Great for Students, but What About Staff? Hamber Teachers on FIT

GABE TUNG

With District 39 now four months into a year with the newly implemented semester system and the inclusion of FIT blocks, teachers have noted the various benefits and drawbacks of FIT for students. Ultimately however, staff say they have suffered due to the lack of consideration and guidance from the school board.

FIT, or Flexible Instructional Time, is a 50-minute period occurring twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Vancouver School Board wrote in a statement, posted on June 1, 2021, that FIT is “designed to support personalized student learning choice,” and further details “Students may participate in weekly classes, collaborate with peers, see individual teachers, or pursue learning activities that may fall outside of their scheduled classes.” 

Oftentimes during FIT, teachers have found students coming to their room, simply for a quiet place to work. They also noted students have been seeking out specific teachers, to ask for elaboration for schoolwork. “I also do appreciate the time to go over things in more detail with some students who may have missed a class and need some extra help,” one teacher shared. 

“FIT time fits really well with what I’m trying to do as a teacher for the students,” communicated Mr. A. Wightman (Social Studies). He attributed FIT’s apropos to his style of inquiry, project-based learning, as it “often requir[es] students to take their work to get assistance in research.”

It was explained by a teacher that in FIT “[they] can’t control who shows up”. Though this may seem obvious to those who have been working in the semester system for the preceding months, one teacher pointed out that some classes are packed during FIT time, while others are completely empty. The teacher shared that though “[there] could be all kinds of different reasons for [empty classrooms], it certainly raises the issue of workload equity.” They went on to say that those teachers who didn’t have students coming in were able to use the block to prep, mark, or do other work.

In addition to the possible workload inequities among teachers, a similar concern was present regarding the pupils. With Hamber’s students ranging from grade 8 to 12, the practices, volume of work, and mindset of each age group is far from uniform. Five years, in adolescence nonetheless, was noted as a sizable age gap. Teachers shared the implications this had on the efficacy and productivity of students’ FIT blocks. 

The consensus among teachers was that as grade level increased, FIT was progressively more beneficial, coming with students’ increased level of accountability. “I think as students get older, what you see is they’re able to manage their time differently,” disclosed one teacher. Another affirmed this, saying “I think there is more of an onus and more of a responsibility on the senior students.”

Mr. Wightman testified that “students need a little bit more guidance of how to take initiative on the uses of FIT,” a belief common amongst the teachers The Nest spoke to.

By far though, the most raised concern about FIT and the semester system as a whole was the lack of time for teachers, to assess, prepare, and take a break, but in particular to collaborate with their colleagues. Two teachers specifically mentioned “barely get[ting] time to pee” throughout the day. 

It was stated numerous times by those The Nest spoke to that the importance of collaboration among teachers should not be underscored. Ms. M. Poon (English & Studio Mini Program Coordinator) shared, “Innovation occurs when people bounce ideas off of each other. That’s why collaboration time is so important. For teachers, we might exchange ideas about teaching a specific topic or how to assess in a new way. Or sometimes, it’s a chance to put together special learning experiences, like Poetry in Voice and Grade 10 & 11 Oratoricals.”

“From a teaching perspective, [the current schedule] is detrimental to our ability to collaborate,” stated one teacher. Silent reading blocks and Hamber Instructional Planning (“HIP”) days, as well as the previous 15 minute break, were all times in which teachers had the opportunity to speak to each other and work together, both intradepartmentally and interdepartmentally.

For all its benefits, it was clearly communicated by teachers that the current semester system with FIT blocks is far from perfect. 

One teacher shared, “I think that if the Vancouver School Board wants to revise the schedule, so it is teacher and student friendly, they need to do a lot more consultation, and be prepared to accept and actually implement more of the suggestions that teachers and students would have to make it successful.” They then asked, rhetorically, “Because otherwise, why? What is the point?”

The necessity of increased consultation from the district was stressed by many of the staff members The Nest spoke to.