Interviews
As part of my research I was given the opportunity to interview three teachers from Norway, as well as two teachers from Ontario, Canada. My goal for these interviews was to compare how teachers in Ontario and Norway are able to respond to global events and issues in the classroom, with particular focus on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Based on my practicum experience and conversations with my project supervisor, my assumption was that the experience of teaching during this crisis would be very different for Norwegian and Ontarian teachers. My questions for the teachers focused on how students typically react to global events/issues, what questions they ask about the Russian/Ukrainian crisis, and what strategies teachers use to respond to student concerns.
The teachers I interviewed were (Note: the following names are pseudonyms):
Peter, an eighth grade teacher from Norway
Anna, a 9th grade teacher of English, social studies, and German from Norway
Roger, a 9th and 10th grade social studies teacher from Norway
Sarah, an 11th grade World Religions teacher from Ontario
Mark, a 5th and 6th grade teacher from Ontario
I organized my findings from the interviews based on two main themes that recurred throughout the interviews - student interest and critical source evaluation. I also included a section on advice from the teachers interviewed.
Student Interest
I was initially curious about how interest in the Russia/Ukraine conflict compared between Norwegian and Canadian students. I asked the teachers interviewed what kind of questions were being asked by students in their classroom. Peter said his students wondered about potential risks, such as what will happen in Norway, or the potential use of nuclear weapons. Roger also said students were initially concerned about the risk of war. Anna said that her students have questions about the refugee situation, specifically wondering if more refugees will come to Norway. Mark said his students were interested in learning the factual information about the conflict, but were also interested in what they could personally do to help. Sarah said her students' interests are varied - for instance, while some are interested in the political side of the issue, others may be interested in some of the geographical contexts.
I also asked the teachers how often they talk about the conflict in their classroom. My assumption was that with the situation seemingly growing more dangerous every day, it would be a constant topic of interest in the classroom. While Peter said he talks about it in his classroom everyday, Roger said he spoke about it mostly on two occasions, in which the class took a deeper look at the conflict, it's perspectives, it's consequences, etc. Anna said her students were more concerned within the first week back from their school break, but are now more preoccupied with the latest football match. Mark also felt that while the students are still relatively interested in the conflict, he has noticed their interest waning, but this seems to be conducive to the amount of coverage the conflict is getting in the news. Sarah, on the other hand, felt that her students have become more interested in the conflict over time as through their in-depth class discussions.
Critical Source Evaluation
A question I had for my interviewees was how they teach students to evaluate the validity and reliability of their sources. Unsurprisingly, all the Norwegian teachers said that their students' mains source of information about the conflict is TikTok. Peter and Roger also noted that their students do not often use televised news or newspapers to find information; Anna felt that some of her students watched the news and talked about the conflict at home, but not all of them. It seemed very important to the Norwegian teachers that their students are learning how to be critical of the information presented to them online, especially through TikTok, an app on which anyone can say anything regardless of it's validity.
Mark, on the other hand, did not feel that students in his class are getting information about Ukraine from TikTok. This could mainly be due to proximity, as TikTok filters content based on the viewers' location. In terms of source evaluation, he says he encourages his students to do their own research and not form their opinion on a topic based only on what their parents or friends have to say about it. However, at the 5/6 level, he says he gives students sources rather than encouraging them to seek out their own sources on Ukraine, so that he knows the information they are getting is accurate and reliable. Anna discussed a strategy for source evaluation in which students compare sources in order to be able to recognize which are reliable. This involves comparing aspects of a source - titles, headings, video clips, etc. - and discussing with students what makes a source reliable, as well as how they can tell if a source is reliable. Overall, the emphasis teachers put on source evaluation seems to vary by grade, but also need; since the students in Norway seem to be getting more unfiltered information about the conflict, there is a more immediate need for Norwegian teachers to discuss information evaluation with their students.
Advice
I asked all the teachers interviewed what advice they would give to new teachers or pre-service teachers, like myself, on how to teach during times of global crisis. Peter recommended watching the news and reading newspapers in order to stay informed. He also once again emphasized the importance of teaching students to be critical of their sources, as students tend to pick up a lot of information that is not factual. Similarly, Roger recommended teaching students how to be critical of their sources, but also talking about perspective in the classroom, including the Russian perspective.
Anna emphasized the importance of staying informed and being open to answering student questions. She said it is important to be knowledgeable about the factual questions students may ask, even questions as simple as "Where is Ukraine?" She also said that it is okay to not have answers to all the questions students will ask, as students do not expect you to have all the answers immediately, but be willing to hear the questions regardless. She also touched on the importance of checking in with students that the crisis might be triggering for, such as refugee students. She recommended "knowing" your students, and thus understanding when these conversations should be had.
Mark recommended that when these issues arise, start with a question period - ask how many students have heard about the issue, ask what they know about it, listen to them and don't interrupt them during this time. He also recommended emphasizing to the students that their curiosity is important, but in order to from an opinion on the issue, they need to research and understand the facts.
He also suggested reviewing the sources you plan on using before working them into a lesson. He named CBC Kids as a good resource for looking at current events, but he did say not all of the articles on the website are appropriate for all ages or audiences, due to both reading level and content. Just as Anna recommended knowing your students, Mark also recommended being aware of what content could upset specific students in your class.
Sarah recommended a strategy for dispelling some of the myths that students may have heard about the conflict. She talked about an activity in which students write down their questions/what they know about the issue on sticky notes. Students place their sticky notes on a board/chart paper, and the teacher leads a discussion on their ideas. She also suggested sorting their questions/ideas based on areas of interest - geography, politics, etc. - and having small groups research possible answers to some of the questions. Overall, she recommends starting with what the students know and letting their interests take the lead.