Talk Description to Me

Episode 15 - Back to School!

October 03, 2020 Christine Malec and JJ Hunt Season 1 Episode 15
Talk Description to Me
Episode 15 - Back to School!
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

All around the world, kids, parents, and teachers are wading into the school year, figuring it out as it goes. In this episode, Christine and JJ tug at the old heart strings as they discuss the visuals of back to school resourcefulness and resilience. From socially distanced kids in schoolyard lines, to re-imagined desks and forest schools, we look at learning in the COVID present, and dig up photos of education during earlier pandemics and outbreaks to see how they did it “back in the day.”


Support the show
JJ Hunt:

Talk description to me with Christine Malec and JJ Hunt.

Christine Malec:

Hi, I'm Christine Malec.

JJ Hunt:

And I'm JJ Hunt. This is talk description to Me where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashtag in description rich conversations.

Christine Malec:

It's September, which means back to school for many kids, and because it's 2020, that has a really different look, feel and experience for everyone, parents, teachers, and kids. And so today we're going to talk about some of the visuals that have been coming from lots of different places and lots of different people about this topic. So JJ, what is back to school looking like this year?

JJ Hunt:

Yeah, it is a different year, you know, normally with back to school, you'd be seeing a lot of pictures that parents are posting of their kids standing in front of the house, you know, posing with their, in their first day of school clothes, and you know, what their backpacks on big smiles, and there'd be a lot of sharing of those kinds of images. And those kinds of images are still out there this year, they you know, but they just look a little bit different. So yeah, I what I did was I went on social media went on Twitter, and Instagram and Facebook, and I looked up the hashtags, back to school and back to school 2020, and things like that. And then I tried to, you know, get basic descriptions of the first handful of images and videos that came up over a series of days, so that I wasn't the one seeking out the images that I thought were, you know, that were fitting my narrative, I wanted to see what people actually were posting. So yeah, a lot of pictures of kids standing in front of their houses, but with their masks, or sometimes, the parents would post two pictures, one of the kids without their masks and one of the kids with their masks, and you know, lots of little sad face emojis, like, you know, not not the year we normally would have and, and there are also pictures that people are posting of their kids sitting in front of computers, in their bedrooms, you know, back to school, but they're only going to virtual school this year. So they're the back to school picture is them in their bedroom sitting at their computer, people of course, posting images of graphs that link COVID cases with school openings, and they're using the back to school hashtag for those as well. So like in my jurisdiction, this is how many COVID cases you know, this is how the COVID cases started to spike when schools opened be where America you know, or this is what it's like in this country. Look out it's coming here too. You know, a lot of that using that back to school hashtag. But then there were also like, happy means from parents. You know, like I saw one again, my kids are finally out of the house finally and it's like a little breakdancing. Amy Poehler from Parks and Rec as the you know, as a GIF.

Christine Malec:

I feel like the image of a kid in a mask would make me sad when I first heard about back to school images That's what I heard of his lines of kids socially distanced wearing masks and I got a white boy a little it'll grab a tissue because something about God was so sad to me. Um, is that a? Is that just me or does that conveyed in the images? What's the tone when you look at that?

JJ Hunt:

You know, it's it definitely is not just you there is a sadness to some of these pictures and you know, when they're when they're paired up like the the picture of the kids without their masks the picture of kids with their masks. I don't know what's which image is sadder because you kind of know the other ones coming right. There was one picture I saw three siblings. I think the this was a parent in Kentucky who was posting a picture of three siblings. And they're standing inside, they've all got their, their backpacks on, and they're all wearing fabric like homemade looking COVID masks, and one kid who's on the far right, young boy, I think holding his fist in the air is kind of smiling. You can see smiley eyes over the mask and he's, he's kind of pumping his fist in the air. And then the kid in the middle is that looks like the oldest. She's leaning forward with her arm. around her siblings, and, and she's smiling as well. But then the kid on the left is staring straight at the camera with this, this blank expression, maybe you might say it was a neutral expression. But you could read some anxiety in that expression, if you were so inclined, like, This kid is not looking forward to school, and there's some, there's some anxiety about the situation in a lot of these photos. So you see this in pictures that parents are taking of school yards, where there's a long lines of kids, and they're separated their distance, and each kid is holding their backpack, you know, on their back or over their shoulder or, you know, on the ground. And, and they've, they've got their masks on, and they're all standing straight ahead. And there's, there's a joylessness to this, these are kids that are getting together and talking and playing in the school school year, like you would expect on the first day of school. It's It's sad, it's distanced, it is affected and by the situation, and it's, you know, some people are doing that with a are meeting this challenge with a bit of humor, right, so I saw one picture, it was a photo of six kids all wrapped up in toilet paper, like head to toe, like mummys.

Christine Malec:

Oh!

JJ Hunt:

Totally wrapped up. And it was a you know, hashtag back to school. And then the tweet said, so this is why everyone has been panic buying the toilet roll. So there's like some of that. And then like, the images that people are taking of the schools themselves, I also find this really interesting. So from within the school system, people are like, teachers are taking pictures of their classrooms or their hallways, in schools, to show people because a lot of parents aren't allowed into schools, because they want to, you know, minimize the amount of interaction within the school ystem. So you can't go into th schools to see how they're set up. So teachers are posting images from within their schools And I saw one, it was it look l ke a cafeteria and it was like a fast food booth in a high school cafeteria, there were signs on the walls that said like, only one person per booth. And t en stickers on the bench seats do not sit here do not sit here o not sit here. And there s like one open spot, I saw t ere was one, one teacher in On ario here in Ontario who poste a picture of their class oom. And so the picture showe these shared tables, so you k ow, like rectangular table, and a chair at either end. o not side by side, but at eithe end of these rectangular table. And there's a strip of blue ape across the middle of the t ble like you shall not pass ou know. And then similar lines of blue tape all along the floor to indicate walking lanes and a eas that you are to stand in or sit in I'm guessing. And you k ow, this picture showed at least nine desks in this class oom with the little tiny chair at them. So there's a minim m of 18 kids in this class oom, likely more because, you k ow, we're not seeing every desk n the classroom. And this is th kind of classroom setting that hat teachers are having to set u for their kids. I saw one first grade teacher in Irving, Texas posted a picture of a you know, school desk, that in her class oom. And what she had done was p t little white plastic hooks and what looked like a like ittle fabric and mesh sleev s or pockets like you know, attached to the side of the d sk. And beside the desk is a lit le small green plastic bin at th at the you know on the floor the upper right of the desk. That's for books and headp ones. And this was because in mo t classrooms students aren' allowed to use common rooms like cloak rooms or coat rooms or lockers. So each stude t has to have at their desk, a place to hang their coat, a place to put their books or th ir headphones if they're doing you know, any kind of learn ng on computer or whate er. And in a place the pocke is so that you can put your ask in there. And teachers are g ing to all kinds of troub e to try and keep their kids eparate, right. Like I said, I've seen some pictures of hula oops being put on the lawn in th school. So each kid sits in a ula hoop or whatever I saw A tea her in Rhode Island posted a pho o of 25 rolled up yoga mats n black and gray leaning again t the side of a house. And on th ground. In this photo on the g ound or lower left is a piece of cardboard and are sitti g on the cardboard is a jar o white paint, a thin paint rush, and these yellow numbe stencils. And at the botto of each one of these 25 yoga ats all lined up, she has stenc lled painted on numbers one t 25, so that each student can h ve their own yoga mat when they ecide to take their class outsi e. Okay, kids, we're all going outside, grab your yoga mat.'m number 18. So the kid grabs number 18 take it outside that elineates their space gives them a comfortable place to si. Some of the teachers are and p rent volunteers are setti g up outdoor learning cente s and wood painting plywo d with whiteboard paint so that eachers and hanging them on th fence outside so teachers can d a bit of Whiteboard work outsi e and they're making homem de rain covers, and...

Christine Malec:

Yeah, let's talk about outdoor learning. This is very interesting. And there's some connections to, to outbreaks of disease in the past as well.

JJ Hunt:

Yeah, so this outdoor open air school movement has been, you know, picking up some steam. There are images that get passed around of, of things that teachers are doing now, but also, you know, images of historical photos, archival photos of different eras, where, you know, societies, in Europe, Canada, the US, and other places certainly have had to deal with outbreaks of things like tuberculosis, the Spanish Flu 1918. And so some of the things that were done to educate groups of kids then are being done again now. And the outdoor learning is, is a really interesting idea. So of course, this is the COVID that is spreads more quickly inside, if you are outside fresh air open air, you are much less likely to contract COVID. And so taking your classroom outside is a is a great idea. Back in the day, it was a little bit simpler. So a lot of the images of, of some of these classes in in Canada, the US and Europe, black and white photos of like a group of school kids sitting on tree stumps or on wooden benches, or on that picnic tables, a big long picnic tables. And they're often facing a teacher who is at a portable Blackboard. So like a blackboard on on wheels, that gets you know hauled outside. Or maybe the teacher is reading from a book. And maybe some of the kids have slates, their own individual, you know, Blackboard, or that maybe they have their own notebook and a pencil. I saw a one great image. This was a kind of a sepia toned image. So it's like kind of like a golden yellow quality to this. And all the boys in the picture are wearing knickers. So long socks and knickers. And the girls are dressed in dresses with lots of layers. And they have ribbons in their hair and about 25 kids. They're holding hands standing in a circle. It's like an action shots. So some of the kids are looks like they're maybe jumping and some of the kids are, you know, crouching low. So a bit of an action shot. And these are boys and girls of different ages from you know, if I had to guess I'd say something like five to maybe something like 13 and, and they're playing this game. And at first I thought that this was a photo in a taken in like an open courtyard in a park because it looked like it was a cement, like tiled cement, or maybe a brick floor. And there are some steel girders overhead that maybe would be used for awnings or something. And so, but then I noticed in the background of this photo, there are like a couple of peaked roofs in the background. That's odd. I looked at the caption, and it's children playing on a Boston rooftop in 1909. And so the school took the kids up onto the rooftop. And they were just like, like playing on the big flat open roof because that was a safe open air space for all these kids to play in. A bit of a different situation. Not one I was not when I was expecting

Christine Malec:

Expecting. Yeah.

JJ Hunt:

And lots of interesting photos two of Germany's pioneering Forest School for Sickly children. So this is what like one of the first attempts to teach kids outdoors and some great photos. from, from these forest schools where the kids are gathered around very rustic picnic tables, and this is from like the late 1800s. And so that the kids tend to be wearing like very heavy leather boots, and dresses with lots and lots and lots of layers. made because these are kids that are dressed to be outside all day long. And they're surrounded by tall trees. And they're all gathered at this picnic table reading by the dappled sunlight coming through the branches. I mean, it's it looks kind of idyllic when you see that. And then the versions that you see now, you know, I was going for as dropping my kids off first day of school, and, and in the school yard, all the teachers were trying to instruct their kids before they went inside. So all the kids had kind of gathered around a teacher. And the teachers had bull horns because they're trying to speak over the din of traffic that's going by and I talked to her like half a dozen teachers with bull horns trying to instruct their kids. I thought, yeah, the Forest School it's not. Ya.

Christine Malec:

What kind of images are you seeing from around the world about how other countries are tackling this situation?

JJ Hunt:

Well, there's tons of interesting pictures. And this is one of the great things about social media, you know, you look up a back to school photos, and you're gonna get back to school photos from everywhere, right. So I saw a couple pictures from Pakistan. One school, I believe, in goat ghotki Pakistan, and it's a government school, I believe it's a school for girls, at least everyone in this class is. It's a classroom full of girls, a small classroom with very high ceilings, open windows on one wall. And the walls themselves are whitewashed and covered in murals and really very, very tall. And the murals that have been painted on the walls are of what I believe the Urdu alphabet, and colors and days in English, and then some poems, both in English and in Urdu, and paintings of animals and things like that. And there are nine girls in this little classroom and they're all spaced out on wooden benches. So whereas Normally these benches, I would guess would hold like four or five kids. There's only one or two girls on each one of these wooden benches and all the kids are wearing Shalwar Kameez outfit. So these are like loose white pants, long sleeved, knee length tops in like a powder blue. They've got slits up the side. And, and they've all all the all these girls have white head scarves on and they all have surgical masks on most in white, a few and pale blue. And they're all sitting at their desks, you know, with their books, and they're all looking at the person taking the picture. So they're all looking at us in this photograph. I saw some pictures posted from the UK where kids are sitting at distance desks, you know. So their classrooms are set up so that all their desks are diff or distanced. And all the kids of course are wearing like matching sweaters are jumpers, like a school uniform, sweater jumper, whatever. But none of the kids in the photos that I saw in the UK, none of the kids were wearing masks and those images. And same with photos from Australia. I didn't see a lot of pictures from Australia. But not a lot of mask wearing in those either. I came across some pictures from Taiwan, where there are pictures of classrooms that look quite packed. So the classrooms aren't big but very packed with desks, sometimes like rows of four or five kids, and there were maybe four or five rows in the classroom. So like 16 to 25 kids in these classroom settings. And all of the kids are in masks. And each individual desk has been turned into a private cubby. So they have these like three sided bright yellow shields. And yes, similar to like if you I've seen these in my neighborhood, if I when I go to vote, sometimes you're you know, you go up to a thing. You've got this kind of little private cubby. And they're clearly uniform because I saw several pictures from different schools that parents and teachers had been posting. So I'm guessing that that this was a government initiative, every class got outfitted with these private cubbies, these bright yellow cubbies in Turin, Italy, I saw a photo of an outdoor classroom. This had three very long low desks spread out in a courtyard. And again, the kids are sitting at the ends of the desk. So they're not they're not sitting side by side and facing the teacher, they're sitting at the ends of the desk and then they all have to turn sideways to face the teacher who is at the front of this outdoor classroom classroom. And the teacher is wearing a mask and kind of reading an open picture book to these these little kids Ivory Coast I saw a picture from Ivory Coast that was posted in May, little girls in gingham dresses and sandals all standing in a row most with very short or tightly braided hair. And all of them are wearing masks. Some are wearing fabric masks that look kind of homemade Some are wearing surgical mask one of these little girls is wearing a dust mask that like a you might do if you're doing drywall or something like that. And then very well photographed image from Beijing. I think this was posted in early June kids in a in a cafeteria and so this is a looks like a big space very bright white tables white walls and one wall that's kind of on our right receding into the distance is lined with Windows sunlight pouring in through these windows. And the picture shows row after row after row of long white tables kind of receding into the distance. And of course the further away they get from us the more out of focus they are. And at each table, there's only one student seated and they are one behind the other behind the other behind the other one is perfect long row right along the edge of these windows. And they all have some version of their school uniform on some of sweaters on over top, it's like pale blue short sleeve shirt with like a red neck scarf. And the girl in the front is putting on or taking off I'm guessing Maybe her mask her surgical style mask and in front of each kid is a is a paper plate. And on top of the paper plate are like packages of prepackaged food like a little yogurt cup, and you know food and another little plastic container and fit like so there's something so organized this image and the masks and the prepackaged food and everyone is in a perfect row in this room that is likely otherwise empty. One thing they didn't talk about is of course the when politicians are giving their speeches like that we see this a lot in Ontario Doug Ford giving speeches about distance learning and and keeping kids safe in schools. And as he's giving his speech, so Doug Ford and his the leaders of the party stand spaced out, like you know, six feet apart only one person at the podium at a time everyone else is spaced out behind them. And and you know, Doug Ford, with his mask on or, you know, takes his mask off just to give a speech mask back on again, lots of social distancing when they're visiting schools. And then you think as soon as the kids get in there, they're packing the hallways like and then as soon as the cameras are off and the kids pack into those classrooms.

Christine Malec:

Humans are very resourceful, and it's so fascinating to hear about how everyone around the world is adapting to, to the situation. And, gosh, our hats off to the teachers and administrators who were flying by the seat of their pants and coming up with solutions. We hope you're loving the show. We really enjoy the challenge of putting together a new episode each week. To ensure that our efforts are worthwhile. We need to reach as many people as possible. That's where you can help spread the word. Maybe send a podcast link to three friends. post about the show on local listservs and Facebook groups. Perhaps tweet about a favorite episode and tag some followers you think might like it, or show your love by becoming a patron. The broader our reach, the longer we can stay Boyd and keep afloat. With your support. We'll be around for a long time. Thanks for listening and staying connected on social media. It's what makes this so rewarding for us to have feedback or suggestions of what you'd like to hear about. Here's how to get in touch with us. Our email address is top description to me@gmail.com. Our Facebook page is called talk description to me. Our website is talk description to me.com and you can follow us on Twitter at talk description.

Back to school Canada and US
Outdoor learning
Back to School around the world