by Ayla Lawlor. Ayla is a researcher at Memorial University and collects data for the REAP project.
Photos courtesy of Ayla Lawlor.
As part of the REAP project, I have had the pleasure of observing grade 9 students as they discussed pandemic experiences to begin planning their film projects. An initial activity that I observed prompted students to think about the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, emotions and dialogue that they associate with the pandemic.
Difficulties talking about the pandemic
I noticed that students needed some assurance from their teachers to talk about their pandemic experiences, especially when they were being recorded. Some students giggled nervously while they spoke, while others spoke in short sentences with little detail until they were prompted with questions from their teachers.
From a chat with one teacher, it seems that students are not only reluctant to talk about the pandemic, but they are more reluctant to speak publicly in general, compared to students pre-pandemic. This is not surprising, given that, in the discussion, students mentioned the social isolation of the pandemic, with one student saying that “you lose a bit of yourself” when you are isolated from the people you would normally interact with in day to day life—especially friends.
With technology being more accessible than ever, students had access to various ways to communicate with their friends during the pandemic, like FaceTime and playing online games together, but some students say that, despite this, they missed face to face interactions.
Reflections on online learning experiences and social life during the pandemic
School and social life is strongly connected for students, and changes to schooling due to the pandemic increased social isolation. For these grade 9 students, pandemic lockdowns and online learning occurred when they were in elementary school.
A common thread across the groups was disengagement with online learning. Some students share that they left their cameras off, muted their mics, engaged in other activities during class, or even left the room altogether. It was clear from discussions that online learning did not allow students to have anywhere near the same social opportunities that they had in person.
The already difficult transition from elementary school to junior high school in grade 7 was made more difficult for these students because of the lack of socialization they had during the pandemic. On top of being in a new, larger school, students share that there were many boundaries in place when they returned to in-person learning that restricted their social freedom, such as not being allowed to mix with students from other classes and having to remain inside their classrooms for recess.
One group of students shared a positive aspect of these boundaries; the restrictions that forced students to stay with their same class all day caused them to grow closer as a class, and more quickly. They said that the following year, when restrictions were loosened, their homeroom class did not become close friends as quickly.
The good and the bad of home life during the pandemic
Unsurprisingly, family and home life were spoken about often, as most students spent lockdown inside their homes with their families.
For some students, this was a positive part of their pandemic experience. Some students reported that they enjoyed spending more time with their families and building relationships with family members who were typically home less frequently. Many students associated the lockdown with homemade food, such as baked goods and cultural foods.
For students with essential worker parents, the pandemic did not necessarily equate to more family time.
Increased family time was not always positive, either; instead some students felt more neutral or negative about it. Instead of homemade food, some students mention the taste of microwaved foods and report eating a lot of “junk food.”
I noticed that students were quick to share minor annoyances or humorous parts of being stuck at home, but sharing negative parts was not something that they were willing to do in front of their classmates. It seems that the family dynamics in each household play an important role in how students felt about the pandemic lockdowns.
What's next?
It is clear that the pandemic has had a lasting impact on students, and continues to affect them as they navigate the intricacies of adolescent life. Sharing the more vulnerable aspects of their pandemic life may be difficult to do in classroom discussions with their peers, but I hope that, through their films, they are able to give us a glimpse into these formative experiences.