tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/back-to-school-14626/articlesBack to school – The Conversation2023-10-02T17:47:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2138462023-10-02T17:47:09Z2023-10-02T17:47:09ZRiskier times on campuses mean we need a tool for prevention and intervention of sexual assaults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550721/original/file-20230927-29-n78pww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C0%2C6048%2C3965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How post-secondary institutions react after a sexual assault incident can impact campus safety.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/riskier-times-on-campuses-mean-we-need-a-tool-for-prevention-and-intervention-of-sexual-assaults" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The excitement of entering a new academic year for university and college students can be palpable and filled with hope. But the start of the school year in post-secondary settings also has a shadow side, known as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221134293">red zone</a>. </p>
<p>The red zone is one of the riskier times for gender-based and sexualized violence to occur — about <a href="https://doi.org/10.3200/JACH.57.3.331-338">50 per cent of sexual assaults on campus</a> happen during this period. The impact on victims can be tremendous and devastating. </p>
<p>Others on campus are left to worry about their personal safety, while families and friends become concerned about their loved ones being on campus grounds or attending campus events. </p>
<p>After an incident of violence occurs, universities and colleges start thinking about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018756121">reputational harm</a> and what impact this might have on enrolment in the long-term.</p>
<h2>Institutional betrayal</h2>
<p>The post-secondary environment is a unique community focused on teaching and learning. Education should be at the heart of these learning environments, but this is affected after on-campus incidents of assault. </p>
<p>Victims have expressed feelings that an assault forces them to the margins of these communities. They experience institutional betrayal when their university or college failed to have policies or measures that would ensure their safety and failed to do what was reasonably expected to prevent further violence. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-sexual-assault-victims-speak-out-their-institutions-often-betray-them-87050">When sexual assault victims speak out, their institutions often betray them</a>
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<p>Post-secondary institutions and their communities should be resolutely driven to maintain a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537696.pdf">strong, safe and quality-focused place of learning</a>. </p>
<p>Universities and colleges also need to focus on prevention and intervention in their campus community, in addition to <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/events/responding-to-critical-incidents-of-sexual-violence-at-post-secondary-institutions">effectively responding to victims and the individuals who caused harm</a>. Ensuring campus safety and reducing reputational harm to the institution means assessing every incidence of gender-based and sexualized violence.</p>
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<span class="caption">The start of the school year in post-secondary settings is when 50 per cent of campus sexual assaults can happen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Identifying areas of risk</h2>
<p>It is important to not only assess the risk presented by perpetrators, but to also proactively identify areas within the institution that may enable future gender-based and sexualized violence to occur on campus. This analysis should be the sole responsibility of the institution — using a risk assessment tool can help meet such objectives. </p>
<p>It can be used to identify those areas that are in need of intervention or areas where prevention work can happen.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/addressing-campus-sexual-violence-new-risk-assessment-tool-can-help-administrators-make-difficult-decisions-199714">Addressing campus sexual violence: New risk assessment tool can help administrators make difficult decisions</a>
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<p>In light of the enormous scientific research in the field of risk assessment, it is surprising there has been no tool developed for use in universities and colleges. To address this gap, the <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/knowledgecentre">Gender-Based and Sexualized Violence Community Risk Assessment Tool</a> was launched in September.</p>
<p>We developed the tool to help prevent gender-based and sexualized violence on campus. We reviewed existing risk assessment tools for sexual and intimate partner violence and comprehensively reviewed research literature on campus sexual violence and gender-based violence risk factors. </p>
<p>We also conducted an environmental scan of risk assessment tools in use to ensure there weren’t tools that were unpublished but being used by practitioners. Our research helped us identify over 20 risk factors.</p>
<p>We then convened two advisory groups to help us determine which factors would be included in a final tool. Each group was comprised of sexual violence co-ordinators, student conduct officers, academic administrators, violence risk experts and, most importantly, students. These post-secondary stakeholders were drawn from across the country, from a variety of institutions and represented a number of viewpoints from across the post-secondary community. </p>
<p>The resulting tool includes 16 risk factors clustered into four groups related to the victim, campus community, violence incidence and the person who caused harm. A few of these 16 risk factors included institutional student life culture, sexual preoccupation and participation in hypermasculine culture.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">CBC reports on a student who says she experienced assault by a perpetrator who remains on campus.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Risk assessment and decision-making</h2>
<p>When an incident of sexualized and gender-based violence on a campus is reported, an important part of the investigation includes a risk assessment of the person who caused harm. This helps inform decisions and <a href="https://safersocietypress.org/rnr-principles-in-practice/">ensures the level of intervention matches the level of risk</a> to ensure safety.</p>
<p>The current tool goes further by focusing on factors related to the campus community and the victim. These factors provide information that could help identify areas the university or college needs to work on in order to improve safety and better respond to all instances of violence in their campus community.</p>
<p>Campus community risk for sexualized and gender-based violence should be assessed at various stages of a reported incident from initial accusation to investigation, and even after decisions are made about the individual who caused harm. This allows the institution to identify relevant areas where intervention could lower risk, make decisions about the individual who caused harm, and develop programs that would better prevent further incidents.</p>
<h2>Evidence-based decision-making</h2>
<p>Using the Community Risk Assessment Tool allows universities and colleges to make evidence-based decisions about their policies and procedures, <a href="https://www.couragetoact.ca/elp">learning environments</a> and supports for marginalized students. It also helps address a culture of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X211064321">hypermasculine beliefs</a> among campus groups and changing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016008004">problematic sexual expectations</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0030624">oppressive attitudes</a> on campus.</p>
<p>These decisions can positively influence the entire campus community. More broadly, the use of a risk assessment tool can progressively improve reputational risk by mandating a risk assessment for each incident. This ensures that an institutional audit of campus safety is a fixed and usual course of action. </p>
<p>This ensures a consistent process across all reported incidents may instill some confidence for victims that the university or college’s decisions are reasonably formed based on an objective tool.</p>
<p>Following an incidence of violence, the use of an evidence-based risk assessment tool can only help to promote safety and a sense of accountability by universities and colleges after the fact.</p>
<p>Without such a tool, campuses will be left reacting to incidents of gender-based and sexualized violence as they arise, rather than building a safe and effective learning community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Jung receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She also provides consultation to Possibility Seeds.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jesmen Mendoza provides consultation to Possibility Seeds. </span></em></p>A new community risk assessment tool allows post-secondary institutions to make evidence-based decisions about their policies and procedures.Sandy Jung, Professor, Department of Psychology, MacEwan UniversityJesmen Mendoza, Psychologist and Faculty Member, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2135912023-09-22T11:51:05Z2023-09-22T11:51:05ZSeven tips for using the back-to-school mindset to help you stick to your goals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549553/original/file-20230921-28-47ft6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5615%2C3732&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The back-to-school period is one of many temporal landmarks you can find throughout the year.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/runner-caucasian-woman-jogging-autumn-park-328341206">chesterf/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even if it’s been many years since you were last in school, you might still associate this time of year with that “back-to-school” mindset – that feeling of a page turning, a new phase beginning and the chance to start anew and reinvent yourself.</p>
<p>While you won’t find any research on the “back-to-school mindset” itself, this feeling is very similar to what science calls the “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901">fresh start effect</a>”. This is a boost in motivation for change that comes with a shift from one time in your life to another – called a temporal landmark. The beginning of a new school year, birthdays, anniversaries and even Monday mornings are all temporal landmarks.</p>
<p>Temporal landmarks support our belief that we can reinvent ourselves, acting as a threshold to a new start and the chance to leave old habits behind. These landmarks <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901">open our minds up</a> to novelty and the possibility of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133254">seeing the bigger picture</a> – rather than being mired in our daily slog. </p>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-motivate-yourself-to-learn-a-language-210341?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">How to motivate yourself to learn a language</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-difficult-to-figure-out-what-to-do-with-your-life-and-three-steps-to-take-209266?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Why it’s so difficult to figure out what to do with your life – and three steps to take</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/four-ways-to-have-hard-conversations-with-your-friends-without-making-things-worse-207675?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Four ways to have hard conversations with your friends – without making things worse</a></em></p>
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<p>New Year’s Eve is our most well-known marker for fresh starts. But as many of us know, new year’s resolutions <a href="https://openventio.org/wp-content/uploads/How-to-Make-Your-New-Year%E2%80%99s-Resolutions-Work-SBRPOJ-4-119.pdf">often don’t work</a> when it comes to making <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-3289(88)80016-6">lasting lifestyle changes</a>. </p>
<p>This is because resolutions tend to lack specificity, are too ambitious, last too long, or people don’t make necessary changes in their environment to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.88.6.918">support behaviour change</a> (such as finding new hobbies to do on weekends instead of going to the pub if you’re trying to drink less). Feeling you have to make a new year’s resolution can also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0306460389900506">lead to failure</a>.</p>
<p>But other temporal landmarks tend to better support changes, not just in ourselves but in our environment too. The new school year, for example, often means a change of routine, but also a change in the clothes we wear and the people we socialise with. All these subtle changes may work together to support your motivation when making a new start.</p>
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<img alt="A group of university students talk with each other about their coursework." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549554/original/file-20230921-19-ilm2fd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">We associate the back-to-school period with many changes – including new routines and meeting new people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/classmate-classroom-sharing-international-friend-concept-408849511">Rawpixel.com/ Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Our brains <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.3.423">love novelty</a> and there’s nothing better than a chance to leave behind the “the treadmill of the predictable everyday flow” of our lives and have a new period to look forward to. This makes motivation easier to come by as it offers a chance to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cb.2155">change our circumstances</a>.</p>
<p>While this change in routine can be nerve-wracking, it might be the kind of interruption needed to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/35/4/640/1806395?redirectedFrom=fulltext">shift how we think</a> and visualise how we can achieve our goals. </p>
<p>The back-to-school period offers the perfect chance to kick-start any life changes you’ve been meaning to make. Here are a few ways to make sure your goals don’t fail:</p>
<h2>1. Write to your future self</h2>
<p>Set timers to send yourself aspirational reminders of your goals to <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300262285/nudge/">gently nudge</a> yourself towards achieving your goals. If you’re trying to save more money, for example, setting a reminder to set aside some cash via an email that appears in your inbox on payday may help give you this much-needed nudge. </p>
<h2>2. Don’t worry if you falter</h2>
<p>It can be hard to make big changes and build new habits. Even if you don’t succeed in sticking with your changes at first, there are plenty of other temporal landmarks you can find throughout the year that offer a chance for a fresh start (such as your birthday or returning to work after a holiday). Even the smallest period of change offers a chance to make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.677">positive lifestyle changes</a>. </p>
<h2>3. Quick wins</h2>
<p>The motivation and energy provided by a fresh start can often be short-lived. But having <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/systems8040055">quick-win goals</a> that require only small boosts in motivation are the perfect ones to set for yourself during these transition periods. This can include things such as decluttering your room or deleting your most addictive social media app.</p>
<h2>4. Put your imperfections behind you</h2>
<p>Instead of focusing on who you are now, put your attention on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030477">the person you want to be</a> – and use this as motivation to make change. Focusing on who you want to be in the future may also help you <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797615605818">leave your imperfections in the past</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Set a deadline</h2>
<p>Temporal landmarks are great because they provide natural structure and flow to our lives. Not only can you use temporal landmarks to start working towards a goal, upcoming temporal landmarks can also act as a way of bringing a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901">natural urgency</a> to accomplishing our goals.</p>
<h2>6. Avoid the slump</h2>
<p>Motivation fluctuates over time. We usually have high motivation when we first set a goal, and high motivation as we get close to achieving it. But the period in the middle tends to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025928">low in motivation</a> – and the longer the period, the harder it is to maintain our resolve. If you want to make the best of the back-to-school mindset, shorten the period of time you want to achieve your goal. This can even be as short as one week or even just one day at a time.</p>
<h2>7. Pair the good with the bad</h2>
<p>“<a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2013.1784">Temptation bundling</a>” is the practise of pairing something you love with something you’re less enthusiastic about (but know you should do). By pairing these behaviours together, it wires them together in your brain – motivating you to keep working on the thing you may not enjoy as much in the future. </p>
<p>Let’s say you want to exercise more often, for example. Saving an episode of your favourite podcast until you workout may help you feel more motivated to exercise, as you’ll now associate the gym with your favourite podcast.</p>
<p>Making any lifestyle change is hard – but the back-to-school mindset that accompanies the transition from summer into autumn offers a great opportunity to make these changes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trudy Meehan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ‘fresh start effect’ explains why the beginning of a new school year often leads to a boost in motivation – even if you aren’t a student.Trudy Meehan, Lecturer, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2122222023-09-11T21:18:16Z2023-09-11T21:18:16ZStudent housing crisis: Municipal bylaws have created roadblocks for decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546592/original/file-20230906-21-xon6lk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C468%2C5268%2C3008&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers examined 15 Ontario municipalities with a major university campus, and found only one (Waterloo) had adopted plans designed to accommodate student housing near the campus. Student-oriented housing under construction in Waterloo, Ont., in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Evelyn Hofmann)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/student-housing-crisis-municipal-bylaws-have-created-roadblocks-for-decades" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>University and college students have become <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9939599/housing-for-international-students-canada/">a flashpoint in</a> Canada’s national housing crisis. </p>
<p>The federal government <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-international-students-study-permits">is considering a limit on international study permits</a>, something <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9925737/international-students-canada-universities/#">opposed by Universities Canada</a> and scholars and advocates concerned <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/marc-miller-international-students-stigmatization-1.6959645">about scapegoating international students for the housing shortage</a>. </p>
<p>Ontario’s Big City Mayors’ caucus <a href="https://www.ontariobigcitymayors.ca/the-place-centre-releases-housing-report-in-collaboration-with-ontarios-big-city-mayors-obcm/">has identified</a> the lack of on-campus student housing as a primary driver of housing shortages. Across the country, <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/i-m-unable-to-find-anything-waterloo-region-students-struggle-to-secure-housing-as-fall-semester-inches-closer-1.6528269">frustrated students</a> fail to find housing, or are <a href="https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/belleville-probes-student-overcrowding-in-homes-by-unethical-owners">forced into dangerous overcrowded situations</a>. Nova Scotia may release the country’s first <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/with-a-month-until-school-starts-still-no-sign-of-nova-scotia-s-student-housing-strategy-1.6924031">student-specific housing strategy</a>. </p>
<p>Recent stories have identified issues like <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-costly-housing-market-leaves-international-students-open-to-exploitation-204242">ongoing discrimination</a> against international students in the housing market and a less space-efficient <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-old-shared-dorms-are-better-than-new-private-student-residences-207567">design trend</a> of more individualized student housing units.
We’ve also seen discussion about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-and-colleges-want-to-enrol-more-students-but-where-are-they-supposed-to-live-195624">expanding role of large private investors</a> in student housing who lack institutions’ capabilities to respond to students facing financial difficulties.</p>
<p>Students in Canada and their communities urgently need solutions. Amid <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-federal-government-should-look-at-cap-on-student-visas-housing/">finger-pointing at the federal government</a>, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-international-students-ontario-colleges-enrolment/">individual institutions</a> and <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ontario-international-students-post-secondary-funding">the provinces</a>, which fund higher education and set development standards, municipal governments have been largely absent from the discussion. </p>
<p>Yet municipal planning has been hostile to student housing for decades. When this history is coupled with abysmal levels of on-campus housing construction since the 1990s and <a href="https://doi.org/10.25318/3710001801-eng">a doubling of enrolments since 2000</a>, the current crisis seems inevitable.</p>
<h2>Restricting where students can live</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2022.2093939">Our recent study</a> examined 15 Ontario municipalities with a major university campus. We identified four types of regulatory strategies used to control student housing through zoning. </p>
<p>While some municipalities pay students little mind, the most popular approaches are based on attempting to restrict where students can live, or diverting student housing to locations along transportation corridors. These are often on former commercial or industrial sites. </p>
<p>Of the 15 municipalities surveyed, only Waterloo had adopted plans designed to accommodate student housing near campuses.</p>
<h2>History of student housing regulation</h2>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-university-and-the-city-9780195067750?cc=ca&lang=en&">As long as universities have existed</a>, there have been conflicts between students and other residents. </p>
<p>Generally, these conflicts have centred on disturbances such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1068/a396">boisterous partying</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12279">vandalism</a> blamed on students. </p>
<p>Accordingly, municipal policies have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098011419237">sought to regulate</a> student housing to control these perceived issues, overlooking the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02697450600901541">positive social</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02690942211051879">economic contributions</a> students make to their communities.</p>
<p>In Ontario, for instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2018.1552565">municipalities adopted bylaws</a> capping the number of unrelated persons who could live together in a housing unit. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2022.2093939">our study</a>, we also found many municipalities restricted the conversion of existing housing to rental use. They also limited the development of basement suites or laneway houses in near-campus neighbourhoods. </p>
<h2>Explosive student demand</h2>
<p>These policies became especially popular in the 2000s. During this time, the <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ720724">province’s “double cohort”</a> in 2003, and <a href="https://heqco.ca/pub/redefining-access-to-postsecondary-education/">subsequent 2005 policy</a> of increasing enrolment by 100,000 spaces, generated explosive student demand in the private rental market. This happened without corresponding funding for new on-campus housing. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-and-colleges-want-to-enrol-more-students-but-where-are-they-supposed-to-live-195624">Universities and colleges want to enrol more students. But where are they supposed to live?</a>
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<p>These actions attempted to circumvent the <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1979/1979canlii36/1979canlii36.html">Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Bell v. R</a>, which saw the Court rule municipalities could not regulate who could live together in a residence based on their relationship to each other. In addition, Section 35(2) of Ontario’s Planning Act prevents municipalities from “people-zoning,” or dictating who can live where and with whom. </p>
<p>The Ontario Human Rights Commission <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/comment-ontario-human-rights-commission-city-oshawas-student-accommodation-strategy#fnB2">issued an unprecedented comment on the City of Oshawa’s Student Accommodation Strategy in 2010</a>, noting students were a protected class of persons <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code">under the province’s Human Rights Code</a>.</p>
<p>In the years following, many of these overtly discriminatory bylaws were struck down.</p>
<h2>Student housing regulation today</h2>
<p>Bans on “people-zoning” have not prevented cities from adopting more covert methods to restrict where students can live. Heritage conservation districts and low-density zoning that prohibits apartments are frequently found near major campuses. </p>
<p>While there may be good reasons to preserve built heritage, limiting the conversion or redevelopment of housing without provisions to house growing student populations leaves them few options.</p>
<p>Ottawa’s <a href="https://ottawa.ca/en/planning-development-and-construction/official-plan-and-master-plans/official-plan">most recent official plan</a> identifies the Sandy Hill neighbourhood adjacent to the University of Ottawa as “an attractive residential neighbourhood, especially for family living.” </p>
<h2>Little space for students</h2>
<p>Even the award-winning <a href="https://london.ca/government/council-civic-administration/master-plans-strategies/london-plan-official-plan">official plan for London, Ont.,</a> includes the Near-Campus Neighbourhood Planning Area policy in place around Western University and Fanshawe College that aims to prevent “undesirable changes in the character” of surrounding neighbourhoods. </p>
<p>There is, in other words, precious little space for students in the official visions for these neighbourhoods.</p>
<p>Some cities have sought to enable the development of near-campus housing for students and other residents alike. However, while the municipality of Waterloo and Niagara Region seem to be leading the way in construction of new student-oriented housing, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19884577">dominant role of private investors in these projects</a> still creates challenges for the affordability and flexibility needed to meet student housing demand. </p>
<h2>The path forward</h2>
<p>While municipal bylaws are certainly not the only culprit in the contemporary student housing crisis, local governments have far too often been let off the hook for approaches that discreetly limit where students may live. </p>
<p>Certainly, post-secondary institutions need to step up in providing affordable, accessible housing for students, and provincial funding formulas must contribute per-student allocations for the construction and maintenance of on-campus residence buildings. </p>
<p>The federal government, keen to attract international students, could also take some responsibility for the housing demand created by this policy. But municipal plans must also recognize students as valued members of the community who, like anyone else, need a place to live.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Wray is President of the Town and Gown Association of Ontario and on the Board of Directors for the International Town and Gown Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Revington receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et Culture. </span></em></p>Local governments have far too often been let off the hook for approaches that discreetly limit where students may live.Alexander Wray, PhD Candidate in Geography, Western UniversityNick Revington, Professeur de logement et dynamiques urbaines, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108492023-09-05T16:30:54Z2023-09-05T16:30:54ZVoices of Black youth remind adults in schools to listen — and act to empower them<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/voices-of-black-youth-remind-adults-in-schools-to-listen-and-act-to-empower-them" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The idea of inviting students into classroom conversations that teach them to define and express their concerns, ideas and opinions takes inspiration from the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)</a>. </p>
<p>The right to be heard is the general principle, and Article 12 of the UNCRC provides for children’s involvement in decision-making that affects their lives. It includes the right for children to express their views. </p>
<p>Many educators are increasingly concerned with the representation of <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/why-student-voice-matters/">student voices</a> in kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms. <a href="https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/cultivating-a-pedagogy-of-student-voice">In the words of educator Shane Safir:</a> “Educators should view students not as empty vessels for the transfer of information but as knowledge builders in their own right. We need to share influence in the classroom rather than hoard it.”</p>
<p>But this concern is not necessarily adopted by all teachers. Creating dialogue among educators and students, especially Black Canadian youth, regularly proves problematic <a href="https://thewalrus.ca/canadian-education-is-steeped-in-anti-black-racism/">because of the history of their negative schooling experiences</a>.</p>
<p>As an education researcher who examines schooling experiences of Black Canadian youth and their families, I have worked alongside Black high school students in grades 10-12 to engage youth voices at the <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/CEBSA/Black-Student-Summer-Leadership-Program">Black Student Summer Leadership Program</a>. This is offered through the <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/CEBSA">Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement</a> at the Toronto District School Board.</p>
<p><a href="https://yparhub.berkeley.edu/why-ypar">Youth Participatory Action Research</a> involves youth participating in their communities and in their own education to research issues that affect their lives. It also necessarily implies action on the part of receptive and understanding adults, willing and poised to help bring about changes youth need to see.</p>
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<h2>Struggles in and for ‘voice’</h2>
<p>One of the greatest struggles to allow for “voice” is the role of adults in these interactions and the hierarchical nature of schools. Paying attention to student voice involves changing fundamental values, norms and institutional practices, which means teachers need to be open to this shift.</p>
<p>The term youth voice has gained credibility since the early 1990s. Scholars and education researchers challenged school staff to stop seeing <a href="https://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/244/230">youth as passive recipients of an education</a>. “Youth voice” describes the many ways youth might have opportunities to have a voice and active participation in decisions shaping their lives. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-i-could-change-one-thing-in-education-community-school-partnerships-would-be-top-priority-188189">If I could change one thing in education: Community-school partnerships would be top priority</a>
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<p>Positioning Black students as learners and collaborators will require a shift in educators’ attitude towards them. That is, changing perceptions that see them as a threat. </p>
<p>Educators need to acknowledge <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-curb-anti-black-racism-in-canadian-schools-150489">stereotypical perceptions of Black people and communities that often inform how schools and teachers interpret Black students’ behaviours</a>, and get to know Black students <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-top-scholar-students-really-so-remarkable-or-are-teachers-inflating-their-grades-191035">beyond their academic</a> or <a href="https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=cie-eci">extra-curricular achievements</a>.</p>
<h2>Black youth’s whole selves</h2>
<p>If schools desire genuine opportunities for students to be heard, educators must see Black youth as their whole selves. Teachers who view the validity in sharing power in classrooms will actively seek Black students’ input. This must be done outside of the formalized structure of student councils or associations where students are elected to represent student communities. </p>
<p>Change is needed in the way Black students’ voices are positioned in education, bearing in mind:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Black youth are not voiceless. They should be able to inform decisions. To include students’ input in the decision-making process fosters their growth and development. </p></li>
<li><p>There are many ways youth exercise their voices among their peers. For Black youth to negotiate education spaces safely, they often choose how to amplify their voices, including what to say, when to speak up and who to address.</p></li>
<li><p>Educators must remember they (we) are not granting Black students the ability to speak. Rather, we must strive to create classroom and school environments where Black students’ voices and ideas are welcomed and respected.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A youth in front of a bookshelf wearing overalls" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545408/original/file-20230829-15-2x840h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educators must see Black youth as their whole selves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/fQBVH6DBtD8">(Mike Von)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Youth Participatory Action Research</h2>
<p>When Black students work in an environment where they feel safe to express their concerns, this creates avenues for them to build transferable skills (like writing, community activism, research, public speaking and so on).</p>
<p>The TDSB’s Black Student Summer Leadership Program was originally created in 2019 through a partnership with the Jean Augustine Chair at York University, with graduation coaches for Black students at the helm. Since then it has evolved with the support of other departments at the board. Black students involved in this program <a href="https://tvo.me/tvo-media-education-group-welcomes-15-toronto-students-in-this-years-black-student-summer-leadership-program/">gain leadership opportunities</a> and positive relationships with adults and their peers while participating in research.</p>
<p>Participatory action research has been associated with revolutionary educational projects. It’s inspired by the work of education scholar Paulo Freire who wrote about <a href="https://freechild.org/2018/06/21/youth-and-popular-education/">popular education as a way of raising people’s consciousness and empowerment</a>. </p>
<h2>Youth as co-researchers</h2>
<p>The principle of Youth Participatory Action Research includes adults sharing the space with youth as co-researchers, sharing ownership in decision-making and supporting and empowering youth as agents of change. It is inquiry based. Topics chosen by students are grounded in their lived experiences either in school and community. </p>
<p>Together, or individually, Black students have learned how to engage in participatory action research using an <a href="https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1864&context=tqr">Afrocentric research paradigm</a>. For research to be relevant to Black students in the summer program, they learn to use methods and choice of presentation tools that embodies their creativity, skills, lived experiences <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-intersectionality-all-of-who-i-am-105639">and intersecting identities</a>.</p>
<p>Black students learn how to become submerged in their own research, rather than experiencing themselves as the object of others’ research.</p>
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<h2>What shapes education</h2>
<p>Youth Participatory Action Research provides Black students with opportunities to discuss what shapes their education. In the summer program, Black students present research projects to education stakeholders. </p>
<p>Their findings include sharing practical solutions based on their experiences negotiating things such as: anti-Black racism, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/black-canadians-school-curriculum-1.5706510">lack of representation in curriculum</a>, <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/colour-of-wellbeing/">mental health and well-being</a>, student-teacher interactions and relationships, <a href="https://cetl.udmercy.edu/preventing-linguistic-racism-and-discrimination/">linguistic</a> or <a href="https://mjlh.mcgill.ca/2022/09/08/afro-hair-and-the-law-the-state-of-american-and-canadian-law-on-race-based-hair-discrimination/">hair discrimination</a> and newcomer experiences. </p>
<p>Among their recommendations are carefully outlined considerations for school improvement efforts. For example, students have called for providing ongoing professional development training for teachers and school staff that is culturally relevant and responsive to Black students’ well-being and needs. Some research has highlighted the need for more accountability from staff, based on examining policies to protect their rights as students so they may be successful.</p>
<p>In order for change to be implemented, key decision makers need to be willing to engage youth and to act. Authentically empowering student voice requires that educators listen, validate youth knowledge and experience, and respond. </p>
<h2>A promising approach</h2>
<p>Youth Participatory Action Research is a promising approach for <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Equity-Anti-Racism-and-Anti-Oppression/Black-Student-Excellence/The-Impact-YPAR-Had-On-This-Westview-CI-Graduate">creating avenues to support Black students’ self-determination and agency</a>. </p>
<p>Amplifying youth voice in alignment with the mission and values of school communities is significant for an empowered path forward. Such a path does not see decisions being made for and about Black student lives as an afterthought. </p>
<p>Rather, as outlined in the UNCRC, commitments to participatory action research acknowledge Black youth as competent to act, experts in their own daily lived social realities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210849/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanitiã Munroe works for Toronto District School Board. </span></em></p>A leadership program for Black youth sees students participate in research related to their communities and education to propose solutions to issues that affect their lives.Tanitiã Munroe, PhD candidate (ABD) and researcher, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2098262023-08-28T21:42:27Z2023-08-28T21:42:27ZChildren’s early learning belongs in neighbourhood schools<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/childrens-early-learning-belongs-in-neighbourhood-schools" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The beginning of each school year brings an opportunity to reflect, for children, families and also for policymakers. Some important lessons pertain to effective ways provinces and territories <a href="https://irpp.org/research-studies/early-learning-and-child-care-in-canada/">can expand children’s and families’ access</a> to early learning programs. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-a-canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-plan.html">Canada-wide early learning and child-care agreements</a> established between the federal government and provinces or territories allow governments to be creative with increasing access. Research can guide that creativity by linking the early years to neighbourhood schools. </p>
<p>Programs for four-year-olds (alternately known as pre-kindergarten, pre-primary, junior kindergarten or two-year kindergarten, depending on the area) belong in neighbourhood schools, closely tied into the cascade of schools’ curriculum, teaching and learning expertise. These programs establish a continuum of learning and healthy child development. </p>
<p>Right now, access to schooling for four-year-olds <a href="https://ecereport.ca">is not consistent across the country</a>, as noted by the Early Childhood Education report by the not-for-profit Atkinson Centre. </p>
<p>For example, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have part-time programs for some high-risk children only, while Ontario, Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia offer universal full-day junior kindergarten in neighbourhood schools.</p>
<p>Ample evidence points towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-doesnt-canada-let-schools-provide-child-care-188419">benefits and practical ways of offering high-quality early learning programs</a> in schools quickly and efficiently.</p>
<h2>Relying on school infrastructure</h2>
<p>Schools can launch early learning and care fast and well by including four-year-olds in the neighbourhood school in programs offered by the school, free of charge. These programs <a href="https://childcarecanada.org/documents/research-policy-practice/21/12/10-day-child-care-will-it-really-reduce-barriers-employment">recognize that any fee, even $10 a day, is a challenge</a> for many, especially those who most need the program. </p>
<p>This approach is efficient and effective, child-friendly and family focused, and informed by a wealth of international research.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child and teacher seen in discussion at a table in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544647/original/file-20230824-2922-lty3yt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Governments can focus on extending existing infrastructure and resources of their schools to serve four-year-olds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Creating more early years spaces</h2>
<p>Ample examples exist of governments who have effectively launched school based early learning programs:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>In 2021, 5,900 Nova Scotia children enrolled in pre-primary, after the province first <a href="https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20201002005">launched the program in 2017</a>. <a href="https://childcarecanada.org/sites/default/files/ECEC2021-Northwest-Territories_0.pdf">The Northwest Territories</a> created just over 500 spaces in a similar time frame. </p></li>
<li><p>In 2021-22, with its large and disbursed population, <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/facts-about-elementary-and-secondary-education#section-3">Ontario enrolled over 250,000 children within five years</a> in what has become a <a href="https://www.etfo.ca/news-publications/publications/ontario-s-kindergarten-program-a-success-story-full-report,">popular and successful two-year kindergarten program that begins at age four</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.quebec.ca/en/education/preschool-elementary-and-secondary-schools/kindergarten">The Québec government</a> is gradually expanding <a href="https://www.quebec.ca/education/prescolaire-primaire-et-secondaire/maternelle">their program for four-year-olds</a> into a universal program operated <a href="https://www.nfsb.qc.ca/kindergarten">by public schools</a>. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Canadian success with school-based pre-kindergarten reflects international experiences, including in the United States: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w28756">In Boston, where a pre-kindergarten program</a> was established in the 1990’s, researchers are documenting the lifelong boost <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boston-free-universal-pre-k_n_64a7f68be4b03d308d946c76">enjoyed by children and economies</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Many school districts in <a href="https://mailchi.mp/learningpolicyinstitute/california-added-a-new-grade-to-public-schools-how-is-it-going?e=d9ba33f225">California plan to be ahead of schedule</a> in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2023-05-10/california-wants-to-provide-preschool-for-all-but-districts-face-a-rocky-road-ahead-essential-california">adding a new grade</a> to their school system to accommodate four-year-olds.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>High-quality programs</h2>
<p>For many governments, relying on infrastructure and resources of neighbourhood schools has been an effective way to expand access to quality early childhood education. Similar lessons were learned in many schools’ move to full-day kindergarten <a href="https://ecereport.ca/en/resources/charts-graphs/overview/early-childhood-education-report-2020/">for five-year-olds, once unheard of but now enjoyed by all but three provinces in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>As regions across Canada work to meet the expansion requirements outlined in the federal agreements, enrolment numbers for existing school-based programs for four-year-olds offer an attractive route toward creating more early years spaces.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-to-look-for-in-a-high-quality-pre-primary-or-junior-kindergarten-program-189060">What to look for in a high-quality 'pre-primary' or junior kindergarten program</a>
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<p>It is not just the rate of expansion that is impressive; so too is the quality of programs. Well-trained educators are attracted to working in neighbourhood schools with better pay packages and staff support. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten share curriculum and teaching approaches that make play the heart of education while cultivating children’s enjoyment of learning. </p>
<p>Schools, with curriculum leaders, professional development plans and accountability structures, are better able to monitor and promote quality than the current mix of child-care providers. </p>
<h2>Short- and long-term benefits</h2>
<p><a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/article/view/9386">National</a> and <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/article/view/9385">international</a> research confirms that including four-year-olds in early childhood education boosts literacy, numeracy and language learning and behavioural regulation while ensuring <a href="https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/ready-for-life-a-socio-economic-analysis-of-early-childhood-education-and-care/">higher graduation rates, post-secondary enrolments, family incomes and reduced draws on social programs</a>. </p>
<p>High-quality early childhood education <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/eei/issue/view/1054">lowers special education rates</a> and lessens the intensity of supports required for children with identified exceptionalities.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-quality-early-childhood-education-reduces-need-for-later-special-ed-112275">New research shows quality early childhood education reduces need for later special ed</a>
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<p>When children are in school-based programs, they enjoy the resources of the school such as gymnasiums and libraries. They have access to support staff such as speech therapists, counsellors and psychologists. Families enjoy having all their children at one site, and can sometimes also rely on busing. </p>
<p>School-based education for four-year olds is particularly appropriate in rural areas where declining populations preclude any viable model of early years programs while schools struggle to maintain enrolment and stay open. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.etfo.ca/news-publications/publications/ontario-s-kindergarten-program-a-success-story-full-report,">An economic evaluation of Ontario’s model</a> yielded glowing reports on the wisdom of the investment.</p>
<h2>Return on investment, continuity of learning</h2>
<p>A report from the Roosevelt Institute, a not-for-profit think tank in the United States, notes “<a href="https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RI_Childcare-as-Industrial-Policy-Blueprint_Report_202306.pdf">studies of early care and education programs beginning at birth targeted to disadvantaged groups</a> — such as children in low-income communities of color — have demonstrated significant improvements in their long-term education, health, and employment outcomes, leading economist James Heckman to estimate a 13 percent per year return on investment for similar programs.” New York’s pre-kindergarten program created 70,000 spaces in two years. </p>
<p><a href="https://ourplace.org.au/our-place-publication-col/">In Australia, efforts to align programs serving three- and four-year-olds</a> with primary grades stress the significance of learning and teaching that smooths the transition for children and families and optimizes academic and developmental outcomes.</p>
<h2>Early learning is early education</h2>
<p>Strategic planning creates efficiencies through programs informed by research and which assure quality. Families do not want more poor programs for their children. They need to know that their children are immersed in high-quality early learning and they do not want to be exhausted in their search for it.</p>
<p>Early learning <a href="https://earlyyearsstudy.ca">is early education</a>. It belongs under the purview of Ministries of Education. The federal government invested in children’s early learning and child-care because it finally accepted the wisdom of doing so — for children’s learning and development, for families’ well-being, for the economy and for communities optimal social outcomes. </p>
<p>The lessons that we need to learn in our move towards pre-kindergarten tell us much about where early learning and child care needs to be secured. Governments struggling to increase capacity to meet the demand for child care space would be wise to learn these lessons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Philpott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Access to schooling for four-year-olds is inconsistent across Canada. Families need to know children are immersed in high-quality early learning, and they shouldn’t be exhausted searching for it.David Philpott, Professor, Special Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2099362023-08-24T10:54:00Z2023-08-24T10:54:00ZBack-to-school anxiety: seven tips to help children cope<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544026/original/file-20230822-27-ugiit9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C36%2C8167%2C5420&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/concerned-mother-hugging-upset-teenager-daughter-2342909089">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Going back to school after the summer holidays can be a big deal. For some children, it means moving into a new classroom with a new teacher. Others will be going to a new school altogether. Change can be exciting, but it’s often scary, too. </p>
<p>Your child might be feeling a version of the “Sunday scaries” we sometimes experience when the weekend’s over – a miserable anticipation of the boring old routine starting back again. Or they might be experiencing more significant emotional distress, perhaps wanting to avoid school altogether. </p>
<p>If your child is feeling fearful and anxious about the return to school, you may be unsure how to help them. This can be an upsetting and challenging situation for you as a parent or carer, too. Here are some steps to take to help your child with their return to the classroom.</p>
<h2>1. Let your child know you hear them</h2>
<p>It might be tempting to dismiss your child’s fears with a quick reassurance that everything will be OK. But it is more helpful to let them know that you understand and believe them, and that you will work with them as they get back into the school routine and do whatever you can to support them. </p>
<p>This can help your child move on from negative emotions and towards <a href="https://www.academia.edu/download/60005465/Developmental_Interpersonal_Neurobiology20190714-65339-tvv39w.pdf">solving the problem</a> with you. </p>
<h2>2. Find out what’s worrying them</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1020774932043">various reasons</a> why your child might not want to go back to school. They might be trying to avoid something negative: <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10802-012-9620-0">bullying</a>, a difficult environment <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11218-015-9293-y">created by teachers</a>, struggles interacting with their classmates or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608022001340">academic pressure</a>. They might have <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/726">neurodevelopmental issues</a>, such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia, that make school difficult, or a mental health issue such as anxiety. </p>
<p>Or they may be worried about leaving the home they’ve got used to spending all their time in over the summer holidays, and having to learn instead in a bright, noisy environment that may be overwhelming. They might be feeling some <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatricsinreview/article-abstract/32/10/440/32871">separation anxiety</a>, wanting to stay close to you. Finding out what in particular is worrying them will help you work out a solution – perhaps with the assistance of a teacher or other professional. </p>
<h2>3. Let them know it’s OK to feel scared</h2>
<p>If your family is experiencing back-to-school anxiety, both <a href="https://continuityineducation.org/articles/10.5334/cie.42#B13">you and your child</a> may be feeling a little bit inadequate and ashamed of these feelings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little girl with rucksack holding father's hand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544056/original/file-20230822-25-71a1th.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Feeling worries about going back to school is understandable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-school-cute-asian-pupil-girl-1159384576">A3pfamily/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But this fear is not a sign of weakness. It’s an understandable challenge, with a genuine cause, that you and your child have the capacity to understand and overcome. By going through this challenge and facing it with the right support, you and your child can end up <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02667363.2013.846848">feeling more capable and more resilient</a>. </p>
<h2>4. Take things step by step</h2>
<p>Going straight back into school – seeing classmates and teachers again all at once – might be a lot to handle. You could set up a playdate or social meet for your child with a few school friends in the days before school starts, so they can catch up before the first overwhelming day. </p>
<p>Perhaps your child might find school easier to cope with if they went to a few of their preferred classes first, and then built up to full attendance. Breaking a task down into bite-size chunks and focusing on small successes that you can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/forward-chaining#:%7E:text=Forward%20chaining%20involves%20teaching%20the,order%20to%20earn%20a%20reinforcer.">link together</a> over time can make a big hurdle – like the return to school – more manageable. </p>
<h2>5. Focus on sleep</h2>
<p>Sleep routines probably went out the window over the holidays, and everyone at home will struggle to deal with earlier bedtimes and morning alarms. </p>
<p>Teenagers, in particular, will find it difficult – a shift in sleep patterns from puberty can push the time they feel ready to sleep later by <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/383436">as much as two hours</a>. Unfortunately, though, this doesn’t reduce the amount of sleep that they need (about <a href="https://www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Sleeptember-sleep-leaflet.pdf">nine hours</a> a night). </p>
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<img alt="Teenage boy in bed looking at phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544055/original/file-20230822-23-tgdl8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Teenage sleep patterns don’t always fit with the school schedule.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sleepy-tired-teenage-man-under-blanket-1181844136">ivansnap/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But sleep is important for mood and academic performance. Try to be kind and compassionate with yourself and everyone else in the house, and see if you can all get to bed at least 15 minutes early in the week before school starts. </p>
<p>If you can’t manage this or if it’s already too late, there are other ways to <a href="https://europepmc.org/article/med/28211649">improve sleep</a>. Exercise during the day, cutting caffeine intake, reducing evening screen time, and even missing some extracurricular activities at the start of the school year might be helpful. </p>
<h2>6. Pay attention to your own mood</h2>
<p>Try to reduce your own negative talk about the return to school. If you’re unhappy about going back to the school routine, then it’s likely your children will follow your lead. </p>
<p>Try to avoid negative conversations, in real life or online, about going back to school. If you can’t manage to be positive, and there’s another adult in the house or family, you can ask them to support you by being positive and acting as a counterbalance to your anxiety or <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-263X.2011.01200.x?casa_token=loScSgmNepwAAAAA:qjFfwZZCDUrabwNlCC_oKxrHDx4v0w0zirUnYBbzjBpDLQX-7y5a6fO0H8qXudUzD_azN-3vNCCELg">negative thoughts</a>. </p>
<h2>7. Encourage optimism</h2>
<p>Practice thinking optimistically with your child. Before going to bed each night, you could both write down three things you are <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-05038-003">looking forward to</a> the following day – seeing friends, an after-school club, a favourite meal. This can help you both balance out the negative emotions you might be feeling about the day ahead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Let them know that you understand and believe them.Trudy Meehan, Lecturer, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health, RCSI University of Medicine and Health SciencesJolanta Burke, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Positive Health Sciences, RCSI University of Medicine and Health SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065442023-08-23T19:30:49Z2023-08-23T19:30:49ZWhat is shyness? How to support shy children through back-to-school transitions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540816/original/file-20230802-21-2smfoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C465%2C4622%2C2705&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many parents of shy children are likely to remark that their child has been this way for as long as they can remember.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-is-shyness-how-to-support-shy-children-through-back-to-school-transitions" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The beginning of a new school year can bring out many emotions in children. While some children may feel excited to reunite with their peers, others may feel nervous about meeting a new teacher. Some children may be eager to join a new club and others may feel too self-conscious to try out for a sports team in front of others. </p>
<p>Children who are shy are particularly likely to feel uneasy as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4530(01)00031-2">new school year</a> approaches. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13920">Shyness is characterized</a> by nervousness and self-consciousness in new social settings, around new people or when being the centre of attention. </p>
<p>Many parents of shy children are likely to remark that their child has been this way for as long as they can remember. This is not surprising, as shyness is thought to be rooted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.1.122">temperament</a> — the early building blocks of personality that tend to emerge in infancy and toddlerhood and remain stable across development. Previous psychological <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1130685">research</a> has noted that approximately 15 per cent of children are temperamentally shy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother talking with child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540822/original/file-20230802-22768-ma6m83.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Research has noted that about 15 per cent of children are tempermentally shy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>How can I help my shy child as a new school year approaches?</h2>
<p>For shy children, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1129793">unfamiliarity</a> and unpredictability can feed into feelings of fear and anxiety. The potential for new teachers and peers in a new environment may contribute to shy children’s fear. </p>
<p>For example, a shy child may wonder if their new teacher will be nice, if they will know the other children in their class, if they will know how to find their classroom and where their desk will be. </p>
<p>In the face of uncertainty about an impending event such as starting a new school year, the shy child may be prone to make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.05.003">negative predictions</a>. </p>
<p>For example, they may predict that their new teacher will not be nice; they will not know anyone else in their class; and they will not be able to find their classroom and desk. Negative predictions about the future may result in a shy child feeling particularly nervous as a new school year approaches.</p>
<h2>Preparing children</h2>
<p>There are several approaches that might be helpful in preparing shy children as they get ready to head back to a new school year. </p>
<p>Eliminating some of the “unknowns” for shy children may help ease some feelings of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000951">anticipatory nervousness and anxiety</a>.
This could be supported through light <a href="https://theconversation.com/young-childrens-words-predict-reading-ability-5-ways-parents-and-caregivers-can-help-grow-them-205730">and regular discussions with your child</a> that help them make meaning by anticipating seasonal shifts or imagining or rehearsing known aspects of what entering a new school year will look like.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-child-cope-with-the-transition-back-to-school-during-covid-19-144530">How to help your child cope with the transition back to school during COVID-19</a>
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<p>For many children, meeting a new teacher once would be sufficient to ease into the transition. Shy children may be slow <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2011.11.002">to warm up</a> in new social situations compared to their more outgoing peers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Little boy seen on a parent's lap" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540830/original/file-20230802-29-z4906v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shy children may be slower to warm up to new social situations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If your child is in the same school as the year before, they may be wondering if there will be familiar faces <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00876.x">or friends</a> in class. Parents might consider strategies for helping children think about being open to new friendships, or exploring what it would mean to sustain relationships with close peers who aren’t in the same class (for example, by playing at recess or outside of school).</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-will-need-recess-more-than-ever-when-returning-to-school-post-coronavirus-139165">Kids will need recess more than ever when returning to school post-coronavirus</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If the shy child is attending a new school, for example when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02568540809594634">beginning kindergarten</a>, transitioning to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-019-00523-8">middle school</a> or moving to a new school district, it would also be helpful to show the child their school (or if possible, classroom) and practise how to get there, or if possible, meet school staff or teachers in advance. </p>
<p>By exposing the shy child to their new environment, it is likely they will feel more at ease with the approach of the new school year.</p>
<p>Overall, increasing familiarity for the shy child may reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431615593175">negative predictions</a> about the start of the new school year. This may allow the child to view their teacher as a source of comfort, allow them to connect with peers more easily, and make them feel more at ease in their new classroom or school. </p>
<h2>When should I be worried about my shy child?</h2>
<p>Shyness is a common, normative experience for many children (and adults!). In many cases, shyness and its associated quietness are not a cause for concern and may have associated benefits — <a href="https://psyche.co/ideas/childhood-shyness-can-be-advantageous-dont-pathologise-it">such as carefully listening or observing, which could contribute to better understandings of social situations and skills to maintain friendships</a>. </p>
<p>However, researchers have shown that shyness may interfere with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000024">school participation</a> and can sometimes increase the risk for developing an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-019-00588-5">anxiety disorder</a>. </p>
<p>If a child’s shyness begins to interfere significantly with their ability to interact with other children, complete school work or participate in other aspects of daily life, it is possible that the child’s shyness may be indicative of a clinical concern that may require professional attention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristie Poole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In many cases, shyness is not a cause for concern and may have associated benefits. Parents and caregivers can learn strategies to support shy children in making transitions.Kristie Poole, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Psychology, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2102292023-08-15T12:35:07Z2023-08-15T12:35:07ZDaily report cards can decrease disruptions for children with ADHD<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542161/original/file-20230810-23-1fhmc8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students with ADHD who get a daily report card had 4.5 fewer rule violations per 30-minute class than those without one, one study found.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-looking-very-happy-looking-at-his-daughters-royalty-free-image/1389796720">Hispanolistic/E+ Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As another school year approaches, some caregivers, students and teachers may be feeling something new needs to happen to promote success in the classroom. </p>
<p>Daily report cards can be a great starting point.</p>
<p>As a clinical psychologist who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BRXERkMAAAAJ&hl=en">how schools can help students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder</a>, I know traditional report cards distributed three or four times per year don’t do enough to make a difference for children who are prone to outbursts or other challenging behaviors. </p>
<p>Studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402917706370">conducted by my team</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054717734646">and others</a> support the idea that these students are better served by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2010.12087748">daily report cards</a>. </p>
<h2>Track daily progress</h2>
<p>Daily report cards date back at least to the 1960s, when they were used in a study involving children attending a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1970.3-223">special education summer school</a>. </p>
<p>Today they are commonly used for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402917706370">children with ADHD</a> in both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09375-w">general education</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2010.12087775">special education</a> classrooms. Daily report cards have also been used for <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED607134.pdf">students with autism</a> without intellectual disability. And one study found that many teachers say they use <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/10983007060080030601">versions of a daily report card</a> for brief periods to address behaviors across many different school situations.</p>
<p>A daily report card can be very <a href="https://ccf.fiu.edu/research/_assets/how_to_establish_a_school_drc.pdf">easy for teachers</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10474412.2013.785182">create and use</a>, either with <a href="https://mygoalpal.fiu.edu">an app</a> or by developing them on their own. First, the teacher along with others – who may include the parents, principal, school psychologist or counselor, and even the child if appropriate – should meet to establish goals. Goals should be positively phrased, such as: “Completed work within time given” or “Participated in class discussions without interruption.” </p>
<p>Once set up, the daily report card can take just 10 seconds to complete. The time savings are significant when one considers the alternatives typically used in schools, such as repeated redirection or reprimanding, or sending the student to the principal’s office to be monitored.</p>
<p>Daily report cards also work. </p>
<p>A 2010 study evaluated children with ADHD where half had a daily report card and half did not. Those with the daily report card had an average of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2010.12087775">4.5 fewer rule violations</a> per 30-minute class than those without one. Extrapolating across a school day, that is 54 fewer daily rule violations on average, and over 10,000 per school year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Example of a daily report card used in schools" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542048/original/file-20230810-25-k9dewx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of a daily report card.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Florida International University Center for Children and Families</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Realistic goals</h2>
<p>For many children with challenging behaviors, it is important to set goals that can be easily reached – at least at first. </p>
<p>Over time, the goals can be made more challenging as the child experiences success – a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Behavior-Modification-What-It-Is-and-How-To-Do-It/Martin-Pear/p/book/9780815366546">process called shaping</a>. For example, if a child interrupts a lesson by calling out about five times per class, the initial goal may be set at “Participates in lesson with no more than four interruptions.” </p>
<p>This would represent an improvement, and it would also ensure the goal was reachable. Once the child met the goal for three to five days in a row, the goal could be changed to “Participates in lesson with no more than three interruptions.”</p>
<h2>Positive parent-teacher communications</h2>
<p>Teachers tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000442">communicate with caregivers more frequently</a> when a child is experiencing difficulties in the classroom. But these communications often focus on <a href="https://www.additudemag.com/mean-teacher-comments-adhd-students/">negative behaviors</a>. As a result, they can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2019.1666794">strain relationships</a> between the caregiver and the teacher. Other times, it may result in the caregiver’s avoiding communication with the school. </p>
<p>Daily report cards can result in more positive and solution-focused communication instead of reports focusing only on what went wrong and can therefore enhance caregiver-teacher communication.</p>
<h2>Motivating rewards</h2>
<p>Importantly, the daily report card should be linked to home-based privileges and rewards so that children are motivated to meet daily goals.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, the child brings their daily report card home and, based on their behavior at school that day, home privileges such as an allotment of screen time or a slightly later bedtime can be used as rewards.</p>
<p>Importantly, this is not a punishment program in which a child loses privileges if goals are not met. It also is not bribing the child by providing a reward before an appropriate behavior is completed. Rather, the child starts the day without home privileges and earns them based on positive school behavior. The daily report card tells the child exactly what goals need to be met to earn the motivating privileges. This small difference can be quite powerful for the child because it puts them in charge of how they earn access to things they like to do at home based on how they behaved at school that day.</p>
<p>Evidence suggests this home-based reward system is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2010.12087775">one of the biggest factors</a> in whether the daily report card is successful. It also provides a new opportunity for the child and caregiver to have a positive discussion about school each day.</p>
<h2>Better than medication?</h2>
<p>There is also evidence that the daily report card is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1055859">cost-effective approach</a> for children with ADHD as an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1105138">alternative to medication treatment</a>. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I conducted a study in which children with ADHD were randomly assigned to start the school year with either medication or a daily report card. The parents of those assigned the daily report cards took part in classes that taught them how to provide home rewards for it. At the end of the year, the students who started with the daily report card had half as many discipline referrals and 33% fewer disruptive behaviors observed in the classroom than the students receiving medication. The daily report card approach also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1055859">cost less than daily medication</a>. The students who started the school year with the daily report card had overall treatment costs of US$708 less than the students starting with medication.</p>
<p>Teachers and caregivers who want to learn more about daily reports cards can check out the <a href="https://ccf.fiu.edu/research/_assets/how_to_establish_a_school_drc.pdf">downloadable workbook</a> or <a href="https://mygoalpal.fiu.edu">free app</a> designed by my colleagues at Florida International University’s <a href="https://ccf.fiu.edu/">Center for Children and Families</a>. Both resources allow caregivers and teachers to set goals and track a student’s progress. Starting the school year with a daily report card should help the child achieve the positive days needed to get a good grade on their report card at the end of the grading period.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Fabiano receives funding from the Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health to study positive behavioral supports like the Daily Report Card. Gregory Fabiano also receives royalties from Guilford Publications for a book written about Daily Report Cards.</span></em></p>Traditional report cards sent home every few months are fine for most students. But for kids with behavioral issues, a daily report card can be a better option.Gregory Fabiano, Professor of Psychology, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2075862023-07-31T17:08:54Z2023-07-31T17:08:54Z3 ways higher education can become more hopeful in the post-pandemic, post-AI era<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539356/original/file-20230725-15-mynhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C1053%2C4052%2C2544&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The future of education is about more than technology. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Emily Ranquist)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/3-ways-higher-education-can-become-more-hopeful-in-the-post-pandemic-post-ai-era" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>We live at a time when universities and colleges are facing multiplying crises, pressures and changes. </p>
<p>From the COVID-19 pandemic and budgetary pressures to generative artificial intelligence (AI) and climate catastrophe, the future of higher education seems murky and fragmented — even gloomy. </p>
<p>Student mental health is <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/10/mental-health-campus-care">in crisis</a>. University faculty in our own research from the early days of the pandemic told us that they were “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13065">juggling with a blindfold on</a>.” Since that time, we’ve also heard many echo the sentiment of feeling they’re “<a href="https://theconversation.com/battered-and-broken-i-must-get-out-what-staff-told-us-about-teaching-and-working-in-universities-today-208179">constantly drowning</a>,” something recounted by researchers writing about a sense of precarity in universities in New Zealand, Australia and the western world.</p>
<p>In this context, one outcome of the pandemic has been a rise in discourses about specific, quite narrowly imagined futures of higher education. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2023.2164862">Technology companies</a>, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/how-technology-is-shaping-learning-in-higher-education">consultants</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2022.2081587">investors</a>, for example, push visions of the future of education as being saved by new technologies. They suggest more technology is always a good thing and that technology will necessarily make teaching and learning faster, cheaper and better. That’s their utopian vision.</p>
<p>Some education scholars have been less optimistic, often <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537445/the-charisma-machine/">highlighting the failures of utopian thinking</a>. In many cases, their speculation about the future of education, especially where education technology is concerned, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-022-00348-7">often looks bleak</a>. In these examples, technology often reinforces prejudices and is used to control educators and learners alike. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A picture of a collage showing a Facebook-jammed image that says 'You've been Zucked'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539327/original/file-20230725-27-y74uym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Amid accelerating technology, what kind of future do we imagine for higher education?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Annie Spratt/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to both utopian and grim futures, for a recent study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, we sought to imagine more hopeful and desirable higher education futures. These are futures emerging out of justice, equity and even joy. In this spirit, we interviewed higher education experts for a podcast entitled <a href="https://www.dpicollective.com/series-3-education-futures/">Speculative Learning Futures</a>. </p>
<p>When asked to imagine more hopeful futures, what do experts propose as alternatives? What themes emerge in their work? Here are three key ideas. </p>
<h2>It’s about more than technology</h2>
<p>First, these experts reiterated that the future of education is about more than technology. When we think about the future of education we can sometimes imagine it as being tied entirely to the internet, computers and other digital tools. Or we believe <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2023/03/22/how-ai-shaping-future-higher-ed-opinion">AI in education is inevitable</a> — or that all learning will be done through screens, maybe with robot teachers! </p>
<p>But as Jen Ross, <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/jen-ross">senior lecturer in digital education</a> observes, technology doesn’t solve all our problems. When we think about education futures, technology alone does not automatically help us create better education or healthier societies. Social or community concerns like social inequities will continue to affect who can access education, our education systems’ values and how we are shaped by technologies. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-platforms-alone-dont-bridge-youth-divides-121222">Digital platforms alone don't bridge youth divides</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As <a href="https://www.pathwaystoeducation.ca/research/impacts-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-low-income-communities/">many researchers</a> have <a href="https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-and-events/press-and-media/digital-poverty-risks-leaving-students-behind/">argued</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12528-022-09323-4">including us</a>, the pandemic highlighted how differences in access to the internet and computers can reinforce inequities for students. </p>
<p>AI can also reinforce inequities. Depending on the nature of data AI is trained with, the use of AI can <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-is-coming-to-schools-and-if-were-not-careful-so-will-its-biases/">perpetuate harmful biases</a> in classrooms. </p>
<p>Ross notes in her <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Futures-for-Learning-Speculative-Methods-and-Pedagogies/Ross/p/book/9781032058122">recent book</a> that social or community concerns shape how our societies could imagine education.
Researchers involved <a href="https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/nfrf-fnfr/stories-histoires/2023/inclusive_artificial_intelligence-intelligence_artificielle_inclusive-eng.aspx">with Indigenous-led AI are tackling questions around how Indigenous knowledge systems could push AI</a> to be more inclusive. </p>
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<p>Policymakers and educators should consider technology as one part of a toolkit of responses for making informed decisions about what technologies align with more equitable and just education futures.</p>
<h2>Emphasizing connection and diversity</h2>
<p>In line with thinking about more than technology, the second theme is a reminder that the future of education is about healthy social connection and social justice. Researchers emphasize fostering diversity and celebrating diverse expressions of strengths and needs. </p>
<p>Experts envision and call for education that is more sustainable for everyone, not just a privileged few. Kathrin Otrel-Cass, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7-Eeh-YAAAAJ&hl=th">professor at University of Graz</a>, and Mark Brown, <a href="https://www.dcu.ie/nidl/people/mark-brown">Ireland’s first chair in digital learning and director of the National Institute for Digital Learning at Dublin City University</a>, suggest this means teaching and learning should be at a <a href="https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1058">slower pace</a> for students and faculty alike. </p>
<p>In this vision, policymakers must support education systems that regard the whole learner as an individual with specific physical, mental, emotional and intellectual needs, and as a member of multiple communities.</p>
<h2>Acknowledge the goodness of the present</h2>
<p>There’s lots to be gained by noting and supporting all the great things related to education that are happening in the present, since possible futures emerge from what now exists.</p>
<p>As two podcast guests, <a href="https://www.veletsianos.com/2023/05/31/speculative-learning-futures-podcast-episode-3-with-dr-eamon-costello-and-lily-girme/">Eamon Costello, professor at Dublin City University and collaborator Lily (Prajakta) Girme, noted</a>, we need to acknowledge the good work of educators and learners in the small wins that happen every day. </p>
<p>In 2019, researchers Justin Reich and José Ruipérez-Valiente wrote: “new education technologies are rarely disruptive <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aav7958">but instead are domesticated by existing cultures and systems</a>. Dramatic expansion of educational opportunities to under-served populations will require political movements that change the focus, funding and purpose of higher education; they will not be achieved through new technologies alone.” </p>
<p>These are words worth repeating.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shandell Houlden was hired out of a SSHRC grant.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>At the time of writing, George Veletsianos receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program, SSHRC, and BCCAT. He consults with the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association.</span></em></p>Adapting post-secondary education through technological, social and cultural shifts depends on paying attention to healthy connection, social justice and amplifying what’s now going well.Shandell Houlden, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Education and Technology, Royal Roads UniversityGeorge Veletsianos, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology, Royal Roads UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2099372023-07-27T20:10:12Z2023-07-27T20:10:12ZWhy B.C. has ended letter grades for younger students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538780/original/file-20230721-17-c8rqc3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1372%2C350%2C5108%2C3444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">B.C. Premier David Eby signs a student's cast as he visits a classroom to mark the opening of the new Bayview Community Elementary School, in Vancouver, B.C., April 13, 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-bc-has-ended-letter-grades-for-students-in-kindergarten-to-grade-9" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In British Columbia, the province’s move away from letter grades for some students has <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/9797857/mixed-opinions-on-students-moving-to-proficiency-grading-scale/">produced anxiety</a> or has been opposed by <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-pursues-plan-to-end-letter-grades-despite-opposition-from-parents-teachers-students-1.6456772">some parents and teachers</a>. </p>
<p>“Beginning in the 2023/24 school year, all school districts in B.C. will no longer use letter grades for grades 4-9, and will implement the Provincial Proficiency Scale on report cards for students in grades K-9,” a spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care said in an email to <em>The Conversation Canada</em>.</p>
<p>“At least half of B.C. students are familiar with this type of report card as it is already in place in their school district.”</p>
<p>The B.C. changes reflect larger paradigm shifts in education. But for many people, letting go of the older model is not easy. </p>
<p>Anxiety and discomfort about this change <a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/9797857/mixed-opinions-on-students-moving-to-proficiency-grading-scale">could be alleviated by unpacking the rationale behind it</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A parent and child seen crossing a crosswalk to go to school." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538782/original/file-20230721-23-toota7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Letting go of a letter-grade model isn’t necessarily easy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Curriculum overhaul</h2>
<p>British Columbia’s kindergarten to Grade 12 education system has been undergoing <a href="https://www.bctf.ca/news-and-opportunities/news-details/2019/08/02/the-politics-of-curriculum-making-understanding-the-possibilities-for-and-limitations-to-a-teacher-led-curriculum-in-british-columbia">an overhaul</a> since 2010. </p>
<p>Roots of this transformation lie in the <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/rethinking-curriculum">shifting needs of the economy, away from industrialization and towards a more “technologically-rich” world</a>. Adoption of the new curriculum occurred <a href="https://www.cotronline.ca/pluginfile.php/495272/mod_resource/content/1/BC%20K-12%20Curriculum%20Timeline%20of%20Rollout.pdf">in phases</a>, beginning in 2015 for kindergarten to Grade 9, and in 2019 for grades 10 through 12. </p>
<p>The move to proficiency scale assessment is one aspect of this larger transformation. The scale visualizes learning as a continuum where students progress through the stages of Emerging, Developing, Proficient and Extending.</p>
<h2>The rationale</h2>
<p>The centrepiece of B.C.’s new curriculum is a set of <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies">core competencies</a> — cross-curricular proficiencies for students in the domains of communication, critical thinking and social-emotional awareness and relations. Teachers will use the scale <a href="https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/assessment/a-framework-for-classroom-assessment.pdf">to assess how students are doing</a> in developing these competencies.</p>
<p>The scale operates from <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/legislation-policy/public-schools/student-reporting-for-families">a strengths-based perspective</a> that views all students as coming to school with inherent skills. Classroom learning seeks to build upon this.</p>
<p>Proficiency scale assessment regards learning as ongoing, whereas the letter grade and percentages system viewed learning as an event with a definite end.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538781/original/file-20230721-6786-2w0qdx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scale-style assessment operates with the notion that all students come to school with inherent skills. A classroom is seen in Vancouver, B.C. in April 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Letter grades: highlighting students’ deficits</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.weareuca.org/s/edutopiaorg-Will-Letter-Grades-Survive.pdf">Letter grades and percentages</a> position some students (with As or Bs) as having strengths, while other students (with Cs or Ds) are regarded as not even being on the continuum of learning. Letter grades highlight the deficits of underperforming students, thereby perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. They also only give a snapshot of current achievement.</p>
<p>By contrast, scale-style assessment offers a broader outlook because it considers student learning over time. With the new curriculum, scores on tests are not all that matter. Teachers are encouraged to assign equal value to all the learning that happens between tests, including through <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-1727-5_11">formative</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-24359-004">descriptive feedback</a> that students subsequently reflect upon and implement to further refine their work. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.bctf.ca/news-and-opportunities/news-details/2021/06/11/growth-not-grades-student-centred-assessment">educators observe that</a> continuous <a href="https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.cbe-14-03-0054">descriptive feedback</a> is more effective <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/information-for-parents-and-caregivers-what-is-descriptive-feedback.pdf">in helping students</a> concretely understand their strengths and shortcomings. </p>
<p>Although letter grades had the appearance of being definitive, they were ambiguous: students received the very visible stamp of a letter grade or percentage but had little understanding of how that grade came to be.</p>
<h2>Process of learning</h2>
<p>The most important aspect of the proficiency scale is its focus on the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-school-report-cards-should-be-clear-not-confusing/">process of learning</a> itself. </p>
<p>For example, a student’s position on the scale in Language Arts is determined by more comprehensive measures that include: </p>
<ul>
<li>teacher observations of how well the student understands and can apply concepts; </li>
<li>conversations with the student in which the student communicates their understanding of a given concept;</li>
<li>class activities/assignments where the student gets to apply the concept and refine its usage;</li>
<li>any formal assessments, which may not be tests but rather projects where the student gets to robustly show their learning by integrating various concepts. </li>
</ul>
<p>B.C.’s scale-based assessment helps students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_4">to not only understand facts</a>, but also the processes behind how those facts come to be. By teaching students about the process behind various concepts, the intention is that they will be able to transfer those skills across various areas of schooling, which previously were subject specific.</p>
<h2>Particular criticisms, questions</h2>
<p>One source of parental anxiety relates to <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9792360/parent-student-react-no-letter-grades/">the feeling that the scale is subjective and unclear</a>. To this end, <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-top-scholar-students-really-so-remarkable-or-are-teachers-inflating-their-grades-191035">all forms of assessment and reporting are subjective to some degree</a>. Scale-based assessment, through its use of descriptive feedback, hopes to clarify the basis of assessment.</p>
<p>I’ve heard other parents express concern around the flip-flop between how the scale is applied in kindergarten to Grade 9, but not in grades 10 through 12 or post-secondary institutions. </p>
<p>They wonder: How will children in B.C. fare when for the first 10 years of their education experience they were assessed using the proficiency scale, only to have to revert to letter grades for grades 10 through 12 and post-secondary? </p>
<p>They’re also concerned that the proficiency scale may cause students to lose their <a href="https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/06/26/bc-parents-student-letter-grades/">competitive edge</a>, given that it values independent learning over competition. </p>
<p>Scale-based assessment does not necessarily ignore competition. Instead, it asks students to consider their competitive relationship with themselves first, before considering it with others.</p>
<h2>Face-to-face conversations needed</h2>
<p>My unique vantage point as both an educator and researcher enables me to see how policies translate in living classrooms and in the public at large. I have a helpful tip for the Ministry and schools, and this relates to communication. </p>
<p>The anxieties of stakeholders largely relate to people not understanding the rationale behind this change or how to interpret it. Some anxiety and criticism about the change is grounded in how entrenched letter grades have been in B.C.’s education system — and indeed, in mainstream western education. </p>
<p>The ministry, school district leaders, principals and educators need to do a better job communicating the intentions of this change. <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/administration/kindergarten-to-grade-12/unpacking-the-proficency-scale-support-for-educators.pdf">Online information may be helpful</a>, but ongoing old-fashioned face-to-face conversation is also required. </p>
<p>Parents, especially parents of English-language learners, need to directly hear from teachers and administrators via open houses or parent advisory councils because of the fog which surrounds this change. </p>
<p>Lifting this fog and bringing B.C.’s Proficiency Scale out from the shadows and into the sunlight will likely reduce anxieties and increase its acceptance as an effective tool for learning.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on July 27, 2023. The earlier version said B.C. has ended letter grades for students in kindergarten to Grade 9, instead of in grades 4 to 9.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209937/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victor Brar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parents need to directly hear from teachers and administrators via open houses or parent advisory councils to lift the fog of confusion and concern surrounding this change.Victor Brar, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100992023-07-26T12:18:56Z2023-07-26T12:18:56ZDo smartphones belong in classrooms? Four scholars weigh in<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539214/original/file-20230725-23-c94xjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C4099%2C3671&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academic performance improves when schools ban smartphones, research shows.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-teenage-girls-in-class-looking-at-cell-phone-royalty-free-image/1011461988?phrase=smartphones+classrooms&adppopup=true">Westend61 via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Should smartphones be allowed in classrooms? A <a href="https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2023/07/Summary_v5.pdf">new report</a> from <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/brief">UNESCO</a>, the education arm of the United Nations, raises questions about the practice. Though smartphones can be used for educational purposes, the report says the devices also disrupt classroom learning, expose students to cyberbullying and can compromise students’ privacy.</em></p>
<p><em>About 1 in 7 countries globally, such as <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-07-04/mobile-phones-to-be-banned-from-dutch-classrooms-next-year">the Netherlands</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/12/570145408/france-moves-to-ban-students-from-using-cellphones-in-schools">France</a>, have banned the use of smartphones in school – and academic performance improved as a result, particularly for low-performing students, the report notes.</em></p>
<p><em>As school leaders in the U.S. wrestle with <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/the-schools-that-ban-smartphones/673117/">whether or not to ban smartphones</a>, The Conversation has invited four scholars to weigh in on the issue.</em></p>
<h2>Daniel G. Krutka: Use smartphones to encourage ‘technoskepticism’</h2>
<p>While the issue of smartphone use in schools is complicated, evidence suggests that spending more time on smartphones is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000403">associated with young people being less happy and less satisfied with life</a>.</p>
<p>Technology scholars have long argued that the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/132784/technopoly-by-neil-postman/">key to living well with technology</a> is in finding limits. However, in banning smartphones, I worry educators might be missing opportunities to use smartphones to encourage what I and other researchers refer to as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00317217231168262">technoskeptical thinking</a>; that is, questioning our relationship with technology.</p>
<p>For example, students might be encouraged to consider the benefits and drawbacks of using navigational apps to travel from one place to another, as opposed to old-fashioned paper maps. Or, students might explore their social media feeds to critique what algorithms feed them, or how notifications get their attention.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Zj0urDUAAAAJ&hl=en">my research</a>, I have looked at how teachers can encourage students to go on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.009">techno-fasts</a> – that is, abstaining from the use of technology for a certain period of time. This, I argue, will give students time to reflect on the time they spend <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.009">away from their devices</a>. </p>
<p>Policy debates often focus on whether or not to put smartphones out of reach during the school day. But I believe educators might find it more beneficial to make the phones an object of inquiry.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of kids in a classroom looks at a phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539365/original/file-20230725-25-4vcd0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley recently said the state may begin encouraging school districts to ban cellphone use in schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/group-of-high-school-students-looking-at-message-on-royalty-free-image/976330346?phrase=cell+phone+classroom&adppopup=true">monkeybusinessimages/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sarah Rose: Consult parents, teachers and students</h2>
<p>While there is evidence that classroom phone usage <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.229">can be a distraction</a>, it can also promote <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2019.1702426">engagement and learning</a>. While research about the potential positive and negative consequences of classroom phones can be used to inform school phone policies, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.11.007">views of those</a> who are most directly impacted by the policies should also be taken into account.</p>
<p>The views of parents matter because their views <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.11.007">may influence</a> the extent to which their children follow the policy. The views of children matter because they are the ones being expected to follow the policy and to benefit from it. The views of teachers matter because they are often the ones that have to enforce the policies. Research shows that enforcing cellphone policies is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.011">not always a straightforward issue</a>. </p>
<p>In my research, I have found that children – aged 10 and 11 years old – in collaboration with their parents, were able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12583">come up with ideas for ideal policies</a> and solutions to help enforce them. For example, one parent-child pair suggested mobile phone use in school could be banned but that a role of “telephone monitor” could be given to an older pupil. This “telephone monitor” would have a class mobile phone that children and parents could use to contact each other during the school day when necessary.</p>
<p>This recommendation reflected how parents and middle and high school students – whether from rural and urban areas – felt cellphones were important to keep in touch with each other during the school day. Beyond safety, children and parents also told us that phones were important for keeping in touch about changing plans and for emotional support during the school day.</p>
<p>I believe policies that simply ban phones in schools may be missing an opportunity to educate children about responsible mobile device use. When parents and children are involved in policy development, it has the potential to increase the extent to which these policies are followed and enforced. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of kids in a classroom look at their phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539366/original/file-20230725-23-ju7ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2020, cellphone bans were in place in 76% of U.S. schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/multi-ethnic-group-of-students-using-smartphones-royalty-free-image/962475588?phrase=cell%2Bphone%2Bclassroom">gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Arnold L. Glass: Cellphone use in college lectures hurts performance in ways that are hard to see</h2>
<p>The intrusion of internet-enabled electronic devices, such as laptops, tablets and cellphones, has transformed the modern college lecture. Students now divide their attention between the lecture and their devices. Classroom studies reveal that when college students use an electronic device for a nonacademic purpose during class, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1489046">it hurts their performance on exams</a>.</p>
<p>When attention is divided between an electronic device and the classroom lecture, it does not reduce comprehension of the lecture – at least, not when measured by within-class quizzes. Instead, divided attention reduces long-term retention of the classroom lecture, which hurts performance on unit exams and final exams. </p>
<p>When some students open electronic devices, it also negatively affects the performance of all the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003">students around them</a>. Research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003">student performance on final exams was worse</a> when electronic devices were permitted during classes that covered exam material versus when the devices were not.</p>
<p>Many students won’t think their divided attention is affecting their retention of new information. It may not be for the moment, but a couple of weeks later or down the line, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.10.003">research shows</a>, it does.</p>
<h2>Louis-Philippe Beland: Bans help low-achieving students the most</h2>
<p>Numerous studies indicate that low-achieving students stand to benefit the most from the implementation of mobile phone bans in schools.</p>
<p>In a 2015 study, my co-author, <a href="https://www.richardmurphy.org/">Richard Murphy</a>, and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2016.04.004">examined the impact of banning mobile phones on student performance</a> in high schools, using data from England. By comparing schools with phone bans to similar schools without the bans, we isolated the effect of mobile phones on performance. Our study found that banning mobile phones significantly increased test scores among 16-year-old students. The effect is equivalent to adding five days to the school year or an extra hour per week. Low-achieving students benefited more, while high-achieving students remained unaffected. </p>
<p>Similar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/AEA-05-2021-0112">studies in Spain</a> and <a href="https://openaccess.nhh.no/nhh-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/3069282/_%2016_00464-33%20thesis_abrahamsson%20732139_2_1.PDF?sequence=1">Norway</a> using a similar approach demonstrated compelling evidence supporting the benefits of banning mobile phones. In Spain, grades improved and bullying incidents decreased. In Norway, the ban raised middle school students’ grade-point averages and their likelihood of attending academic high schools while reducing bullying. Evidence from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12214">Belgium</a> suggests banning mobile phones can be beneficial for college student performance. </p>
<p>Psychological research sheds light on potential mechanisms behind the impact of mobile phones and technology on student performance. Multitasking, common with mobile phone use, has been found to hinder <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106">learning and task execution</a>. Taking notes by hand has been shown to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2013.767917">better enhance memory retention</a> compared to typing on a computer.</p>
<p>In sum, banning mobile phones in schools can yield positive effects, improve academic performance and narrow the achievement gap between high- and low-achieving students. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that mobile phones and technology can also be valuable educational tools when used appropriately.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis-Philippe Beland receives funding from SSHRC insight grant and SSHRC insight development grant.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arnold Lewis Glass, Daniel G. Krutka, and Sarah Rose do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report proposed restrictions on the use of technology in the classroom.Louis-Philippe Beland, Associate Professor of Economics, Carleton UniversityArnold Lewis Glass, Professor of Psychology, Rutgers UniversityDaniel G. Krutka, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education, University of North TexasSarah Rose, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Child Development, Staffordshire UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992882023-02-07T19:04:11Z2023-02-07T19:04:11ZWhether it’s a new teacher or class – here’s what to do when your child is not loving it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508251/original/file-20230206-17-1c5ke4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5184%2C3414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The first signs were the half-eaten lunches coming home from high school. This was in stark contrast to the primary school years, where the box looked as if a demolition team had run through it with only a few crumbs left.</p>
<p>The problem was finally disclosed over a quiet chat before bedtime when we did our routine of “best, worst, funniest” thing that day. My child confided they really didn’t like their new maths class and because they were so anxious about it, they’d stopped eating lunch.</p>
<p>Irrespective of whether it’s daycare, preschool, primary or high school, the news your child doesn’t like their new school, teacher, class – or all of the above – is always tough. Research also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2019.1615116?src=recsys">shows</a> a child’s sense of belonging at school affects their motivation, engagement and wellbeing. So it is important not to dismisss your child’s concerns. </p>
<p>How should parents approach this situation? </p>
<h2>Try debriefing and reviewing</h2>
<p>Many businesses and organisations use <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/activities/highlighting-the-benefits-of-an-after-action-review">after action reviews</a> to debrief after an event or project and learn from them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children walking to school with parents." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508253/original/file-20230206-25-glhtd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If your child does not like their teacher or class, try doing an ‘after action review’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A modified version of this tool can help you take an objective approach to the news your child is very unhappy with an element of their school life. You can adjust the level of your language and discussion based on the age of your child.</p>
<p><strong>1. What is happening?</strong> </p>
<p>Asking your child to describe what is going on prompts them to think through what is actually happening and gives you some useful context. If, for instance the class is happening late on a Friday afternoon, that may go some way to explaining why people are not their best selves at this time.</p>
<p><strong>2. What went well?</strong></p>
<p>This can tell you what your child can continue doing or what they are enjoying at school. Perhaps it was mat time at primary school, or they liked the person they sat next to in history class.</p>
<p><strong>3. What went wrong?</strong></p>
<p>This helps identify the area for improvement or what specifically needs fixing. </p>
<p>Perhaps your child is still getting used to changing classrooms and classes at high school. Or the can’t keep up with what the teacher is saying. Maybe there was a miscommunication. </p>
<h2>What not to do</h2>
<p>Unless there is a safety or serious wellbeing issue, it is highly unlikely changing your teacher and/or opting out of certain lessons will be your answer. </p>
<p>While avoiding might seem like a straightforward answer, like many things with anxiety, this reinforces a reward pathway in the brain that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28545650/">simply makes the anxiety worse</a> and often harder to resolve down the track.</p>
<p>Generally it’s useful to take a watch-and-see approach. This is particularly the case at the start of the school year where so many things and people are new. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/you-cant-fix-school-refusal-with-tough-love-but-these-steps-might-help-199095">You can't fix school refusal with 'tough love' but these steps might help</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Also think about these things</h2>
<p>Think about making time to talk to your child’s teacher (not to say your child doesn’t like them, but to note they are struggling to get into the school year). A nicely-worded email is another way to approach this.</p>
<p>It is helpful for teachers to know if one of their students isn’t happy or at ease in their class. If the teacher doesn’t know about an issue, they can’t work to fix it. </p>
<p>Also consider encouraging social events after school or on weekends with other kids and parents (depending on your child’s age). Building social networks outside school <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-022-02499-4">can ease anxiety</a> in school. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-blues-are-normal-so-how-can-you-tell-if-its-something-more-serious-198671">Back-to-school blues are normal, so how can you tell if it's something more serious?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In rare instances, there may be a serious issue that needs significant intervention. If that’s the case, your school has senior teachers – such as year-level coordinators or the principal – you can contact. It will also have other support processes, such as access to school counsellors. </p>
<p>In the case of my child, it turned out some well-timed group activities over the next few lessons helped them make a new friend. The lunchbox starting coming home empty again. </p>
<p>In most cases, simply listening to and not dismissing your child’s concern will go a long way to help them through this time. As American education writer, Parker J Palmer <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Courage+to+Teach%3A+Exploring+the+Inner+Landscape+of+a+Teacher%27s+Life%2C+20th+Anniversary+Edition-p-9781119413042">notes</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199288/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Jefferson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many organisations use ‘after action reviews’ to debrief after an event. A modified version could help parents work through the news their child is unhappy with an element of their school life.Sarah Jefferson, Senior Lecturer in Education, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1986712023-01-31T19:12:03Z2023-01-31T19:12:03ZBack-to-school blues are normal, so how can you tell if it’s something more serious?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507015/original/file-20230130-528-7k736.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C4493%2C2950&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many children come down with a case of the back-to-school blues as summer slips away. Having spent the holidays staying up late and having fun with friends and family, it can be a struggle to get back into a routine.</p>
<p>For some children, going back to school can also be daunting if they are worried about keeping up with schoolwork, friendship problems or how they might go with a new teacher and class. Nerves about returning to school can manifest in a number of ways, from irritability to tears at the school gates.</p>
<p>How can you cope with this routine challenge? And how do you tell if is it something more serious? </p>
<h2>How to tackle black-to-school blues</h2>
<p>There are a few ways you can support your child and the family as you all head back the daily routine of school. </p>
<p><strong>Plan ahead together</strong></p>
<p>There are lots of ways you can gently work in a new routine – from encouraging kids to pack their bag the night before, to thinking of lunchbox ideas together. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="School lunchboxes packed withs sandwiches, fresh fruit and dried fruit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507244/original/file-20230130-18708-zg2jet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Planning school lunches with your child can help ease you both back into the routine of a new year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antoni Shkraba/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Giving your child choices and the chance to be part of the decision-making process around routines will give them a sense of ownership and independence. For example, you could negotiate bedtime for the school term. </p>
<p>There are other fun, simple ways you can support them through this time. For example, you could could create a music playlist for the school run, set aside a regular time after school to do something you both enjoy (like a play at the park, seeing friends or buying an ice-cream) or set up a reward system for getting homework done on time. </p>
<p><strong>Chat about school</strong></p>
<p>Check in regularly with your child about how they are feeling, particularly in the early weeks. </p>
<p>Try to do this in a way that shows that you’re interested rather than concerned. For example, keep the questions open-ended: “what happened in your day?”. And keep a positive focus: “what was the best bit of your day?” </p>
<p><strong>Look after yourself</strong></p>
<p>With a hundred different things to think about, many parents and carers often forget about their own needs. But it is crucial to give yourself time to recharge, and reach out for support from friends, family or a health professional if needed. </p>
<p>If you are calm and positive, your kids will find it easier to remain calm and positive, too. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-message-to-anxious-parents-as-320-000-australian-children-start-school-198659">A message to anxious parents as 320,000 Australian children start school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>When is it more than the blues?</h2>
<p>Nervousness about returning to school is normal. But some children will experience a level of anxiety about going to school that causes them significant problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother talking to teenager, who has hoody drawn over their face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507235/original/file-20230130-26-wuh8uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being nervous about a new school year is normal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because everybody feels worried or anxious from time to time, it can be really tough to know how to distinguish between “normal” nervousness and problematic (or clinically significant) anxiety. </p>
<p>There are two key ideas to keep in mind: are the feelings causing high and persistent levels of distress? Are they stopping your child from doing what they want or should be able to do? </p>
<h2>What should I look for?</h2>
<p>When it comes to school-related anxiety, here are some specific signs to look for:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>frequently feeling physically sick (such as a tummy or headache) and unable to go to school. Anxiety causes real physical changes in our bodies, so when kids say they’re feeling sick, they’re telling the truth. It’s just they might be describing “worry sick” as opposed to “doctor sick”</p></li>
<li><p>becoming teary, angry or aggressive when thinking or talking about school</p></li>
<li><p>being uncharacteristically slow to get moving on school mornings</p></li>
<li><p>avoiding activities that relate to school, such as joining a sporting team, putting on their uniform or going on a play date. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Is this school refusal?</h2>
<p>School refusal or avoidance (when a child regularly fails to attend class for some or all of the day) has anecdotally been on the increase since COVID. The Senate is currently <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/SchoolRefusal">conducting an inquiry</a> into the issue, with a report due in March. </p>
<p>If you’re starting to think your child’s anxiety may be falling into the problematic zone, you are not the only one. Anxiety is the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/health-of-children">second most common</a> mental health problem experienced by all children in Australia (among girls, it takes first place). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-child-anxious-about-starting-school-the-approaches-we-use-for-children-with-disability-can-help-all-families-197984">Is your child anxious about starting school? The approaches we use for children with disability can help all families</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>Without treatment, children with clinically significant anxiety don’t tend to “just grow out of it”. Anxiety (often together with ADHD), tends to be the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32677217/">cause of school reluctance</a> or refusal.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>If you notice your child is struggling to get to school, it’s important to act quickly. The more time kids miss in school, the harder it becomes for them to return.</p>
<p>The first thing to do is work with school staff. Your child’s classroom teacher will be able to tell you if they or someone else in the school is the best person to be talking to. </p>
<p>If necessary, seek further support from a health professional. You can start with your GP, who may suggest a referral to a psychologist. There are also free, evidence-based <a href="https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/au/free-parenting-courses/fear-less-triple-p-online/">programs</a> been developed by clinical psychologists for parents of children who are experiencing anxiety.</p>
<p>Although it can be daunting, it is important to know you are not alone and there are interventions that can help. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you or someone you know, you can call <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au">Lifeline</a> on 13 11 14 or <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au">Kids Helpline</a> on 1800 55 1800.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Cobham is the lead author of Fear-Less Triple P. The Triple P - Positive Parenting Program - is developed and owned by The University of Queensland (UQ). Royalties are distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at UQ and contributory authors of published Triple P resources. Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd is a private company licensed by Uniquest Pty Ltd. on behalf of UQ, to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide. Dr. Cobham has no share or ownership of TPI. Dr. Cobham is an employee at UQ and may in future receive royalties from TPI. </span></em></p>Many kids are nervous about starting a new school year. But some children will experience a level of anxiety about school that causes them significant problems.Vanessa Cobham, Professor of Clinical Psychology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1986592023-01-29T19:10:30Z2023-01-29T19:10:30ZA message to anxious parents as 320,000 Australian children start school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506730/original/file-20230127-15-81in7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C42%2C4279%2C3128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Erik Anderson/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around Australia, <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/more-four-million-students-head-school-week">about 320,000 children</a> are starting school for the first time. As an early childhood researcher, former kindergarten teacher, and parent of a child beginning school on Monday, this transition fascinates me.</p>
<p>Culturally we place so much importance on this time. Everyone from the lovely cashier at the supermarket, to family, friends and neighbours have been eagerly asking my child, “are you excited about starting school?”</p>
<p>While people have good intentions, the question comes with the clear expectation that “starting big school” is a really big deal. And this puts a lot of pressure on the transition. </p>
<p>For parents, it also raises the question of how best we can prepare our children (and ourselves) for this time. The following tips may help.</p>
<h2>Learning is ongoing, not a one-off</h2>
<p>Research <a href="https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/starting-strong-v_9789264276253-en#page21">consistently shows</a> a positive start to school is linked to long-term benefits in education and wellbeing and helps avoid issues such as <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/school-refusal/school-refusal">school avoidance and refusal</a>.</p>
<p>Parents (me included) need to recognise children’s learning as a lifelong <a href="https://www.learningtrajectories.org/lt-resources/what-are-learning-trajectories">trajectory</a>. What happens in the first weeks of school will not determine your child’s success in life. Your. child will continue to build skills over the year and over their whole school experience.</p>
<p>It is easy to compare your child with others, but often this is unhelpful. </p>
<p>There will be some children starting school who can read, some who will know letters and sounds, and others who are just beginning in this area. Schools will be aware of this (and realistically, children do not need to be fluent readers at five or six). </p>
<p>Traditional thinking has been that all children should be able to do certain things before starting school, with a focus on “school readiness”. But this has been replaced with a new focus on schools being ready for all students, regardless of their diverse skills. </p>
<h2>Communication matters</h2>
<p>Ongoing, clear communication with our children about what to expect and how to manage is important. </p>
<p>This could include reminding our children of the pickup routine, or helping them talk about how (and who) to ask for help if they need it. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-child-anxious-about-starting-school-the-approaches-we-use-for-children-with-disability-can-help-all-families-197984">Is your child anxious about starting school? The approaches we use for children with disability can help all families</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Communication also matters with teachers. As parents, this is one key way we can support our children. Research shows <a href="https://www.edresearch.edu.au/practice-hub/family-engagement-learning">family engagement</a> with teachers helps children learn and build confidence. </p>
<p>This means talking to the teacher about your child’s strengths and interests, but also outlining areas where they may need help. In suggesting this, launching into this discussion at drop-off on the first day might not be ideal. Instead, email the front office to set up a time or schedule an early parent-teacher meeting to talk.</p>
<h2>Worry isn’t helpful, but instincts can be powerful</h2>
<p>As parents, we have much we could worry about. Have we read enough books to our kids? Have they watched too much television? Does my child remember where the bathroom is at school? Will they behave? Should I have made them learn all the sounds of the alphabet? Will they drink enough water? The list is endless.</p>
<p>Sometimes our worries can be transmitted to our children. We need to take care to speak positively about school around our kids, to help <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-child-anxious-about-starting-school-the-approaches-we-use-for-children-with-disability-can-help-all-families-197984">to reduce anxiety</a> in our children.</p>
<p>But while worry can be unhelpful, parental instincts are important. In my time as a teacher I learned to listen to parents’ concerns, particularly around eyesight and hearing. </p>
<p>For example, if you are concerned that your child might not be seeing things as you share a book, or they don’t hear you unless looking at you, talk to your teacher. Early support is important for all areas of children’s health and development.</p>
<h2>Transitions take time</h2>
<p>Finally, transitions (especially once-in-a-lifetime ones like this) take time, so give yourself and your child time to settle in.</p>
<hr>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-tips-to-help-ease-your-child-back-into-school-mode-after-the-holidays-129780">5 tips to help ease your child back into school mode after the holidays</a>
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<p>Your child will have good days, bad days and OK days. So don’t worry if they don’t come home from school on the first day or week absolutely loving it, or having learned obvious new skills.</p>
<p>Helping our children acknowledge the challenge and seeing their growth is helpful (“wow, you’ve done a whole week at your new school!”).</p>
<p>This is not just about academic achievement. It can be about making friends, learning how to buy their lunch at the canteen or mastering the monkey bars.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>With colleagues, Kate Highfield receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a member of Early Childhood Australia, and the Head of Discipline (Early Childhood Education) at Australian Catholic University. </span></em></p>There is a lot of pressure on the transition to ‘big school’. For parents, this raises the question of how best we can prepare our kids and ourselves for this time.Kate Highfield, Senior Lecturer, Deputy Head of School (ACT and regional NSW), Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1979842023-01-24T19:19:13Z2023-01-24T19:19:13ZIs your child anxious about starting school? The approaches we use for children with disability can help all families<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506000/original/file-20230124-11-b93gan.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=398%2C0%2C6240%2C4429&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stressed-worried-child-girl-bites-finger-1657365619">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why does one child experience excitement at the thought of starting the school year while another experiences debilitating anxiety? </p>
<p>It’s rarely one thing and is often a combination of factors, including a child’s temperament and self-confidence; their previous experiences at school, kinder or childcare; friendships they’ve already formed; and the types of transition activities they’ve undertaken. </p>
<p>As psychologists and mental health researchers, we also look at how the family is coping, and the child’s previous history of mental health or developmental disability diagnoses. </p>
<p>The good news is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12310-017-9235-2">research shows</a> parents, schools and health professionals can intervene early to support children who are feeling anxious about school.</p>
<p>Our research team developed a program called <a href="https://allplaylearn.org.au/">AllPlay Learn</a> to support children with disability, who are at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440518300918">higher risk</a> of experiencing anxiety at school because of the additional load from new routines, friendships, expectations, and “sensory overload” (where the noise, clutter, smells and other sensory input from the classroom or playground become overwhelming and distressing to a child). </p>
<p>These strategies can help all children, parents and teachers to better cope with the transition to school, or going back after the holidays. </p>
<h2>What does back-to-school anxiety look like?</h2>
<p>Anxiety in children isn’t always easy to spot. The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpc.14167">symptoms can range</a> from very subtle changes to body language, through to defiant behaviours such as anger and acting out. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two students are pictured. The first student is male, has a walking frame, and is looking anxious. The second student is female, her heart is pictured beating fast, and she also looks anxious." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505751/original/file-20230123-61768-e2ctca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anxiety can present in a number of different ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AllPlay Learn</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>However, avoidant behaviour is a hallmark feature for anxious children. Everyone can relate to gravitating to what makes us comfortable – being at home, engaging in things we like and are good at, and avoiding what makes us anxious or overwhelmed. </p>
<p>At its extreme, anxious-avoidant behaviour in relation to school can turn into <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/camh.12322?saml_referrer&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1674515775077762&usg=AOvVaw2haXA9XDvac20dGKAerO2g">school refusal</a>, where a student regularly misses school with their parents’ knowledge due to school-related emotional distress. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anxiety-can-look-different-in-children-heres-what-to-look-for-and-some-treatments-to-consider-189685">Anxiety can look different in children. Here's what to look for and some treatments to consider</a>
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<h2>4 ways parents can support their anxious child</h2>
<p>How parents communicate about the new school year is important. Speaking positively about school and learning can reduce feelings of anxiety in children.</p>
<p>Parents can help children feel prepared and develop strategies to cope with feelings of anxiety by:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Familiarising them with their new school/classroom. Take your child to visit their new school or classroom, read stories about school and “play” school so they can practise things they’ll need to learn, such as packing their bag.</p></li>
<li><p>Helping them set goals. Encourage them to identify the things they can already do to get settled in their classroom, then set small goals for what they can do next. For example, “I can say goodbye without getting upset when my mum leaves. This term, instead of mum walking me into the classroom, I will wave through the window.”</p></li>
<li><p>Developing some “calming” supports. Ask what has helped them before when they had worries. They could practise relaxation breathing, have quiet bedtime activities, practise “brave statements” (such as “I might feel a little worried, but I know the teacher will be there if I need help”), or bring a special item from home.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensuring they can unwind after school. Some of the emotions your child has held inside all day may spill over when they return home. Consider calming activities, spaces or supports your child may need to process their emotions and sensory overwhelm.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy sits on a bench with his school bag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506009/original/file-20230124-19-g5otj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Practising can help children adjust.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/side-view-sad-mixedrace-schoolboy-sitting-1841105857">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How can teachers help children who are anxious?</h2>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/cs/article-abstract/39/2/81/2990258?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false">Teacher support</a> is important, particularly on arrival. Settling-in activities such as the choice to either read books or draw quietly can provide security to a child. </p>
<p>Communicating <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28318284/">clear expectations of students</a>, such as class rules, can also build trust between children and their teacher.</p>
<p>If a child is anxious, reflect on what aspects of school life might be contributing to anxious feelings and identify – with the child’s input – what they could manage with supports in place. For example, a child may feel able to separate from parents in the morning if they have a familiar toy or photo from home, and can have some quiet time in the classroom before the bell. Over time, these additional supports can be reduced.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-school-blues-how-to-help-your-child-with-shyness-90228">Back to school blues: how to help your child with shyness</a>
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</p>
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<p>Allow children time and space to manage big emotions. Children may have different preferences for support when distressed, but may find it challenging to communicate their needs when anxious or upset. </p>
<p>Provide <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0210511#sec011">structure and predictability</a>. Visual schedules, social narratives (stories that tell children what they can expect at school), and warnings for transitions can provide security. Knowing what to do and who to play with can be challenging for a child who is feeling anxious, particularly during unstructured school time such as lunchtime. </p>
<h2>What if your child remains anxious about school?</h2>
<p>Some children may experience significant signs of anxiety such as not sleeping, social withdrawal, changes in eating habits, or significant ongoing distress or unhappiness. </p>
<p>When children experience ongoing, significant signs of anxiety that don’t resolve, some additional supports may be needed to ensure your child’s wellbeing and feelings of safety at school. </p>
<p>Talk to your GP, who can rule out underlying medical factors and refer you to appropriate support services, such as a child and adolescent psychologist. </p>
<p>More evidence-based tips for supporting a child feeling anxious about starting the school year are available on the <a href="https://allplaylearn.org.au/back-to-school/">AllPlay Learn website</a>. Other helpful resources include the <a href="https://psychology.org.au/find-a-psychologist">Australian Psychological Society’s referral service</a>, <a href="https://kidshelpline.com.au/">Kids Helpline</a>, and <a href="https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/">Beyond Blue</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bethany Devenish received funding from the NSW Department of Education.The AllPlay Learn research program was funded by the Victorian Department of Education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Mantilla receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; project grant no APP1101989). The AllPlay Learn research program was funded by the Victorian Department of Education. Ana also receives philanthropic funding from Jonathan and Simone Wenig, the Moose Foundation, Ferrero Group Australia as part of its Kinder + Sport pillar of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, MECCA Brand, and the Grace and Emilio Foundation, as well as funding from the NSW Department of Education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Rinehart receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; project grant no APP1101989). She is a board member of Amaze and a clinical psychology consultant at the Melbourne Children's Clinic. The AllPlay Learn research program was funded by the Victorian Department of Education. Nicole also receives philanthropic funding from Jonathan and Simone Wenig, the Moose Foundation, Ferrero Group Australia as part of its Kinder + Sport pillar of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, MECCA Brand, and the Grace and Emilio Foundation, as well as funding from the NSW Department of Education.</span></em></p>These tips can help children who are feeling anxious about the transition to school or going back after the holidays.Bethany Devenish, Research Fellow, School of Educational Psychology & Counselling, Monash UniversityAna Mantilla, Senior Research Fellow, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Monash UniversityNicole Rinehart, Professor, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Director, Krongold Clinic (Research), Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890602022-10-20T20:27:34Z2022-10-20T20:27:34ZWhat to look for in a high-quality ‘pre-primary’ or junior kindergarten program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487427/original/file-20220929-24-qbh9t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C4927%2C2460&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Locating early learning programs in schools provides stable programming infrastructure and allows for potential collaborations between early childhood educators and teachers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This fall, many young children across Canada have entered early learning or preschool programs for the first time. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2018.1526700">Access to early learning</a> is a challenge across the country — and many parents scramble to find a space for their children. </p>
<p>But there are some programs that are readily available and accessible to all children in their catchment areas. In Nova Scotia, an <a href="https://theconversation.com/nova-scotias-new-pre-primary-class-gives-kids-a-head-start-through-play-based-learning-115444">investment in universal early childhood education is happening</a> through the “pre-primary program,” housed in primary schools. This is similar to what is currently offered as play-based junior kindergarten in schools in both <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/">Ontario</a> and <a href="https://www.ece.gov.nt.ca/en/services/junior-kindergartenkindergarten">the Northwest Territories</a>.</p>
<p>As many parents or caregivers drop their young children off at a “big school” they may wonder: What should I be looking for in this program? What makes it a high-quality program? Our team took a closer look at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01372-9">what constitutes high quality in these publicly funded, school-based settings</a>.</p>
<h2>Differences in early learning programs</h2>
<p>There are many similarities between regulated early learning and child-care settings and early learning programs offered in schools. Both are expected to follow a play-based curriculum, and both have qualified early childhood educators working with these children in the year or years before they begin more formal school grades. However, there are differences as well.</p>
<p>What defines quality in this specific setting is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X06291524">not a straightforward process</a>, given its unique characteristics. For this reason, we need to <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/structural-characteristics-and-process-quality-in-early-childhood-education-and-care_edaf3793-en">consider broader system factors</a>, in addition to structural characteristics (like child-staff ratios, group size, training) and process considerations, including people’s interactions, routines and activities. </p>
<p>Through a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1364557032000119616">systematic process</a>, we examined existing literature about quality in early childhood school-based programs. This included consultation with international experts and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01372-9">searching</a> literature databases. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children seen playing at a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487428/original/file-20220929-14-xzfelu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Offering ongoing assessment and evaluation of children’s learning is one aspect of offering quality programming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found 6,335 possible sources, and a rigourous screening process helped to identify the most relevant studies. Our final review focused on 41 sources, which informed an expanded image of what high-quality means in school-based early childhood programs like pre-primary and kindergarten. We propose that identifying high-quality should include considering internal and external influences on quality programming, and that it’s important to examine themes of policies, practice, place and people.</p>
<h2>Policies</h2>
<p>Policies that govern publicly funded, school-based early learning programs are foundationally important. Sustainable funding, adhering to regulations, government investment and ongoing assessment and evaluation of children’s learning are <a href="https://childcarecanada.org/publications/quality-design/06/01/quality-design-what-do-we-know-about-quality-early-learning-and-ch">key to providing quality programming</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kindergarten-scrapbooks-arent-just-your-childs-keepsake-theyre-central-to-learning-117066">Kindergarten scrapbooks aren't just your child's keepsake — they're central to learning</a>
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<p>Ongoing, planned and well-resourced assessment and evaluation of such programs could also contribute to supporting high-quality practice by determining if programs are reaching goals and effectively using their funding. </p>
<h2>Practices</h2>
<p>Practices that support high-quality programs include following a teaching and learning approach that is responsive to children’s ways of learning — for example, using a play-based approach that supports exploration and self-expression.</p>
<p><a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED573102.pdf">Other practices that early childhood experts identify</a> as indicating high quality include low adult-to-child ratios and small class sizes depending on the individual support needs of children within the classroom.</p>
<p>In addition to group size, warm, responsive and positive relationships between educators and children are <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5315&context=sspapers">critical to supporting adults and children’s joint attention and sustained shared thinking</a>.</p>
<p>Research also identifies that the extent to which programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.07.005">support and promote inclusion and diversity</a> is related to program quality. </p>
<p>“Inclusion” refers to the acknowledgement and celebration of diverse abilities, cultural and linguistic backgrounds and family structures. It also means policy support designed to mitigate adversity arising from low socio-economic family circumstances by offering affordable spaces, lunch programs and other services to assist families with young children. As well, it refers to any additional or specialized service supports that are provided to children and families.</p>
<h2>Place</h2>
<p>The location and the time spent in the learning environment, as well as the structure of the learning environment itself, are all considered important components of quality. Schools provide stable infrastructure for programming and allow for potential collaborations between early childhood educators and teachers.</p>
<p>The time spent in the program, or “dosage,” is an important component of quality as well. <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5315&context=sspapers">The more time spent in a quality early learning program</a> in the year prior to mainstream elementary school, the more likely there will be positive outcomes for children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An educator seen at a desk with students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489628/original/file-20221013-13-9kim2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whether or not staff have studied early childhood education matters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>People</h2>
<p>The people who work in pre-primary or junior kindergarten programs in schools greatly influence the quality of the program being offered. </p>
<p>Educators’ level of post-secondary education <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(03)00008-5">specific to early childhood education</a> is a major indicator of positive developmental outcomes for children. <a href="https://doi.org/10.4073/csr.2017.1">More formal qualifications</a> and <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED480815">ongoing professional development</a> are often related to better-quality programming.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-covid-19-child-care-plan-must-start-with-investing-in-early-childhood-educators-157553">Canada's COVID-19 child-care plan must start with investing in early childhood educators</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Given the placement of these programs in <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ964856">schools, support from administrators, principals and teaching assistants</a> also influence the quality of programming, along with the <a href="http://www.apls.org/pdf/early_learning_full.pdf">involvement of families and communities</a>. </p>
<p>Educators become more aware of families’ perspectives of quality as parents, families and community members are welcomed to participate in an early learning setting at a level that is possible for them in terms of their resources and availability. Educators gain knowledge of the cultural and social contexts of the children in their program.</p>
<p>As another school year unfolds, the first for many young children entering school-based early learning programs, our review provides insight into some considerations for implementing these programs to ensure they are offered in a high-quality manner to support children and families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine McLean has received funding from the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessie-Lee McIsaac has received project funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, and the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Her research program is undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs program. McIsaac is also a board member of a non-profit child care centre in Nova Scotia.</span></em></p>People, policies, practice and place all matter in publicly funded, school-based children’s early learning programs.Christine McLean, Assistant Professor, Child and Youth Studies, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityJessie-Lee McIsaac, Assistant Professor, Canada Research Chair in Early Childhood: Diversity and Transitions, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891862022-09-26T19:49:17Z2022-09-26T19:49:17ZHow helping others during major life transitions could be a path to greater well-being<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486327/original/file-20220923-10674-6v290b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=285%2C748%2C6287%2C3252&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some research has shown the effects of stress were reduced when people engaged in higher levels of kindness or generosity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Rodnae Productions)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="https://higheredstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/HESA_SPEC_2021.pdf">2.5 million students</a> began post-secondary education in Canada this September. The start of college is an exciting time, filled with new friendships, information and routines. Yet, the transition can also be stressful with students managing unfamiliar challenges and adopting different identities.</p>
<p>What can help support student well-being during this life transition? While various strategies encourage people to focus on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07448480009596294">helping themselves</a> through exercise, nutrition or mindfulness, our research examines the importance of engaging in everyday acts of kindness toward others. </p>
<p>One of the authors of this story, Lara, researches whether helping can promote happiness for the helper <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/psychology/research/hhl">and leads the Helping and Happiness lab</a> at Simon Fraser University. Tiara’s doctoral work examines whether helping and kindness can boost mental health during major life changes, such as the start of post-secondary education.</p>
<h2>Engaging in kind actions</h2>
<p>Many <a href="https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2019/happiness-and-prosocial-behavior-an-evaluation-of-the-evidence/">international surveys</a> reveal that people who engage in kind actions, such as volunteering and donating to charity, also report greater well-being. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Hands seen holding two stacked cups of hot beverages." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486538/original/file-20220926-21-rcc75d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helping others has been shown to promote happiness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, in experiments, people who buy <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340468788_Does_spending_money_on_others_promote_happiness_A_registered_replication_report">small treats for others</a> feel happier after than people who buy the same small treats for themselves. </p>
<p>Helping others has been shown to promote happiness in a wide variety of different groups, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039211">including toddlers</a> under the age of two, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328967971_Does_helping_promote_well-being_in_at-risk_youth_and_ex-offender_samples">recent ex-offenders</a>. Some research has examined how people in both poor and rich countries <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23421360">gain emotional benefits</a> from helping others with their financial resources.</p>
<p>But does helping lead to happiness even when helpers face personal difficulty and stress, such as during a big life change like starting college? </p>
<h2>Reducing everyday stress</h2>
<p>Some evidence suggests that this is possible. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27500075/">One study</a> found the effects of everyday stress were reduced when participants engaged in higher levels of kindness or generosity. </p>
<p>However, life transitions, such as starting college, can bring <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3739977/">higher and longer-lasting stress</a> than every day. </p>
<p>To explore whether giving to others can support mental health during the start of post-secondary education, we asked nearly 200 students in the fall of 2020 and 2021 at Simon Fraser University to report their daily acts of kindness and well-being each week during most of their first semester.</p>
<p>Consistent with predictions, our research, which is currently being written for peer review, found that students felt greater personal happiness, optimism and resilience as well as lower anxiety in the same weeks in which they did more kind acts. </p>
<p>It is worth noting that meaningful acts of kindness were relatively small, inexpensive (or cost-free) and familiar. For instance, students reported sharing notes with their peers, holding the door open for someone walking behind them and helping to edit an essay or homework.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman seen in a yellow shirt on a campus holding books and smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486334/original/file-20220923-15075-fh2h6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What’s the secret to happiness during big life changes?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Self-care and more</h2>
<p>These findings may be surprising, though. During stress and change, people are often advised to focus inward by <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/importance-of-self-care-for-health-stress-management-3144704">practising self-care</a> by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19496591.2016.1157488">looking after themselves</a>. </p>
<p>Our data suggest this advice may be useful, too. Students in our sample also reported greater well-being in weeks where they engaged in more self-care including exercise, time with friends or speaking with family. </p>
<p>However, our research offers an additional and likely overlooked path to well-being during life transitions: looking outward to help others. Why not practise complimenting a classmate, sharing advice on where to find parking or even pick up litter on the way to class? </p>
<p>In consideration of the positive benefits of <a href="https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2019/happiness-and-prosocial-behavior-an-evaluation-of-the-evidence/#fn8">volunteering</a>, institutions might explore promoting volunteer activities during the first semester alongside other first-year supports.</p>
<h2>New routines after COVID-19</h2>
<p>We are continuing to explore this question with additional studies and samples. For instance, we are conducting a five-week experiment in which new students are instructed to complete kind acts for themselves or others over the first several weeks of their first semester of post-secondary study. </p>
<p>The question of whether helping others can lead to happiness during a major life transition is broadly relevant as millions of people start new jobs, move to new cities or adjust to new routines in the wake of COVID-19.</p>
<p>Our research offers a poignant reminder that helping others may also have the benefit of helping ourselves, even during times of uncertainty and change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiara Cash receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (via Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lara Aknin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During times of stress and change, people are often advised to practice self-care by looking after themselves, yet what about the benefits of showing kindness to others?Lara Aknin, Distinguished Associate Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser UniversityTiara A Cash, PhD Student in Social Psychology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890562022-09-12T18:59:25Z2022-09-12T18:59:25ZHealth of former youth in care could be bolstered by stronger tuition waiver programs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483034/original/file-20220906-26-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C176%2C7360%2C3900&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In-depth interviews with former youth in care described barriers and challenges to attending post-secondary education once they received a tuition waiver. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Post-secondary education systems tend to reproduce existing social inequalities and inequities. This is in part because post-secondary success is strongly connected with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fmpq.0.0030">parents’ educational attainment, social support and other social determinants of health</a>. </p>
<p>As post-secondary education <a href="https://www.ei-ie.org/en/workarea/1312:fighting-the-commercialisation-of-education">has become more commercialized</a>, debates about enrolment and engagement frequently centre on appropriate levels of student financial aid and debt, without considering what people need to succeed holistically. </p>
<p>We propose provincial governments, in collaboration with post-secondary institutions, should direct funding toward improved affordability and supports for those who face both greater financial and systemic challenges in accessing post-secondary education. </p>
<p>Some governments focus on <a href="https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/financing/NeedsResources.asp">student and family income levels</a> when designing and implementing broadly targeted free tuition programs. Other approaches target tuition assistance toward specific groups <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-who-grew-up-in-care-have-the-right-to-post-secondary-education-and-tuition-waivers-open-doors-160972">such as former youth in care</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Post-secondary students seen walking in a corridor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483038/original/file-20220906-5322-hcnvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educational attainment is an important determinant of a person’s economic successs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Higher earnings, health outcomes</h2>
<p>While education has indisputable intrinsic value, educational attainment is perhaps the single most important determinant of a person’s economic success. It is well-established that <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016024/98-200-x2016024-eng.cfm">individuals with higher levels of education tend to have higher earnings</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to economic benefits, there is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.12.011">positive correlation between education and health outcomes</a>. Health researchers are interested in how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30144-4">modifiable determinants of health can include education level</a> and socio-economic status. Youth in care may not have the ability to change their family circumstances, but they should have the opportunity to augment their education level.</p>
<p>Education has also been positively correlated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-018-9504-4">civic participation, such as voting, charitable giving and volunteerism</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9788-z">appreciation of diversity</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/000282804322970751">reduced crime rates</a>.</p>
<p>In Canada, about 85,000 youth are in care, and <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/report-exploring-youth-outcomes.pdf">most do not complete high school or attend post-secondary institutions</a>. </p>
<p>Integrated interventions to ensure that those <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/FOSTERING-_0.pdf">in care across Canada are afforded the same access to education</a> as those without experience in the child welfare system are long overdue. </p>
<p>According to a Child Welfare League of Canada 2021 report, “<a href="https://www.cwlc.ca/post/equitable-standards-for-transitions-to-adulthood-for-youth-in-care-public-report-policy-brief">Equitable Standards for Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care</a>,” governments at all levels, as well as service providers, should be held to the same set of standards to ensure the transition to adulthood for youth in care are upheld regardless of where youth live. </p>
<h2>Tuition waiver programs</h2>
<p>Early childhood experiences of instability, discrimination and violence can have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0954579413000801">lasting impacts that extend into adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>To address barriers to post-secondary education among former youth in care, tuition waiver programs must acknowledge and accommodate for the impact of complexity and trauma in the lives of this population.</p>
<p>The limited data available on the numbers of youth aging out of care each year suggest that the majority face a variety of challenges, including homelessness and <a href="https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2020/inclusion">barriers to education </a> due, in part, to the lack of standardized supports and nationally legislated entitlements for youth leaving care. </p>
<p>Existing data clearly indicate the link between not having a post-secondary education and poorer health outcomes across the life course. Yet having poor health in the first place can impact the decision to continue with formal education: <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/socialwork/assets/docs/misc/Is%20Anybody%20There%20article%20Feb%202016.pdf">when youth are aging out of care</a>, experiencing poor health can lead them to determine that post-secondary study isn’t a feasible option.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.childwelfarepac.com/_files/ugd/6548f4_03fb7160fbd34b66bcfff23583710238.pdf">Tuition waiver programs</a> waive the cost of post-secondary education and, in some instances, provide additional wrap-around supports such as counselling, books, food and so on. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Youth seen in a circle with a counselor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483037/original/file-20220906-22-rcb2f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some tuition waiver programs provide additional supports such as counseling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To understand how these interventions support former youth in care, cross-institutional evidence-based practices are needed. There is no national standard on what needs to be included in tuition waiver programs. The lack of standards and associated data means that we cannot compare across programs to determine what fosters the best possible outcomes for recipients. </p>
<h2>Atlantic study</h2>
<p>In a recent study in the four Atlantic provinces, qualitative data from twenty-two in-depth interviews with former youth in care <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/research-free-tuition-child-welfare-system-1.6573757?cmp=rss">described barriers and challenges to attending post-secondary education once a tuition waiver was received</a>.</p>
<p>These include the need for programs to be flexible to accommodate a variety of competing demands, including financial, health, caregiving, work responsibilities and limited options in rural communities. </p>
<p>Data collection and evaluation approaches pertaining to tuition waivers and youth in care must account for these issues. </p>
<h2>Holistic programs needed</h2>
<p>Tuition waiver program staff, recipients, and community organizations must collaboratively develop programs that support the whole person.</p>
<p>By considering how programs affect health, we can create programs that are accessible and supportive. </p>
<p>These programs can help build identity, financial security, trusting relationships, community and improved well-being. <a href="https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2020/inclusion">Getting them right and removing barriers matters.</a></p>
<p><em>Sue McWilliam, who works as the trauma-informed care research and evaluation lead with IWK Health in Halifax, co-authored this story.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189056/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacquie Gahagan receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Research Nova Scotia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dale Kirby receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Research Nova Scotia</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Krista C Ritchie receives funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristyn Anderson is affiliated with the Child Welfare Political Action Committee Canada (Child Welfare PAC)</span></em></p>To understand how tuition waivers and associated supports can help former youth in care complete post-secondary education and positively affect their health, evidence-based practices are needed.Jacquie Gahagan, Full Professor and Associate Vice-President, Research, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityDale Kirby, Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandKrista C Ritchie, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityKristyn Anderson, PhD candidate, Health, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891732022-09-07T18:13:22Z2022-09-07T18:13:22ZChoosing university or college courses? 5 questions for students to consider<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483055/original/file-20220906-16-vkvxrf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C4446%2C2492&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why are you taking the course? Knowing the answer will help you choose a balanced courseload. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2020.1823864">sudden shift</a> from on-campus teaching to remote learning in March 2020 changed the ways university and college faculty taught courses. </p>
<p>While some professors reverted to old ways after returning to campus, others sought new approaches. The result is a mixture of different types of courses available <a href="https://theconversation.com/professor-flexibility-recorded-lectures-some-positive-university-legacies-of-the-pandemic-187652">to university and college students</a>.</p>
<p>It’s no longer just a question of whether a course fits a student’s program and schedule. Students need to ask additional questions. Yet, times are changing rapidly and information can quickly become out of date.</p>
<h2>1. How much time does the course require?</h2>
<p>The online pivot encouraged some professors to either add or drop course material. The result is that the amount of time students spend on a course may vary greatly from one professor to another. This may especially be an issue for students who have heavy course loads while balancing other professional and personal responsibilities. </p>
<p>Aside from practicums and field classes, most universities and colleges have few standards on how much time students should spend outside the classroom. </p>
<p>Ask, how much reading is required? Are there heavy writing requirements in papers and online discussions? A course with weekly assignments is easier to manage than a course with just one major assignment due at the end. Course advisors may have copies of syllabi or an instructor’s course syllabus may be available online.</p>
<p>While students should not take only “easy” courses, it is important to appropriately manage workloads. Stress is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09552-y">contributor to students’ mental health challenges</a>. It’s good to be challenged, but don’t take on too much. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A backpack seen with notebook, glasses, a clock." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C58%2C3650%2C2587&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483053/original/file-20220906-16-he753.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Having a good sense of the time a course will require and how you can meet its demands amid other commitments matters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Do I need to attend classes? Can I work remotely?</h2>
<p>Many students are now combining <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2081225">online and face-to-face courses into their programs.</a></p>
<p>The difference between online and face-to-face courses has blurred. Many face-to-face classes now have significant online components. If instructors record lectures, provide comprehensive lecture materials and allow assignments or tests to be submitted online, the class grading structure may make it possible to take a face-to-face course and rarely show up for classes. </p>
<p>This may benefit students juggling family or professional commitments with college or university. </p>
<p>But be aware of how missing lectures could affect your grades, experience and learning. Teachers work hard in the <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Creating+Significant+Learning+Experiences:+An+Integrated+Approach+to+Designing+College+Courses,+Revised+and+Updated-p-9781118124253">classroom to engage and inspire.</a> Lectures can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03098260802276771">entertaining, interesting and can open new possibilities for learning.</a> Professors’ body language communicates additional information. They may edit out parts of a recorded lecture they feel are too spontaneous to be preserved.</p>
<p>Whether or not learning outcomes depend on peer collaboration, many students find it motivating to be surrounded by their peers. At the same time, the creation of learning communities can also take place in online environments.</p>
<p>It’s also easy to spend more time than anticipated replaying recorded lectures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen sitting in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483054/original/file-20220906-5322-2ouar1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some professors became more understanding and sympathetic to student needs during COVID-19 chaos.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Is the professor approachable and flexible?</h2>
<p>Some professors became <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2081225">more understanding and sympathetic to student needs during COVID-19 chaos.</a> Others less so. Faculty are typically required to describe how students can reach them, including preferred communication method and email or online message system response time in the syllabi. This will also describe any flexibility built into their course.</p>
<p>Students often share their experiences with different courses and instructors with one another, and this can be helpful. Bear in mind, however, that such experiences may have changed through the pandemic.</p>
<p>Another way to gain information is to ask the professor directly. Their reply (or lack thereof) may be useful. Just respect the work-life boundaries most professors have established concerning digital communication outside regular work hours as they are also juggling commitments amid increasing workloads, <a href="https://theconversation.com/survey-of-academics-finds-widespread-feelings-of-stress-and-overwork-130715">all while attempting to mitigate burnout during the pandemic.</a> </p>
<h2>4. Will I need special equipment and materials?</h2>
<p>It became clear during the pandemic <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-learning-during-covid-19-8-ways-universities-can-improve-equity-and-access-145286">that some students struggled with internet connections, under-powered devices and equitable access.</a> </p>
<p>Operating systems may be an issue when installing specialist software (such as ArcGISPro GIS software used in our field of geography). Campus computer labs are commonly set up for specific software, but it’s worth investigating how responsive IT support is for students using their own devices.</p>
<p>Students should also ensure they will be able to access textbooks. Anecdotally, we have seen situations where copyright constraints affect how international students can access digital textbooks, or deliveries are delayed or held up by customs.</p>
<h2>5. Does the grading scheme show off my capabilities?</h2>
<p>Many professors had to rethink traditional grading. Some are now more flexible with respect to deadlines and formats.</p>
<p>Some professors offer the opportunity for students to resubmit. Open book exams became more common during COVID-19. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-may-have-changed-university-teaching-and-testing-for-good-158342">How the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed university teaching and testing for good</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Find out: How many quizzes and exams are included in a course? What type of questions are on a test? How are tests administered and graded? What are the assignments? Do grading rubrics clearly show how the professor will grade assignments?</p>
<p>And ask yourself why you’re taking the course? Do the assignments help you learn, or do they simply allow you to prove you already know something? What matters most to you for this particular course?</p>
<p>Different professors teach differently. If you’re a student with choices in a program, it makes sense to find out what you’re getting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Different professors teach differently. If you’re a student with choices in a program, it makes sense to find out what you’re getting.Terence Day, Adjunct Professor of Geography, Simon Fraser UniversityPaul N. McDaniel, Associate Professor of Geography, Kennesaw State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891712022-09-05T13:09:46Z2022-09-05T13:09:46ZTalking with your teen about high school helps them open up about big (and little) things in their lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481858/original/file-20220830-35607-wi1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C42%2C3132%2C1634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Letting your child go somewhere you cannot follow can be challenging as a parent. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many teens, starting high school is an exciting time. They will make new friends, discover various interests and participate in diverse activities. But, for some teens starting high school is a time of stress and anxiety, especially in the wake of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159261">school disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>Transitioning to high school can be a time of mixed emotions. Teens are moving away from an often well-known environment toward the unfamiliar, which can be thrilling. But <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/i-fear-change-how-to-cope-with-the-unknown-5189851">newness and change can also fuel worry and anxiety</a>, especially if walking into a new and unpredictable situation.</p>
<p>As a researcher in educational psychology and a psychologist in the areas of school, clinical and counselling psychology — and drawing on my own parenting experience — I know that while it might not always be obvious, teens need to know they have a safe place to discuss their concerns. </p>
<p>Taking the time to talk with your teen about starting high school as their experiences unfold will set the stage for ongoing, open communication, which can help throughout their high school experience and beyond.</p>
<h2>New world of high school</h2>
<p>For some teens, the thought of starting at a different school where there will be new teachers, school staff and peers can feel overwhelming. Not only do new high schoolers have to find their way through a strange and sometimes much larger building, but they must also navigate the new academic and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2020.1849366">social and emotional world of high school</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teens seen walking through a corridor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481848/original/file-20220830-34802-bhjd1q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The world of high school requires some getting used to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This transition amidst the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159261">educational impacts of COVID-19</a> can be compounded for youth who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spx044">racialized</a>, marginalized, <a href="https://youthdatingviolence.prevnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FACT-SHEET-ON-BULLYING-OF-2SLGBTQ-YOUTH-FINAL2.pdf">2SLGBTQIA+</a>, <a href="https://www.kuow.org/stories/advice-from-a-neurodiverse-teen-on-how-to-navigate-the-school-system">neurodivergent</a>, who recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.29173/cjfy29497">arrived in Canada</a> or are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/mental-health/index.htm">experiencing mental health challenges</a> — and others who may face added barriers, discrimination and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21986">bullying</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/newcomers-and-canadian-high-school-students-are-friendly-but-not-friends-111453">Newcomers and Canadian high school students are friendly, but not friends</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Teens may also be surprised and unprepared for the shift in the amount of <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-how-much-homework-is-enough-depends-who-you-ask/2018/04">homework</a>, and changes in classroom rules and expectations. They may also find it hard juggling school, friends, extracurriculars and other responsibilities while getting a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cophys.2019.11.006">good night’s sleep</a>.</p>
<h2>Parental wisdom?</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A teen sitting in glasses looking at a phone on a bus." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481851/original/file-20220830-18781-c0mu4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Today’s experience of high school may be far removed from what parents remember.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While teens are heading off to high school, their <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/63-percent-of-moms-are-the-most-upset-on-the-first-day-of-school">parents may also be experiencing feelings</a> they have not felt since they sent their child to kindergarten. Letting your child go somewhere you cannot follow can be challenging as a parent. </p>
<p>The wisdom we had hoped to share with our teens based on our experiences that we believed would protect and help them succeed may, unfortunately, be obsolete.</p>
<p>So how do you prepare your teen (and yourself) for the transition to high school? </p>
<h2>1. Keep the lines of communication open</h2>
<p>Trying to talk with your teen can sometimes be a source of exasperation and frustration. Some parents and caregivers find that the child they used to communicate with so easily now responds in one-word utterances or even nonverbal gestures. </p>
<p>Luckily, there are many <a href="https://childmind.org/article/tips-communicating-with-teen/">strategies</a> that you can use to encourage more open, reciprocal dialogue with your teen, such as using texts, writing notes or talking in the car. However you engage with your teen, they must know that you care and are listening to what they say. When talking in person, put down your phone and be present with them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mom seen turning to talk to her child in the back seat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481829/original/file-20220830-19222-sw1oup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reciprocal dialogue with your teen can happen in many ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Remind them it takes time to adjust to big changes</h2>
<p>Sometimes just acknowledging that the transition to high school is a significant change can be comforting for your teen. Pointing out and talking about examples where they have handled change well in the past can be helpful. Also, sharing your experiences can be another great way <a href="https://raisinghealthyteens.org/rht_blog/teenage-connection-the-11-best-ways-to-connect-with-your-teen/">to connect</a> with your teen. When deciding what to share, parents should be honest while considering what is age-appropriate for their child.</p>
<h2>3. Talk with them about school-life wellness</h2>
<p>This is a great time to talk about how you manage your many roles and responsibilities (if you do it well as a model or if you struggle with it as a cautionary tale). You can talk with them about <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/8-ways-bolster-executive-function-teens-and-tweens">time management, organization and prioritizing</a> tasks and help walk them through how to plan for school and other commitments. Also, talk about the importance of sleep and engaging in activities, events and relationships that <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/inside-out-outside-in/201912/11-self-care-tips-teens-and-young-adults">help them feel well</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mom and teen daughter." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481863/original/file-20220830-27281-2ltj1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s not just about academics: Talking about managing roles, responsibilities and relationships can be part of what you discuss.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Identify coping strategies</h2>
<p>It can be helpful to review past successful strategies with your teen. Ask them how they will know when they need to use a strategy and how they will use it, especially at school. It can also be useful to talk about <a href="https://psychcentral.com/blog/blog/2018/01/30-healthy-coping-skills-for-teens#1">new strategies</a> they haven’t tried that may be helpful.</p>
<h2>5. If your teen is struggling, help them find the right help.</h2>
<p><a href="https://cmha.bc.ca/documents/talking-to-teens-about-mental-health/">Talking with your teen about their mental health</a> and wellness is important. However, sometimes the help that our teen needs may be more than we can give. </p>
<p>Knowing when your teen could benefit from talking with a mental health practitioner or needs additional academic support at school and how to access those supports is essential. During these times, it is important to work with your teen to reach out to <a href="https://ymhc.ngo">supports and resources</a> at school or in your community.</p>
<p>Taking the time to connect with your teen, whenever and however you can, will help them know that there is a caring and supportive space for them to talk about the big (and little) things going on in their lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsey Jaber receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Parents and caregivers can support teens with the transition to high school by taking the time to connect and talk, whenever and however you can.Lindsey Jaber, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890332022-09-01T14:21:06Z2022-09-01T14:21:06ZKindergarten transitions can be eased by supporting kids’ social and emotional needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481643/original/file-20220829-8371-phq2k6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C58%2C5215%2C3123&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For many parents, caregivers and children, the entry into kindergarten is a watershed transition. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/kindergarten-transitions-can-be-eased-by-supporting-kids--social-and-emotional-needs" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With the new school year here, parents and caregivers of young children may be experiencing <a href="https://www.verywellfamily.com/tips-to-ease-back-to-school-anxiety-620832">heightened emotions and anxieties</a> about starting kindergarten. </p>
<p>Under typical circumstances, the transition to kindergarten evokes a <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/26/starting-school-first-day-of-school-is-the-most-emotional-milestone-for-parents_n_7323376.html">multitude of emotions</a> for parents and caregivers. Amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns, transitioning into a new school year may prompt a unique set of emotions and anxieties for both parents and children. </p>
<p>Whether or not children entering kindergarten have experienced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1966389">learning interruptions due to closures</a> — for example, through interruptions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/low-income-families-should-not-lose-child-care-subsidies-while-on-parental-leave-180659">stable early learning and child care</a> settings — children’s <a href="https://scanfamilies.org/resource/social-development-in-children/">early social development</a> continues to be at the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-631-x/2020004/s8-eng.htm">forefront of many parents’ concerns</a>. </p>
<p>Considering the unparalleled experiences of the pandemic, and in acknowledgement of any <a href="https://childmind.org/article/helping-children-with-special-needs-go-back-to-school/">anxieties about the upcoming school year</a>, the list below contains some evidence-based tips on how parents or caregivers can attend to the <a href="https://www.heartofconnecting.com/parenting-articles/a-child-s-list-of-social-and-emotional-needs">social and emotional needs</a> of young children as they transition into kindergarten programs. </p>
<h2>1. Give yourself credit for positive family interactions</h2>
<p>Although the pandemic decreased opportunities for social interactions, positive family interactions still contribute heavily to children’s early social development. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/infa.12488">Recent research</a> suggests the presence of nurturing parents and caregivers is enough to mitigate the pandemic’s negative effects on infants’ social development.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother and son hug side-to-side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481653/original/file-20220829-20-u7gjz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Positive family interactions contribute heavily to children’s early social development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The establishment of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F23779608211009000">secure attachment</a> to a primary caregiver in the first few years of life facilitates a child’s drive to explore and experiment and is related to their later socio-emotional and physical health outcomes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/infancy-and-early-childhood-matter-so-much-because-of-attachment-117733">Infancy and early childhood matter so much because of attachment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the kindergarten classroom, this secure attachment encourages children to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3345%2Fkjp.2012.55.12.449">confidently seek out new experiences and form positive relationships with others</a>. Parents or caregivers can rest assured that your efforts to promote positive early family interactions indeed make a difference. </p>
<h2>2. Nurture social skills</h2>
<p>Social skills, such as sharing and listening, are the tools we use to communicate and interact with others in order to develop positive relationships. Social skill competence in kindergarten has been linked to key <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302630">young adult outcomes</a> in education, employment and mental health. </p>
<p>Concerns over missed socialization opportunities caused by pandemic-related restrictions have been a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jped.2020.08.008">key focus of early childhood research</a>. Reinforcing the <a href="https://parentingscience.com/social-skills-activities/">social skills</a> that children have opportunities to develop through <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/parents-guide-play-based-learn-en.pdf">play-based learning</a> in the classroom may assist your child with the initiation of such skills in different contexts. </p>
<p>In addition to supporting opportunities for hands-on play with other children, social skills can be nurtured by making time for conversations with children that facilitate learning about various social interactions, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-parents-can-be-emotion-coaches-as-kids-navigate-back-to-school-during-covid-19-166148">through coaching children through social situations</a> and explicit instruction. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/vitalsigns/during-pandemic-a-nurturing-home-goes-far-to-promote-normal-development">Modelling positive interactions</a> of listening and sharing and reinforcing these and other <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/kindergarten#section-4">important skills</a> also matters.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children seen sitting on the floor playing with blocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481644/original/file-20220829-8758-1xd45n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children have opportunities to develop through play-based learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Help your child learn to identify their feelings</h2>
<p>Social skills are interdependent with emotional skills. <a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/can-early-social-emotional-functioning-predict-later-mental-health-issues/">Social-emotional learning</a> skills, taught in different ways like educators’ support for a child’s self-regulation in the classroom, are critical to children’s mental health, academic and social development.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-ways-to-teach-kindergarten-kids-to-deal-with-stress-during-covid-19-whether-learning-online-or-at-school-154807">6 ways to teach kindergarten kids to deal with stress during COVID-19, whether learning online or at school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These critical skills can be <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/other/dbasse/wellbeing-tools/interactive/">nurtured at home</a> by encouraging conversations about <a href="https://www.verywellfamily.com/how-to-teach-kids-about-feelings-1095012">your child’s emotions</a>, helping your child <a href="https://nhsa.org/resource/five-ways-parents-can-support-childrens-social-emotional-development/">label</a> how they are feeling, and modelling various <a href="https://www.bigheartworld.org/calm-down-with-move-this-world/">positive coping mechanisms to alleviate stress</a> and anxiety, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMb2Bw4Ae8">breathing techniques</a> and/or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLoK5rOl8Qk">mindfulness</a>. Parents can also turn to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/parents/learning/view/fifteen-librarian-recommended-books-for-kids-dealing-with-anxiety">children’s literature</a> to help their child identify and manage their feelings. </p>
<h2>4. Acknowledge your own emotions and model positivity</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.family.cmho.org/back-to-school-tips-for-parents/">Acknowledging your emotions</a> about your child’s transition to kindergarten may alleviate stress and anxiety by decreasing the cognitive and emotional burden of denying such emotions. Since children are particularly <a href="https://childmind.org/article/how-to-avoid-passing-anxiety-on-to-your-kids/">attuned to the stress and anxieties of their immediate caregivers</a>, managing your own stress and anxiety is an effective contributor to keeping your child’s anxieties at bay. Discussing the positive aspects of kindergarten may also help your child look forward to the many exciting moments they will experience this school year. </p>
<h2>5. Establish school-year routines</h2>
<p>Establishing an <a href="https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/sleep/schedule/how-to-have-happier-bedtimes-and-better-sleep/">age-appropriate bedtime routine</a> and schedule can help children throughout the school year by facilitating predictable and clear expectations. Using a <a href="https://www.surreyplace.ca/resources/how-to-use-a-visual-schedule-to-support-routines/#:%7E:text=Visual%20schedules%20allow%20your%20child,expectations%20will%20be%20made%20clear.">visual schedule</a> to support routines for kindergarten-aged children can <a href="https://ed-psych.utah.edu/school-psych/_resources/documents/grants/autism-training-grant/Visual-Schedules-Practical-Guide-for-Families.pdf">foster independence, increase flexibility and support literacy development</a>. Establishing a daily routine also provides children with a sense of <a href="https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/Pages/Soothing-Your-Childs-Separation-Anxiety.aspx">security, stability and decreases separation anxiety</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young students seen sitting at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481650/original/file-20220829-8742-c9xkqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Establishing daily school-year routines in the home can help children venture into classroom experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Know that positive family-educator partnerships are essential</h2>
<p>Positive <a href="https://earlylearningnetwork.unl.edu/2018/08/29/parent-teacher-relationships">family-educator partnerships</a> are critical for children’s <a href="https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/The_Impact_of_Family_Imvolvement_ES.pdf">social, emotional and academic success</a>
and for maintaining equitable family engagement. It is educators’ / schools’ responsibility to <a href="https://oese.ed.gov/files/2020/10/equitable_family_engag_508.pdf">honour custodial parent or caregiver efforts to communicate concerns</a>, and schools should be bolstering engagement with school communities in culturally sensitive ways. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-i-could-change-one-thing-in-education-community-school-partnerships-would-be-top-priority-188189">If I could change one thing in education: Community-school partnerships would be top priority</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Parents and caregivers must be included by educators and schools as equal advocates for their child’s education. This is particularly critical for racialized parents and caregivers whose voices have been historically marginalized by the education system. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A father hugs a boy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481654/original/file-20220829-27-36667.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If parents or caregivers notice an increase in their child’s anxiety, this should be brought to the educators’ attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/colour-of-wellbeing/">Reciprocity</a> in communication builds community and belonging and sees parents or kin with custodial responsibilities as <a href="https://edtrust.org/the-equity-line/listen-parents-education-advocates/">equal advocates</a> in the education process. Additionally, if parents or caregivers <a href="https://smho-smso.ca/parents-and-caregivers/noticing-mental-health-concerns-for-your-child/">notice</a> an increase in their child’s level of anxiety, this should be brought to the educator’s attention so that they can discuss <a href="https://smho-smso.ca/">school-based and/or community-based resources</a> and <a href="https://smho-smso.ca/parents-and-caregivers/suppports-available-through-schools/">support options</a> available.</p>
<p>Parents and caregivers are <a href="https://www.ldatschool.ca/effective-parent-teacher-partnerships/#:%7E:text=Ontario's%20parent%20engagement%20policy%20recognizes,at%20home%20and%20at%20school.">vital partners</a> in education, and together, families and educators can ease back-to-school jitters and help make this an exciting and positive transition for children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Hillier receives funding from WE-SPARK Health Institute. </span></em></p>Parents and caregivers are vital partners in education, and together, educators and families can ease back-to-school jitters and help make this an exciting and positive transition for children.Kimberly Hillier, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895182022-08-30T19:23:53Z2022-08-30T19:23:53ZBack to school: Time to revisit strategies for child and family mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481881/original/file-20220830-27281-yqwlsn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=688%2C348%2C4243%2C3079&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are important strategies families can use to help promote mental health as kids head back to school and daily routines change.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/back-to-school--time-to-revisit-strategies-for-child-and-family-mental-health" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The last two years have been far from normal for children and families. As households prepare for back-to-school, there can be some apprehension of what the year will bring. </p>
<p>Our research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482">children</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000305">teens</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00074-2">parents</a> have struggled with regards to mental health during the pandemic, where higher levels of pandemic-related stress corresponded to more mental health difficulties in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001237">families</a>. </p>
<p>Although there are many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic that are not in our control, it is important to focus on the things that are. Research shows that negative mental health outcomes in the face of stress are not inevitable based on external factors alone. There are important strategies families can use to help promote mental health. </p>
<p>Family routines can provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2012.718245">stability during times of stress</a> and are generally important for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2018.11.010">children’s mental health</a> and have shown to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255294">protective</a> for children’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>As child psychologists and researchers, we review the scientific evidence for strategies that are associated with positive child and family mental health. These are the strategies that we universally recommend and share with the children, teens, and families we work with in our clinical practice to inoculate against stress and family challenges. </p>
<h2>1. Social and emotional connections</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A smiling woman and a boy washing dishes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481884/original/file-20220830-38699-t4c0z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For children and teens, family social and emotional connections are equally, if not more important as friendships in helping children protect their mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Humans are social beings and over the last two years we have experienced limitations and restrictions on our ability to maintain and develop social connections. </p>
<p>Research during the pandemic showed that youth who felt <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01332-9">socially connected</a> were protected against poor mental health. Therefore, creating opportunities for children and youth to feel connected within their families and with their peers are critical for promoting well-being. </p>
<p>For children and teens, family social and emotional connections are equally, if not more important as friendships in helping children protect their mental health. During the pandemic, teens who felt <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-021-00320-2">stress at home</a> had more mental health problems. </p>
<p>At home, fostering social connection and understanding can be achieved through spending time together engaging in mutually enjoyable activities. Ensuring that there is time to listen to your child talk about their day, process events and emotions from school, and engage in supportive problem solving is critical. </p>
<p>When listening to your child or teen talk about their day, it is important to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-parents-can-be-emotion-coaches-as-kids-navigate-back-to-school-during-covid-19-166148">listen and understand</a> first before engaging in any problem solving. Often children can feel better after discussing their emotions without needing to problem solve. </p>
<p>Natural opportunities for these connection times include during mealtime, car rides or commutes, and before bed. There are resources that provide suggestions for initiating <a href="https://www.family.cmho.org/communicate-with-your-child/">supportive conversations</a> with your kids. </p>
<h2>2. Coaching to cope with big and small worries</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with a beard with his arm around a boy sitting on a white sofa" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481883/original/file-20220830-35607-9ozp6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Modelling how you identify, address and cope with your own worries can serve as an important example for your child.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Worrying can be a natural response to uncertainty, which has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. One habit that can help mitigate children’s worries from developing further is teaching them to cope with big and small worries as they come. </p>
<p>Talking about, labelling and validating worries is an important first step. Next, help them think through how they might respond if their worry came true, how likely their worry is to occur, and evidence that disproves their worry. </p>
<p>Modelling how you identify, address and cope with your own worries can serve as an important example for your child. In fact, our research demonstrates that coping ability predicted <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.805019">better mental health for parents</a> throughout the pandemic, as well. There are many <a href="https://www.anxietycanada.com/learn-about-anxiety/anxiety-in-children/">resources</a> and <a href="https://www.anxietycanada.com/resources/mindshift-cbt/">free apps</a> available for helping your child to cope with worries and anxiety.</p>
<h2>3. Schedule time for physical activity each day</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two adults with a child on a bicycle with training wheels" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481695/original/file-20220830-8742-9oge3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making changes to how you travel to school or extra-curricular activities (for example, walking or riding a bike) can also be an easy way to increase activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Agung Pandit Wiguna)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Physical activity is an important determinant of mental health and well-being for both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2018.12.001">children</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F146642409611600102">adults</a>. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2313">20 per cent decrease</a> in children’s physical activity levels, particularly among individuals living in countries with colder climates. </p>
<p>We recommend starting with a small goal to start, such as going for a walk after dinner. Being successful in a small goal helps to increase motivation going forward. Making changes to how you travel to school or extra-curricular activities (for example, walking or riding a bike) can also be an easy way to increase activity. </p>
<p>As the weather gets colder, consider changing to indoor swim and recreational activities. Year-round outdoor activities also provide an opportunity for safe physical activity and social engagement despite evolving risks with the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<h2>4. Protect good quality sleep for children and family members</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sleeping child wearing pyjamas" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481882/original/file-20220830-37919-8aagof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recommendations suggest children get eight to 11 hours of sleep per night, and seven hours are recommended for adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sleep is fundamental to mental health and well-being. Nearly half of parents reported their child’s sleep <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab075">worsened</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic in part due to reduced physical activity, increased screen time and heightened anxiety. </p>
<p>Guidelines recommend that <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/healthy-living/canadian-children-getting-enough-sleep-infographic.html">children</a> get eight to 11 hours of sleep per night, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html">adults</a> get at least seven hours. It can be helpful to work back from the time your child needs to wake up and work towards an appropriate bedtime. This can often mean starting a bedtime routine and getting ready for bed before we think we need to. </p>
<p>Having a good <a href="https://www.cheo.on.ca/en/resources-and-support/resources/P5643E.pdf">sleep hygiene</a> regime can help anyone who has trouble getting to sleep. This can include avoiding caffeine late in the day, avoiding screens an hour before bed and having the same routine every night (for example, shower, pajamas, brush teeth, read a story or book, bed). </p>
<p>For families seeking more information, Children’s Mental Health Ontario has put together a <a href="https://www.family.cmho.org/school-mental-health/">Back to School Mental Health Backpack</a> to help children and families with the challenges of returning to school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Racine receives funding from SSHRC and CIHR. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dillon Thomas Browne receives funding from SSHRC and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation & Trade. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie G. Craig receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>Family routines can provide stability during times of stress. Here are four strategies for building resilience against stress and family challenges to put into place as children head back to school.Nicole Racine, Assistant professor, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaDillon Thomas Browne, Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of WaterlooStephanie G. Craig, Research assistant professor, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890492022-08-29T18:47:30Z2022-08-29T18:47:30ZStarting post-secondary school with a complex health condition: 5 tips for students, plus 5 ways institutions can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481415/original/file-20220828-33878-xgl4yu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C51%2C5518%2C3768&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many young adults with chronic health conditions transition to post-secondary school at or around the same time they are transitioning from pediatric to adult health care.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/starting-post-secondary-school-with-a-complex-health-condition--5-tips-for-students--plus-5-ways-institutions-can-help" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The transition to university or college is an exciting time for many young adults, but it can also be demanding and stressful. Young adults living with complex health conditions may face unique challenges with this transition. </p>
<p>As health care providers with experience in chronic disease management, we explain what underlies some of these challenges and provide strategies to manage them.</p>
<h2>Understanding the challenge</h2>
<p>Many young adults transition to post-secondary at or around the same time they are transitioning from pediatric to adult health care. <a href="https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/transition-to-adult-care-for-youth">This transition itself can be difficult</a> as adult care is often less centralized, involves different health care providers and expects a higher level of independence. </p>
<p>Yet, at the same time, young adults are only beginning to refine their self-government, autonomy and life skills, such as decision-making, goal-setting and crisis management. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman sitting on an exam table talking to a doctor in a white coat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481416/original/file-20220828-48234-2r2h6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Connect with relevant services at your school, including campus health services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>General recommendations for people with chronic conditions include having self-management strategies like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.19.2469">stable routines, a strong social support network and an established circle of care</a>. However, many aspects of the post-secondary experience are not conducive to these healthy behaviours. </p>
<p>Starting university or college may involve moving cities or provinces away from family, friends and other social supports. Inconsistent class schedules and evening events may make routines like consistent sleeping and healthy eating challenging. </p>
<p>Classes are often longer and require sustained attention, which may be especially difficult for those with fatigue or difficulties concentrating. Evaluation and grading systems based on a few high-stakes exams or papers may be challenging for those with fluctuating abilities.</p>
<p>The transition to post-secondary education may also be accompanied by changing role expectations. These could include commuting, navigating relationships with roommates, meal preparation and paid work. </p>
<p>Managing a chronic health condition can make all of those transitions more complex. Here are five tips for students starting post-secondary education with complex medical needs.</p>
<h2>5 things you can do to prepare</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young man sitting on a sofa testing his blood sugar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481417/original/file-20220828-50806-8ddjov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When transitioning to adult care, patients are expected to have a higher level of independence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p>Connect with relevant services at your school. This includes introducing yourself to health resources in your new space such as campus mental health services or campus health care to ensure you have a doctor nearby. Have a clear understanding of your health insurance coverage (for example, for things like counselling or physical therapy). Also check out accessibility resources like <a href="https://www.neads.ca/en/about/media/AccessibilityandAccommodation%202018-5landscapereport.pdf">student accommodations services or policies</a>, student groups and disability services. Collectively, these services help you navigate accommodations for classes or exams, inform you of your rights and can offer supportive assistive technology, which can include things like multimedia support for text material and speech-to-text apps.</p></li>
<li><p>Self-advocate and identify what is working. You may be able to have a reduced course load, get extra time for exams, have a hybrid schedule, get extra help or access note-taking services. You may also be able to use assistive technology during class or exams. Once you identify what’s working for you or what has worked in the past (such as social supports or the strategies mentioned above), plan and advocate to keep them.</p></li>
<li><p>Organize schedules to your advantage. This may include scheduling classes only in the afternoons or evenings, planning out a physically accessible route and finding rest or quiet study spots. Accessibility services may help you accomplish this. </p></li>
<li><p>Have your paperwork. All your paperwork. Especially if moving to a different city. You may need new health care providers and there is no guarantee these providers are familiar with your medical and personal history. In fact — you may teach them something about your complex medical condition! As you go through your post-secondary education, make sure you collect paperwork and communication correspondences. You never know when you may need them. </p></li>
<li><p>Make an emergency plan. What are signs and indicators that things are going well, or not going well? Who will you reach out to in case of an emergency? Establish a plan with people in your close social network so there is a procedure in place in the event of an emergency.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>5 ways institutions can support students with chronic conditions</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman in a pink and white striped shirt using an asthma inhaler" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481418/original/file-20220828-16-tyiwg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Have an emergency plan, including who to reach out to in a crisis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Universities and colleges can also support students with chronic health conditions. Here are five ways institutions can recognize and address their needs:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into course design and delivery. This may <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ844630.pdf">include using a variety of teaching resources and methods for evaluation</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1045159517735530">online delivery options</a> as well as <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1201588">in-person delivery options</a>. In addition to improving learning outcomes for students, this way of structuring education can be described as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.1371831">a value principle, like diversity or equality</a>”. Using inclusive design reduces the need for student-specific accommodations.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensure students have access to and know how to use a variety of resources. Include a tour of these services as part of orientation week. Alternatively (or in addition), have professors include accommodation resources as part of their course outlines. This normalizes asking for help from these services; it makes it easy.</p></li>
<li><p>Encourage workplace health at an institutional level, not just for students. People are more likely to support others when they are supported themselves.</p></li>
<li><p>Facilitate coordinated services. This can include integration of physical and mental health services, and access to social work, occupational therapy and physical therapy within campus spaces — making it physically and emotionally accessible to students. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12819">Coordinating with family and community-based services</a> helps to ensure there are different ways to meet students’ needs.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.neads.ca/en/norc/eag/">Design with inclusion in mind</a>. This includes everything from physical spaces to campus culture. Basic inclusive elements — such as ensuring washrooms have sharps containers, making quiet rest spaces available, providing lecturers with functioning microphones, incorporating breaks into long classes, having available spaces for eating and drinking and keeping spaces scent-free — can go a long way towards supporting those with complex conditions in post-secondary education.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pursuing post-secondary education can be demanding for anyone, and may have extra challenges for those with complex health needs. Those students can help themselves by self-advocating, setting boundaries and being prepared, but institutions also have an integral role to play in creating supportive environments. Changes toward inclusion benefit everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmine Mah is an Internal Medicine resident with Nova Scotia Health and receives scholarships supporting her PhD research from the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie University, Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation, Dr. Patrick Madore Foundation, and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. She is affiliated with the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) Team 14, which investigates how multi-morbidity, frailty and social context modify risk of dementia and patterns of disease expression. The CCNA receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CNA-137794) and partner organizations (<a href="http://www.ccna-ccnv.ca">www.ccna-ccnv.ca</a>). The affiliations/funders had no input into any aspect of this subject or article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaitlin Sibbald receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is affiliated with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and the College of Occupational Therapists of Nova Scotia. </span></em></p>Managing a chronic health condition can make the transition to post-secondary education more complex.Jasmine Mah, MD (Internal Medicine Resident) & PhD candidate (Focus on Geriatrics), Dalhousie UniversityKaitlin Sibbald, PhD in Health Candidate, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876522022-08-22T16:05:06Z2022-08-22T16:05:06ZProfessor flexibility, recorded lectures: Some positive university legacies of the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477685/original/file-20220804-16-zvuolw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C5022%2C3443&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A professor’s understanding of how important an accommodation is for one or two students may produce a benefit for all.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/professor-flexibility--recorded-lectures--some-positive-university-legacies-of-the-pandemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The COVID-19 closure of university and college campuses and move to online learning in March 2020 was a massive global educational experiment. Many students were severely <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-exposed-the-vulnerability-of-international-students-in-canada-174105">disadvantaged</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247999">and strained during</a> the experiment, others coped and some thrived. Educators are divided on its impacts. </p>
<p>With international colleagues who are geography experts, I studied <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2081225">lessons learned during the pandemic</a>. Taken together, the lessons may form the foundation for what post-pandemic post-secondary education could look like in coming decades. Improved educational practices could be one of the few positive outcomes from the pandemic. </p>
<p>The large-scale result is more choice for students in how they are taught with better access for more students. But realistically, the lessons will be applied in different ways by professors, academic departments and institutions to create a patchwork of unique approaches. </p>
<h2>New forms of online learning</h2>
<p>Specialists in online <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning">education distanced themselves from emergency online teaching at the start of the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>However, improvisation by untrained online educators produced a surprise. Our research documented how some students who had previously taken and hated online courses with slick presentations and high production values found they enjoyed a course with professors who could relate well to students online. </p>
<p>In these cases, topical bad jokes and a peek at the professor’s home office more than compensated for grainy video and poor sound. Some online courses that proved successful continue to be offered by some faculty, even though colleges and universities are now fully open. Students can enjoy the convenience of an online course, and connect with their professor. </p>
<p>Students also quickly learned that online courses don’t need to be taken from home. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student's hand seen at a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students have realized they can attend online classes in their university library or cafeteria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Kampus Production)</span></span>
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<p>My anecdotal impression from colleagues in the United States and Canada, including some B.C. colleagues at <a href="https://www.bccat.ca/articulation/committees">meetings hosted by the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer</a> — a body that oversees credit transfers between post-secondary institutions — is that online sections are filling up faster than face-to-face sections of the same course in some universities and colleges.</p>
<h2>More online components</h2>
<p>The online experience also informed face-to-face courses with more thought by faculty on how to engage students during a lecture. </p>
<p>During online learning, course leaders achieved this engagement through online discussion boards and other collaborative tools. That experience carried over for some faculty, and online learning management systems like Moodle and Canvas are now widely used in some face-to-face courses. </p>
<h2>Teaching and learning accommodations</h2>
<p>Prior to the pandemic, students with <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/students/accessible-learning/establishing-accommodations/prospectivedas.html">learning, mental or physical disabilities</a> had access to “accessibility services” or a similar office in universities and colleges.</p>
<p>The process involved the professional assessment of accommodations necessary for students to succeed in a course, such as extended time for tests, or permission to record lectures. Offices communicated these accommodations to faculty who were then required to implement the accommodation. </p>
<p>Campus closures meant that on-campus support services were less readily available. As a result, some students talked directly to their professors about the challenges they faced. </p>
<p>These challenges were well-known by specialist counsellors and advisors within universities, but confidentiality kept an understanding of student challenges away from faculty. </p>
<p>Learning the specifics about the complex nature of hurdles to learning for some students made some faculty think more about courses and course delivery for all students. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-safe-return-to-university-campuses-listen-to-students-most-affected-by-the-pandemic-178236">For a 'safe return' to university campuses, listen to students most affected by the pandemic</a>
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<p>For example, prior to the pandemic, recorded live lectures were available to selected students as an accommodation. </p>
<p>During the online pivot, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00563-8">lecture recordings were popular</a>, and it turned out they were helpful for many students. A professor’s understanding of how important an accommodation is for one or two students may produce a benefit for all. </p>
<p>Some professors continue to record lectures now, even while offering an in-person class.</p>
<h2>Reducing student stress</h2>
<p>Student mental health became <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247999">an issue during the pandemic, but there were also rising numbers of students with mental health issues prior to the pandemic.</a> Conversations in the media also made it easier for students to talk about their challenges. </p>
<p>The causes of mental health issues are diverse, but student workload has been increasing in recent years and increased during the pandemic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people seen talking in a library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some professors’ greater awareness of the barriers, mental health challenges or personal situations students face is leading to rethinking how they teach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Antoni Shkraba)</span></span>
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<p>The transition from face-to-face classes to an online environment encouraged the addition of new assignments to courses, often in addition to the old ones. Some faculty are beginning to rethink not just how they teach, but also their curriculum.</p>
<h2>Patchwork of responses</h2>
<p>While administrators at universities and colleges are still struggling with post-pandemic responses, many decisions have already been made by individual professors. </p>
<p>Some take attendance at lectures, require assignments to be submitted on paper and refuse to record their lectures or provide copies of their slides. Others are more accommodating. There has never been a more flexible time to be a student.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terence Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research by geographers in Canada, the United States and Hong Kong identifies lessons for universities and colleges from the 2020 move to online learning.Terence Day, Adjunct Professor of Geography, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856592022-08-17T12:39:03Z2022-08-17T12:39:03ZElectric school buses are taking students back to school – bringing cleaner air and lower maintenance costs to school districts across the country<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479196/original/file-20220815-5636-zluoni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C7%2C4756%2C2716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new EV schoolbus from an all-electric fleet parked beside charging stations at South El Monte High School in California, Aug. 18, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-ev-schoolbus-from-an-all-electric-fleet-is-parked-news-photo/1234752434">Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each weekday, more than half of the K-12 students in the U.S. – <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/06/22/can-school-buses-improve-access-for-students-without-driving-down-academic-outcomes/">over 25 million pupils</a> – ride a school bus. Until very recently, nearly all of these <a href="https://time.com/6117544/electric-school-buses/">500,000 buses</a> ran on diesel fuel. </p>
<p>Nationwide, diesel-powered school buses produce <a href="https://time.com/6117544/electric-school-buses/">more than 5 million tons</a> of carbon dioxide emissions. They also generate <a href="https://www.epa.gov/diesel-fuel-standards/about-diesel-fuels">air pollutants</a> that are harmful to children’s health – especially <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/summary-diesel-particulate-matter-health-impacts">fine particulates</a>. Studies show that exposure to diesel tailpipe emissions <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dera/learn-about-impacts-diesel-exhaust-and-diesel-emissions-reduction-act-dera">worsens respiratory conditions, decreases lung function</a> and can lead to increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits. </p>
<p>Shifting to cleaner buses is especially important for low-income students. Across the U.S., <a href="https://www.bts.gov/topics/passenger-travel/back-school-2019">60% of low-income students</a> ride the school bus, compared with 45% of other students. School buses often <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dera/school-bus-idle-reduction">idle their engines</a> while they are loading or unloading, which exposes children directly to exhaust fumes.</p>
<p>I study issues at the intersection of <a href="https://www.urbandrea.com/about">infrastructure, policy and place</a>, including sustainability and equity in transportation. While electrifying school bus fleets requires big investments, I believe the evidence makes clear that it will more than pay off over the long term in health and economic benefits, and I am encouraged to see public and private investments moving in that direction.</p>
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<h2>Early movers</h2>
<p>Decisions about switching from diesel to electric school buses typically lie with cities and school districts, although state governments are getting involved. As of <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/electric-school-bus-us-market-study-and-buyers-guide-resource-school-bus-operators">March 2022</a>, 415 school districts or contracted fleet operators had committed to deploy 12,275 electric school buses in a wide range of settings, from large cities to rural counties, across 38 states and lands of two Native American tribes. </p>
<p>California, a <a href="https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/history">longtime leader</a> in clean vehicle policy, acquired its first electric school buses in 2014. Now the state is spending nearly US$70 million to <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2019-07/energy-commission-awards-nearly-70-million-replace-polluting-diesel-school-buses">replace more than 200 diesel buses with electric versions</a> to advance its climate and air-quality goals.</p>
<p>Another notable case is Montgomery County, the largest school district in Maryland, which is <a href="https://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/staff-bulletin/mcps-replacing-326-diesel-school-buses-with-electric-buses-over-next-four-years/">replacing 326 diesel buses with electric buses by 2025</a> and building five charging depots. The district serves a diverse population of <a href="https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/">160,000 students in 210 schools</a>.</p>
<p>In Virginia, the utility company Dominion Energy <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/business/energy-environment/electric-school-buses.html">announced in 2019</a> that it would provide 50 electric buses for 16 school districts across the state as one of its initiatives to reduce pollution and promote sustainability. Dominion is paying for infrastructure costs and absorbing the cost difference between a diesel and an electric bus. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The town of Chesapeake, Va., takes delivery of its first electric school buses, funded by the utility Dominion Energy.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The biggest obstacles: Funding and space</h2>
<p>As Dominion’s gesture suggests, converting bus fleets isn’t an easy step for many school districts. An electric school bus <a href="https://electrek.co/2022/03/29/us-school-bus-maker-blue-bird-receives-its-largest-ever-order-of-electric-school-buses/">can cost up to $400,000</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-electric-school-buses-diesel-2022-6">two to three times the price</a> of a diesel bus. </p>
<p>But electric buses have <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2022/02/02/the-real-cost-of-electric-school-buses-is-lower-than-you-think/">lower operating costs</a>, so they save districts an estimated $4,000 to $11,000 per bus per year compared with diesel versions. That can make the costs of electric buses comparable over their lifetimes. </p>
<p>Electric bus motors have about 20 parts, compared with 2,000 in a diesel engine, and require far fewer maintenance steps such as regular fluid changes. And because many of their mechanical systems, such as braking and steering, are similar to those in diesel buses, electric buses are relatively easy to service, especially in districts where both bus types operate.</p>
<p>Charging stations also require money and space, especially in areas where bus routes are long and battery range is a constraint. Most buses now on the market have ranges of about <a href="https://securefutures.solar/do-electric-school-buses-have-a-long-enough-range-to-be-practical/">100</a> to <a href="https://www.blue-bird.com/buses/electric-school-buses">120 miles</a> (160-190 kilometers) on a single charge. </p>
<p>In a 2013 study, analysts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reviewed school bus drive cycles in Colorado, New York and Washington and found that the average school bus was typically in operation for <a href="https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-2400">5.26 hours per day</a>. Driving distance averaged about 32 miles, (50 kilometers), with some buses traveling over 127 miles (200 kilomaters) daily.</p>
<p>School districts need places to charge buses easily and efficiently, especially between morning and afternoon routes. Building this infrastructure, especially as diesel buses continue to operate concurrently with growing electric fleets, can pose a challenge in school districts where <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/schools-can-access-tons-of-money-for-electric-buses-will-they-use-it/2022/06">space is limited</a>. </p>
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<h2>Buses as power sources</h2>
<p>At the same time, charging infrastructure can make school bus fueling and management more efficient. Today’s <a href="https://stnonline.com/partner-updates/four-drawbacks-of-electric-buses-what-you-can-do-about-them/">managed charging infrastructure</a> allows districts to plug in a bus whenever it is parked at the depot but have the bus charge only when needed. Chargers can be programmed to function at times of day when energy demand is lowest and power is less expensive. </p>
<p>Manufacturers are introducing buses equipped with <a href="https://chargedevs.com/newswire/byd-introduces-type-a-electric-school-bus-with-v2g-tech/">bidirectional charging capability</a> that can send stored electricity back to the grid when they are not in service. During summer months, when many school buses are not in use and power usage often peaks, utilities soon may be able to call on school districts to make charged buses available to help ease demand load. These buses can also <a href="https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2022-06/esb-us-market-buyers-guide.pdf?VersionId=Be6NI4mvnt0iF8M3oiGFMvrW3OQY.4SO">be used as mobile generators</a> during power outages and emergencies.</p>
<p>In a 2022 study, researchers at the University of North Carolina analyzed how the state’s utilities could use school buses with vehicle-to-grid charging to manage peak power demand while taking the buses’ schedules into account. They estimated that a fleet of 14,000 buses could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.11.029">provide about 2.6 gigawatt-hours of electricity to the grid</a> on an average winter weekend day in North Carolina, reducing utilities’ dependence on natural gas and avoiding up to 1,130 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per day. </p>
<p>Cleaner air is likely to pay off in improved student performance. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.03.002">2019 study</a>, researchers found that <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Environment/air_quality/cmaq/reference/cmaq_diesel_retrofits/cmaqdiesel.pdf">retrofitting</a> 2,656 diesel buses in Georgia – adding new components to reduce the buses’ emissions – was associated with positive effects on students’ respiratory health, and that districts with retrofitted diesel buses experienced test score gains in English and math. Since even modernized diesel vehicles still generate air pollutants, shifting to electric buses would likely produce even larger increases.</p>
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<h2>Spreading the benefits</h2>
<p>Federal and state agencies are moving to speed up the transition to electric school buses. The American Rescue Plan, enacted in 2021 to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, included <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dera/2021-american-rescue-plan-arp-electric-school-bus-rebates">$7 million in rebates</a> for school districts in underserved communities, Tribal schools and private fleets serving schools that purchase electric buses. </p>
<p>In March 2022 the Environmental Protection Agency <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-awards-rebates-totaling-17-million-fund-clean-school-buses-reduce-diesel-emissions">awarded funding</a> for 23 electric school bus replacement programs and associated charging infrastructure in 11 states. And New York state’s <a href="https://electrek.co/2022/04/08/new-york-state-governor-100-electric-school-buses-2035/">fiscal 2023 budget</a> includes a nation-leading requirement that all new school bus purchases must be electric starting in July 2027, and that all school buses in service must be zero-emission by 2035. The budget allocates $500 million in potential state funding for school bus electrification as part of a larger environmental bond act, which will be on the ballot in November 2022.</p>
<p>Riding the iconic yellow school bus is a formative experience for millions of kids across the U.S. If more districts make the shift away from diesel, I believe it will become a greener and healthier trip and a step toward the zero-emissions future our nation’s children deserve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Marpillero-Colomina does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>They look like conventional school buses, but electric versions are cleaner, quieter and cheaper to maintain. States, utilities and federal agencies are helping school districts make the switch.Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Adjunct Lecturer in Urban Studies, The New SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.