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Strong relationships help kids catch up after 6 months of COVID-19 school closures

Strong relationships help kids catch up after 6 months of COVID-19 school closures

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3 years ago

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Five-year-old Maverick Denette, left, and his six-year-old sister Peyton, centre, talk with a teacher at St. Thomas More Elementary School in Mississauga, Ont., Sept. 9, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

Many Canadian children are now returning to their classrooms after schools shut down in March to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Classrooms under strict health guidelines are very different to the settings children knew last spring. The children may be different too, having experienced family stress brought about by fear, uncertainty or life-changing events related to the pandemic, such as family violence.

Students’ learning loss over the summer months has long been the subject of research concern — some call it the “summer slide.” COVID-19 school closures have been almost three times as long as a summer vacation, prompting some to discuss a potential COVID-19 slide. Researchers have projected that due to pandemic school closures some students may have lost a year’s worth of learning in some elementary grade subjects — particularly more vulnerable students who have faced traumatic events during the shutdown.

The amplification of the effects of learning loss is an important consideration. But directing attention to missed learning should not mean overlooking the powerful contribution of relationships, well-being and mental health to student success — an elevated priority for children who have experienced fear and trauma related to the pandemic. How school districts respond may have a lasting effect on this generation.

Excessive stress prevents learning

Educators can alleviate some of the negative consequences of excessive stress and enhance children’s well-being through positive and attuned relationships — relationships where educators are tuned in, aware of and responsive to children’s emotional needs as they are being expressed. Well-being is a required condition upon which achievement is built.

The growing international body of evidence on the impact of social isolation on the mental health and well-being of young people has led to calls for school systems to take a balanced approach to reopening, addressing children’s mental health as well as their educational needs.

Children experiencing increased stress, anxiety and worries as a result of the pandemic are operating in a state of high alert. This affects their ability to regulate emotions and impulses, and to attend to, reflect upon and remember information, as well as to engage in constructive relationships with others.

In a spring report for UNESCO, as children and their teachers were entering the new world of distance learning and isolation, renowned educator Armand Doucet and his colleagues argued that students needed to feel safe and have their basic needs met as a priority.

A boy and his mother seen from behind walking to school.
A student is dropped off at class by his mother at Elizabeth B. Phin Public School ahead of their first day of classes in Pickering, Ont., on Sept. 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Regulation of stress through relationships

The ability to regulate students’ stress and anxiety through classroom relationships is a powerful tool to support academic outcomes.

Attempts to fulfil urgent academic expectations, without addressing children’s fundamental need for emotional safety, will exacerbate children’s feelings of stress and anxiety and even further challenge their ability to self-regulate.

When children experience this state of imbalance, they perform more poorly in school. Their bodies go into a state of fight-or-flight, with survival being the primary focus, leaving little room for learning.

Educators have been subject to the stresses of the pandemic too. In a survey of 17,352 Canadian educators by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, 44 per cent expressed concerns about their own mental health and well-being.

Here are three ways school systems and school leaders can support student emotional well-being to ground academic success.

1. Foster teachers’ sense of personal and professional safety. In order for educators to attend to the well-being of their students, they must also prioritize their own well-being.

When school systems and school leaders provide reassurance of personal safety, opportunity to collaborate with peers and time to adapt their classroom practices, they contribute to educators’ sense of well-being. Research suggests that perceiving that decisions and actions can impact life outcomes is associated with lower work stress, greater likelihood of asking for support and positive thinking.

Read more: How to prevent teacher burnout during the coronavirus pandemic

Teachers need to have agency to shape the learning environment, and to assess and address their students’ emotional well-being and readiness to learn before embarking on an ambitious plan to make up for lost academic time. When teachers feel safe and supported, they will be better positioned to support their students through responsive relationships.

In turn, students connect to teachers’ cues and feel soothed and safe. Through the important co-regulating responses of the educator-student relationship, children’s autonomic nervous systems (the primary mechanism behind the fight-or-flight response) are calmed. This creates a state of readiness to engage and learn.

2. Modify academic expectations. Curriculum documents lay out expectations for each grade. There is no prescription for the timing of delivery, nor of the pacing. As professionals, teachers are well-aware of curricular expectations, and they modify pace and order to suit their class. Principals, vice-principals and any teachers in school leadership roles should recognize this need, and signal to teachers that this is OK. Teachers will plan to meet curriculum expectations as they always have, but there may be modification in their planned timelines particularly at the start of the year.

Encouraging teachers to set reasonable expectations and being kind to themselves will also support positive mental health. Self-compassion supports feelings of safety and security.

By accepting that things are different, and curbing the propensity to take on unrealistic timelines for improvement, educators can help students transition from a state of heightened stress to a more balanced state — a precursor to learning and success.

3. Build relationships with families. By taking an interest in how families are doing, and really listening, school-based educators take the lead on building more caring relationships with children and their homes. Home-school partnerships are crucial to understanding children’s well-being needs, and prioritizing them would help realize the pandemic’s catch phrase of collaboration and mutual support: “We’re all in this together.”

Making children feel emotionally safe and supporting their ability to self-regulate through positive relationships, and prioritizing teacher well-being and family connections, will support the quest for academic success.

This article was co-authored by Penny Patrician, who holds a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and who works as an education consultant.

Lisa Bayrami 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.

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Angry Shouting Aside, Here’s What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union…

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4 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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Angry Shouting Aside, Here's What Biden Is Running On

Last night, Joe Biden gave an extremely dark, threatening, angry State of the Union address - in which he insisted that the American economy is doing better than ever, blamed inflation on 'corporate greed,' and warned that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the republic.

But in between the angry rhetoric, he also laid out his 2024 election platform - for which additional details will be released on March 11, when the White House sends its proposed budget to Congress.

To that end, Goldman Sachs' Alec Phillips and Tim Krupa have summarized the key points:

Taxes

While railing against billionaires (nothing new there), Biden repeated the claim that anyone making under $400,000 per year won't see an increase in their taxes.  He also proposed a 21% corporate minimum tax, up from 15% on book income outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% (which would promptly be passed along to consumers in the form of more inflation). Goldman notes that "Congress is unlikely to consider any of these proposals this year, they would only come into play in a second Biden term, if Democrats also won House and Senate majorities."

Biden also called on Congress to restore the pandemic-era child tax credit.

Immigration

Instead of simply passing a slew of border security Executive Orders like the Trump ones he shredded on day one, Biden repeated the lie that Congress 'needs to act' before he can (translation: send money to Ukraine or the US border will continue to be a sieve).

As immigration comes into even greater focus heading into the election, we continue to expect the Administration to tighten policy (e.g., immigration has surged 20pp the last 7 months to first place with 28% in Gallup’s “most important problem” survey). As such, we estimate the foreign-born contribution to monthly labor force growth will moderate from 110k/month in 2023 to around 70-90k/month in 2024. -GS

Ukraine

Biden, with House Speaker Mike Johnson doing his best impression of a bobble-head, urged Congress to pass additional assistance for Ukraine based entirely on the premise that Russia 'won't stop' there (and would what, trigger article 5 and WW3 no matter what?), despite the fact that Putin explicitly told Tucker Carlson he has no further ambitions, and in fact seeks a settlement.

As Goldman estimates, "While there is still a clear chance that such a deal could come together, for now there is no clear path forward for Ukraine aid in Congress."

China

Biden, forgetting about all the aggressive tariffs, suggested that Trump had been soft on China, and that he will stand up "against China's unfair economic practices" and "for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Healthcare

Lastly, Biden proposed to expand drug price negotiations to 50 additional drugs each year (an increase from 20 outlined in the IRA), which Goldman said would likely require bipartisan support "even if Democrats controlled Congress and the White House," as such policies would likely be ineligible for the budget "reconciliation" process which has been used in previous years to pass the IRA and other major fiscal party when Congressional margins are just too thin.

So there you have it. With no actual accomplishments to speak of, Biden can only attack Trump, lie, and make empty promises.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 18:00

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United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

Published

12 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

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United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

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"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program

The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.

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12 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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It's just been a few days since Target  (TGT)  launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan. 

The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.

Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers

And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs. 

This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter. 

Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier

Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper. 

It also undercut Amazon  (AMZN)  Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video). 

Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more. 

An employee at a Merida, Mexico, Walmart. (Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery. 

Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.

We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model? 

"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."

Walmart  (WMT)  clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up. 

Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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