RECOVERING AND
REBUILDING
IDEAS FOR CREATING MORE EQUITABLE SPACES IN THE WAKE OF COVID-19
BY LAURA AND JONATHAN TEMPORAL
ahead. This year, however, feels significantly different. When speaking with colleagues about returning to school, the normal feel- ings of nervousness that surface near the end of summer have given way to acute anxiety. Throughout the pandemic,
A have shown extraordinary resilience,
educators cre-
ativity, compassion, flexibility and care for students and families all while enduring sig- nificant challenges both professionally and personally. Collectively, we have faced much over the past 18 months and many of us (educators and families alike) are still dealing with the residual stress. As we move forward in the new school year, it is important for us to think about how we can begin to recover and rebuild our classroom communities. In order to begin the process of recovering
and rebuilding, it is vital to take stock of where we have been and where we are currently. Throughout this public health crisis,
the Conservative government has consis- tently failed students, families and educa- tion workers by refusing to meaningfully
12 ETFO VOICE | FALL 2021
new school year usually brings with it feelings of excitement and hope- fulness,
combined, of
course, with some ner- vousness about the year
address health and safety concerns, provide adequate funding for schools, improve paid sick days and lower class sizes. Most re- cently, the Ford government put forward a reopening plan that is, by many measures, inadequate and incomplete, and in some cases simply dangerous. At the time of writ- ing, the plan does little to address concerns regarding the spread of variants, particu- larly the Delta variant, and the risks these variants pose to children who are not yet eligible for the vaccine. This plan also de- tails loosening safety precautions which in turn risks further COVID-19 outbreaks and disruptions to in-person learning. In short, the plan does little to ensure a safe and sus- tainable return to in-person learning, which means we are entering another unpredict- able year. Over the last 18 months, we have also
seen how the public health crisis has dispro- portionately impacted racialized and other marginalized communities. According to a Public Health Ontario report, released early in the pandemic, “the most ethno-culturally diverse neighbourhoods in Ontario, primar- ily those concentrated in large urban areas, experienced disproportionately higher rates of COVID-19 and related deaths compared to neighbourhoods that are less diverse.”
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