In the first year of the pandemic, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board had 12,000 student registered in virtual school from kindergarten to Grade 8, and another 5,000 in high school. Last year, the grade categories changed. There were 2,300 registered in kindergarten to Grade 6 and 2,200 in Grade 7 through 12. This year, There are about 700 registered in kindergarten to Grade 6, and 800 in Grade 7 to Grade 12.

Whether these numbers remain stable is a big question, said superintendent Shawn Lehman. “We don’t know. Some of this pertains to COVID. Some parents felt it was much more beneficial and productive.”

He also can’t say if virtual schools will be a permanent fixture at the board. School boards have to apply every year to the province to keep the virtual schools open, and no one knows if the province will extend approvals next year.

Beyhan Farhadi, a teacher and researcher at the Institute for Research in Digital Literacies at 91��ɫ, has other concerns.

“On an individual level, you’ll be able to find students who are experiencing disappointment and harm in the public education system. But the system should respond to that harm. You want to get to the root cause of it,” she said.

Neuroscience is grappling with questions of how paying attention in an online environment is different from learning in-person. Farhadi also has reservations about how to determine the quality of a student’s work when a teacher can’t conduct in-person proctoring to ensure that the student is handing in their own work. Some homes are also just not appropriate as a full-day learning environment.

“The context of online learning matters a lot,” said Farhadi.

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James Stinson (PhD, University of Toronto) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Planetary Health & Education at 91��ɫ. His work explores intersections of social, cultural and ecological health and well-being, with a focus on Indigenous youth.

What are you currently researching?

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) Dr. Kate Tilleczek and the Young Lives Research Lab in the Faculty of Education and Dr. James Orbinski at the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research. 

One area of my current research is focused on youth and Planetary Health, which examines how human health and well-being is connected to the health of the non-human environment. I am currently the Principle Investigator (with Kate Tilleczek and James Orbinski as co-investigators) on two SSHRC-funded Partnership Grants focused on engaging Indigenous youth in Planetary Health research and action. Both projects have been designed as collaborative partnerships between 91��ɫ and the Bagida'waad Alliance, an Indigenous environmental organization formed by members of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in Ontario. 

Our SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant is focused on training Indigenous youth in digital video and film-making to document Indigenous conceptions of, and responses to, climate change on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. The goal is to use film and story-telling as methods to facilitate Indigenous Knowledge transfer between Elders and youth about the changing climate. We also want to promote broader awareness amongst policy-makers and the general public about how Indigenous peoples are experiencing and responding to climate change on the Saugeen Peninsula. 

The second project is funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant and is focused on promoting experiential education and land-based learning with Anishinaabe youth from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. We are currently developing a three-year land-based learning program which aims to support Indigenous youth in connecting to their traditional territory in ways that support their physical, psychological and cultural well-being, and that also supports stewardship and care of the non-human world. This project is aimed at generating knowledge about the importance of the land and environment to the health and well-being of Indigenous youth, but is also about promoting Planetary Health and well-being in a very practical way. 

What attracted you to this area of research?

After completing my PhD in anthropology, which focused on Indigenous-led conservation in Belize, Central America, I wanted to shift to a more engaged and decolonial mode of research that would be developed in a collaborative way with my research partners. I also wanted to ensure that the research I would be doing would be of interest to the people and communities I work with, and that it would have tangible benefits. As a settler Canadian, I also really wanted to pursue research that supported Indigenous Peoples here in Canada in the spirit of reconciliation. Indigenous Peoples are often those most impacted by environmental degradation and climate change, and are often on the front lines of efforts to address these issues. Given the history and ongoing reality of settler colonialism in Canada and elsewhere around the world, I want my work to support Indigenous Peoples in their efforts to promote a more just and sustainable world for future generations. 

How will your research have an impact on society? Why is your research important?

The research aims to generate useful knowledge with and for Indigenous youth about how they and their communities are experiencing climate change, and about the effectiveness of land-based learning as a way to promote youth-led Planetary Health research and action. Knowledge produced through the project will ideally be shared with academic and public audiences to promote greater awareness and understanding of these issues. More importantly however, these projects are designed to train Indigenous youth in useful and transferable skills such as digital media production, research methods and communication skills. The projects will also promote cultural revitalization and strengthen Indigenous identity through inter-generational knowledge exchange between Indigenous Elders and youth, and promote social and ecological health and well-being. 

What are some of the big issues that your research addresses?

The research addresses big issues such as the impact of colonialism and climate change on the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples, and their relation to the land and the non-human world. It also explores the potential of land-based experiential learning to promote the health and well-being of Indigenous youth and the health of the non-human world. 

What is the coolest thing about your research?

The coolest aspect of this research has been getting to work with and learn from my Indigenous partners and youth about the inspiring work they are doing to protect and care for the Earth. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to support them and learn from them through this research. It has also been really fun to work with smartphones, tablets and digital media as a research method, and to see youth empowered to share their stories. 

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