The pandemic and English learners

In the column I wrote last month as Communications Director, I delved into how students in special education at Gettysburg Area School District fared during the pandemic. To gain an understanding of what it was like for ELs , I spoke to Janet Hasis, who is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Gettysburg Area High School. She defines ESL as helping students who are learning a second language. The role of ESL staff is to help facilitate social and academic language in all content areas. Students in the EL program faced significant challenges and barriers that were fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. Some of these challenges were different from those who are already native English speakers.

Janet said she fundamentally believes that the pandemic helped all teachers, in general, understand even further the four domains of reading, writing, speaking and listening in relation to ELs. As ELs attended classes remotely, she said it was challenging to figure out how to engage students in a virtual environment especially when there are language barriers. ESL is often seen as a safe environment where students come and are able to authentically be themselves.

Being in a virtual classroom for anyone can feel intimidating. For ELs, it can be overwhelming being in an unfamiliar environment with other students who are native English speakers. Present in a classroom, ELs learn the skills and functions they need to not only succeed when it comes to mastering English but also how to interact with other students culturally and how to advocate for themselves. On Zoom, the barrier of self-advocating and learning becomes much more of a challenge.

Janet said students tend to be more cautious of their responses or their actions as they do not want to be seen as wrong in environments where they may not feel as comfortable talking. Together in an ESL classroom, students see that everyone is going through the same challenges and have many of the same barriers in common. Working through those challenges face-to-face is easier than virtually, but for Janet’s students, they persevered.

In the virtual environment, many EL families had to work together. High school students helped their siblings overcome the technical challenges and the barriers of learning a language while attending classes remotely. Janet said she was amazed at how quickly students were able to advocate for themselves and their families, looking beyond their own challenges to assist what other family members were experiencing and facing.

Janet said that the relationship between ESL teachers and students has always been strong.They help to advocate on behalf of the student for the student, whether that is to other teachers, counselors, etc. Given the need for enhanced communication during the pandemic, the relationship between the teachers and students instantly became more personable, Janet said. The students began to see teachers in a different light as teachers were also acclimating to the adaptations in a new virtual world. This gave students a front-row seat to strengthen their bonds and communication skills through self-advocacy and other means with their teachers.

The ESL classroom has always been a place where students can ask questions or bring their work to get some assistance that may be prompted as part of the language barrier. As a result of the pandemic and virtual learning, ELs are seeing more of the responsibility placed on them to figure out answers in ways where they would have been assisted otherwise. Janet said these are real-world lessons and challenges that cannot be taught in a classroom, and will better prepare the students for post-academic life.

In the virtual/hybrid environment, all students faced challenges associated with the pandemic. Janet said that many ELs, even teachers, saw this as an even playing field where everyone faced similar challenges and faced the uncharted water together. All students had to become acclimated with the unknown and how to manage time and overcome challenges learning both at home and in the classroom.

Accommodations and modifications must match for all students, Janet said, especially for ELs. She firmly believes that the district met the needs of all students regardless of barriers during this academic year. She said the needs of ELs are often highlighted in a way that positions them to stand apart from others. Teachers and staff sometimes feel uncomfortable or are unsure of how to accommodate all of their needs. Janet said that the pandemic brought to light that making changes, even small ones, can benefit all students that do not single out one particular group, but that the changes help all students succeed.

Janet said that the pandemic taught all of us to look at schools and education differently and through a different lens. For all of us, it opened up the opportunity for so many things, especially how to work as a team and solve problems. She said that even students are now looking at education differently.

In conclusion, Janet said that as tumultuous as the pandemic was, it opened up opportunities for change and gave our students an even better education. She concluded by saying that we thought we were preparing students for the real world before but as a result of the pandemic, the techniques and skills that we teach students are amplified to new ways we could never have imagined them before.

Andrew Robinson is a guest writer for the Education Task Force of the Gettysburg Democracy for America. Robinson is a graduate of Gettysburg Area High School and Shippensburg University. He was the Communications Coordinator for the Gettysburg Area School District from 2017 – 2021.