What started out as a new job at an online school has turned into a deep exploration of a system I knew little about. The main reason I chose the Master of Education in Education Technology at UVIC was to give myself the time and resources to learn more about online schools and the system I was in. I was finding online teaching very challenging, and I blamed myself for a lack of knowledge and experience. Over the last two years, my understanding of the relationship between learning design, the needs of the learner vs. the system, plus the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities when engaging in digital learning has evolved. I no longer blame myself and see why teaching at an online school is difficult. The primary ideas and approaches that had the biggest impact on me were curriculum theory by Ted Aoki, online learning research, an exploration of data and reports specific to children in B.C., and change theory by Michael Fullan.

The school I work at was starting the first year of operations in 2022. I was the main teacher and had the biggest role, with a half-time (0.5 FTE) position. This was before Provincial resources, such as the Accountability and Quality Assurance Framework and Process, were created and operating the school was confusing for everyone. We had to collaborate as the four of us who worked at the school all shared one full-time (1.0 FTE) teaching position. That year, we had over 100 students enrolled. I cannot express how difficult it was to learn how to teach online for the first time and to also have such a wide breadth of students in 130 individual courses from grades K – 12.

We had no funding for an education assistant. It was during this time that I related most to the ideas of Ted Aoki, a curriculum scholar that I studied in the summer of 2024. One idea that Aoki explores is that “it is not computer technology that is dangerous; it is the essence of computer technology that is dangerous” (Aoki, 1993, p. 153). The idea that “the essence of computer technology reveals the real as “standing reserve,” and man, in the midst of it, becomes nothing but the orderer… but by so becoming, man tends to be forgetful of his own essence, no longer able to encounter himself authentically” (Aoki, 1993, p. 153). Working as an online teacher with more students than I could engage with made me feel like the “orderer” that Aoki writes about. I was more like a manager than a teacher, especially since most of the courses I taught were delivered through a LMS with standardized curriculum. I lost what I was passionate about and had little time to actually teach. I spent a considerable amount of my own time individualizing courses for students and writing thoughtful feedback. I found myself using a patchwork approach to fill in the space between curriculum-as-plan and the lived curriculum for each student. Aoki notes that “curriculum developers are often placed such that they are in a sense “condemned” to design for faceless teachers and students” (Aoki, 1993, p. 299). Given the critical teaching shortage in the Province and high student to teacher ratios in online schools, I can understand why the Ministry of Education would allow for a standardized curriculum to be used on a wide scale. According to the BC Teachers’ Federation, the average secondary online teacher was responsible for over 670 students in a 10-month period (BCTF, 2022). This differs from standard classrooms that have strict capacities and teacher to student ratios, such as the ratio of 1 to 22 in grades 1 to 3 classrooms (BCPSEA, 2022) (BCTF, 2022). The curriculum we used at my school was made by a company that created content for Canada and the USA to be delivered through a learning management system (LMS). Many aspects were automated, like grading quizzes, and this encouraged even less interaction with students.

I was influenced by Aoki’s thinking on the space between curriculum-as-plan and the lived curriculum, and I realized that I spent most of my time as a teacher at an online school navigating this space. I agree that the middle space is a “fertile place,” (Aoki, p. 299, 1993), as Aoki describes, and I am lucky to work in a school that allows for a lot of movement in here. I see now that the curriculum-as-plan and the lived curriculum are pressed up tightly for most teachers in online settings. There is no limit on the student-to-teacher ratio in online schools in B.C., and Aoki’s description of the space between curriculum-as-plan and the lived curriculum helps me see in a new way why teaching in these settings can be extra challenging. Teachers simply do not have time to get to know their students and deliver anything other than the LMS course, curriculum-as-plan, and cannot do better for their students. There is no room for ensuring that the curriculum and experience is meaningful and enriching to their lives. As a teacher, this inspired me to do whatever I could to build real relationships with as many students as possible and led to several projects focused on connecting with students on Zoom, in person, or on the phone. I made practical changes to my approach after learning about Aoki’s curriculum theories.

Another part of my research that had a huge impact on me, was what I learned about online learning, and what I explored in data and reports specific to children and youth in B.C. After reading about best practices in online learning, I see more issues than ever in terms of the needs of students who are learning in an online school in B.C. I see how the system is fragile and bound to fail many students. There is a high student to teacher ratio, and this alone means that meeting the individual needs of students is a challenge, especially when considering the mode of online learning that requires more and not less support. Students need to have a high degree of motivation and are required to exercise self-discipline in their learning behaviors more than in face-to-face settings (Johnson, 2023). Not all students have the motivation and self discipline to complete their courses making online learning difficult. Students who lack motivation are low achievers in general which makes online learning even harder (Johnson, 2023). Student motivation can be influenced by a teacher but not controlled (Sistek-Chandler, 2020). I feel inspired to write an article outlining my findings about online schools, and to share this publicly either to the district where I work or beyond. As educators, and leaders in education, we have the responsibility to question if we are meeting the needs of students and this sometimes includes questioning the system. I have started to question online schools for K-12 learners in B.C. Through my research, I have learned that the data on graduation rates for students in online schools is not publicly available. I want to advocate for more transparency around the effectiveness and success of this model. The popularity of online schools is steady in B.C. although decreasing in other parts of the country. Given that B.C. has 69 online schools with 75,823 students enrolled, or approximately 11% of the total number of students (Barbour & LaBonte, 2023), we need to look closely at how this experience is going for students and teachers. There are many great reports that I found about children in B.C. and it is clear to me that many professionals care about their wellbeing and that there are systems in place to make improvements.

In the future, as I start working on my practical project, I will continue to seek guidance about changing a school system through the lens of Michael Fullan and his work in Change Theory and Leadership. His ideas and practices helped form some of the theory aspect of my research and I see this being critical when I start work on my project. Fullan has practical advice on how to make change by using a seven core principles approach which are: a focus on motivation, capacity building with a focus on results, learning in context, changing context, a bias for reflective action, tri-level engagement, and persistence and flexibility in staying the course (Fullan, 2007). As Fullan notes when writing about using change theory as a force for school improvement, “if one’s theory of action does not motivate people to put in the effort, improvement is not possible” (Fullan, 2007, p. 43). As I move into trying to envision a real-life solution to the issues in the existing school system, these principles will act as a guiding light.

I am grateful that I spent the last two years exploring my identity as a teacher and looking critically at the system. I gained practical skills to improve my teaching online. Most importantly though, I have learned more about the bigger picture in B.C. and some of the challenges we have at a systematic level that impact teachers and students everyday. I hope to share what I have learned as it could lead to a larger shift that helps more students succeed.

References

Aoki, T. T. (1993). Curriculum in a New Key. The Collected Works of Ted T. Aoki.

Barbour, M., & LaBonte, R. (2023). State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada. Retrieved from https://k12sotn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/StateNation23.pdf

British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2023). Accountability and Quality Assurance Framework and Process. Retrieved from https://search.onlinelearningbc.com/sites/search.onlinelearningbc.com/files/pdf/OLBC_AQA.pdf

B.C. Teachers’ Federation. (2022). Disparity Within the Ranks Effects Teachers. Blog. January 6, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.bctf.ca/news-and-opportunities/newsdetails/2022/01/06/disparity-within-the- ranks-affects-students-and-teachers    

B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) and BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). (2022). Provincial Collective Agreement (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025). Retrieved from https://www.bctf.ca/docs/default-source/services-guidance/provincial-collective-agreement-2022_20254aa7ce568c65449f8ea5792651628efc.pdf?sfvrsn=bfc28a35_0

Fullan, M. (2007). Change Theory as a Force for School Improvement. In Burger, J., Webber, C., & P., Klinck (Eds.) Intelligent Leadership: Constructs for Thinking Education Leaders (pp. 27-40). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6022-9

Johnson, C. C., Walton, J. B., Strickler, L., & Elliott, J. B. (2023). Online Teaching in K-12 Education in the United States: A Systematic Review. Review of Educational Research, 93(3), 353–411. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543221105550

Sistek-Chandler, C.M. (2020). Exploring Online Learning Through Synchronous and Asynchronous Instructional Methods. Advances in Mobile and Distance Learning (AMDL) Book Series. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-1622-5

Photo by Kylie Van Eaton.