital participation,” she says.
Online learning, before and after
“For more than 20 years, we’ve been teaching online to University of Ottawa students enrolled in our French-language distance programs,” explains Nathalie Bélanger, who directs the Observatoire sur l’éducation en contexte linguistique minoritaire (OÉCLM). “Throughout this time, we benefited from specially equipped classrooms, supported by a team of professional and dedicated on-site technicians,” she says.
"Moving to lockdown made distance learning widely available and pushed colleagues and students, many of whom were still unfamiliar with the platforms, to adapt rapidly. In our Faculty, an outstanding educational technology specialist, Elizabeth Saint, helped many of us to navigate in new spaces.”
Still, Bélanger urges caution. “While the constant evolution of technology makes it possible to imagine different methods of teaching and learning,” she says, “there’s a need to find a balance to prevent students from feeling isolated. In today’s volatile environment, the exclusive use of U.S.-based platforms should also be cause for concern.”
Stress and benefits for learners with disabilities
Jess Whitley, who holds the University Research Chair on Inclusion, Mental Health and School Attendance, observed mixed outcomes from those in the communities in which she works.
“I learned about the capacity of families to support their children during incredibly stressful times. In my research focused on children with disabilities, I also found that experiences with online learning and the pandemic really varied,” says Whitley.
“Most families struggled and experienced high levels of stress, but many also thrived. Fewer daily transitions, relaxed schedules, reduced social pressures, and personalized learning really benefited some children and families. These are findings we can take with us into re-thinking education and social nets far beyond the pandemic,” she adds.
Child and youth advocacy
When SARS-CoV-2 was declared a global pandemic, Tracy Vaillancourt, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in School-Based Mental Health and Violence Prevention, concentrated much of her attention on raising awareness about the needs of children during this crisis through research, policy development, and knowledge mobilization. She chaired the Children and Schools working group for the RSC which produced a comprehensive policy report on children and educators during the pandemic. Professor Vaillancourt also led the RSC’s COVID-19 Task Force which oversaw policy reports ranging from Intensive Care to Waste Water Surveillance. These reports have supported Canada’s pandemic recovery in all aspects of life from economics to Indigenous health. She`s now leading the RSC’s Working Group on Learning Loss in partnership with the Canadian Commission of UNESCO.
"Key lessons from the pandemic include recognizing the vital role of education, the importance of collecting data to monitor population needs and target support to the most vulnerable, and the value of transparency about what works—and what doesn’t—to build public trust in evidence-based decision-making," explains Vaillancourt.
