The majority of my understanding about online teaching and learning, K-12 online schools, and the school system in B.C. was formed throughout the MEd in Educational Technology program and during the process of working on this project. The research I completed initially helped me be a better online teacher, and over time, helped shine light on the deep cracks that exist in the K-12 online school model. In knowing the landscape better, I was able to improve my teaching practice and make recommendations for systems change. Reflecting on the thirty-two posts I have written for my blog, Sea to School, I am reminded of the many directions my inquiry has taken: looking back through history, forward toward future possibilities, and laterally across the complex landscape that shapes B.C.’s education system.
I have had an uncanny amount of joy that has come from diving into the sea of inquiry, and asking pointed questions to the right people, while working on my project. I likewise am energized when tracking down sources and reading journals and reports related to my topic. As I navigated this vast sea of inquiry, I remained conscious of my purpose, continually returning to the innovative ideas that guided my journey. I am deeply grateful to my professors for their guidance and support throughout the journey.
The research I conducted during my MEd program has significantly impacted both my personal growth and professional practice, as well as contributed to the broader field. When I started the MEd program, I was beginning my tenth year as a K-12 teacher and my second-year teaching at an online school. I was in my seventeenth year as a government employee for a large municipality. I chose the MEd in educational technology so that I could learn about online schools and be the best online teacher that I could be, while also being interested in government policy. In the year before my MEd program, I had been the main teacher at a new district level, K-12 online school. The first year was challenging, and I felt incompetent in my practice as an online teacher. I did not understand the school system that I was working in, the history of online schools, or the context of online schools in Canada. I had never studied or received training about how to teach online and was new to everything including how to operate a learning management system (LMS). I was doing my best to meet the needs of students, parents, and my school team, but operating blindly most of the time. I had no understanding of the special considerations that are needed when teaching online, right down to how to give meaningful feedback in the online context. Almost every aspect of teaching online was different than what I had experienced at brick-and-mortar schools, and I had a steep learning curve with many gaps in my personal teaching practice.
What immediately helped me during the MEd program, was gaining an understanding of some of the basic concepts of teaching online. I read studies from K-12 schools around the world and resonated with comments made by teachers that were quoted in these journal articles. I consumed the literature at a fast pace, finding answers to problems that I had. I learned in depth what other K-12 teachers did to give quality feedback online, and how to make the best of an asynchronous learning environment. In the first year of my MEd program, I had many “aha moments” and often applied what I was reading to my own teaching practice the next day. I felt like I finally had guidance where there was none before and I readily shared the learnings with my school team. I also had the opportunity of building a relationship with another teacher in the MEd program who taught K-12 online. We spent time learning from each other, shared our stories and struggles, and chose to do our first project together. Over the first year of the MEd program, I improved my personal online teaching practice to the point that I was satisfied, and I began to turn my focus broader to the K-12 education system in B.C.
The second half of the MEd program was spent considering the context of online schools in B.C., and learning about leadership in education, global practices in K-12 education, inclusion and exclusion in education in B.C., the mental health of youth in B.C., the B.C. School Act, as well as a number of policies and reports published by the province. I dug deep into a wide range of reports, manuals, procedure guides, policies, and more, that were applicable to the province of B.C. and thought deeply about both teachers and students. During the second half of the MEd program, I was also privileged to work with Valerie Irvine who shared her idea about an innovative school model. I shifted the focus of my final project away from online schools to find a solution to make this concept a reality. I ended up keeping a large focus on online schools in my final project because I am passionate about this topic and had learned a lot along the way. Valerie helped me consider the larger education system in B.C., and this shift led me to dive deeper into the context of online schools because I had to learn about all of the types of schools that exist in the province.
During the second half of the MEd program, I was on maternity leave and not actively teaching, which allowed me to step back from the day-to-day and consider the bigger picture of education in the province. A few months before the end of the program, I learned that I was bumped out of my position as an online teacher and cannot return to this role due to layoffs in the school district. What started as a journey to be the best online teacher that I could be two years ago has ended in an interesting place. I am no longer an online teacher, unless I seek out a new position in a different school district. I now ask myself, where am I headed? Thanks to the time that I spent considering the bigger picture of education, I am curious to go down the path of public administration and am moving over to start my graduate diploma in evaluation with the hopes of one day continuing on to the PhD program. I have learned that there is room for improvement in the education system in B.C., and am keen to both advocate for, and work towards, system improvements. I plan to mesh together my years of experience in municipal government and my years as a teacher to continue to focus on child rights in B.C., with a focus on education and child care. I am grateful to the MEd program for the challenges posed, and opportunities for personal growth through extending and expanding my knowledge. I am also grateful to the wide variety of professors who taught me over the past two years as each pushed me in a slightly different direction. The methods used by most of the professors who taught me were inspirational and gave a concrete example of what quality online teaching looks like. I am grateful for the community that was created in the MEd classroom that allowed me to learn alongside others who are in a similar position. I feel like the program came at just the right time for me and has helped light my career path forward.
Photo by Kylie Van Eaton.