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Perhaps no time has been noisier for public education than the past year or so. There have been persistent questions over whether students and teachers should learn together in a classroom, online or a mixture of both, and whether to wear face masks due to fears about the spread of the coronavirus. On top of this, a very vocal debate has persisted about what should be taught – with angry exchanges at school board meetings over issues such as critical race theory.
Beyond the noise, though, teachers are suffering. Many feel overwhelmed with the demands of teaching students who’ve fallen behind to varying degrees amid the pandemic. Education researchers Laura Wangsness Willemsen of Concordia University, Saint Paul and Elisheva L. Cohen of Indiana University shine a light on how some teachers are barely hanging on in a profession they say has become increasingly demanding because of COVID-19.
Also today:
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Joy Harrison, a second grade teacher in Oakland, California, helps a student.
Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Laura Wangsness Willemsen, Concordia University, Saint Paul; Elisheva L. Cohen, Indiana University
Halfway through the school year that was supposed to be a return to normal, teachers are barely hanging on.
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Politics + Society
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Cynthia Hooper, College of the Holy Cross
America is being ‘hysterical’ about Russian troop buildups near the Ukrainian border. That’s the official news in Russia, where citizens are getting government’s preferred view of the Ukraine crisis.
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Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
Since its independence 30 years ago, Ukraine has tried to balance its Western aspirations with its Russian past. Vladimir Putin is not ready to let go of the past without a possible invasion.
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Jason M. Blazakis, Middlebury
The US State Department rarely removes terrorist groups from its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list. Most terrorist groups, unlike the Colombian FARC, don’t want to put down their weapons.
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Environment + Energy
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Ryan E. Tompkins, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Susan Kocher, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
After another devastating wildfire year in the West, the Biden administration has a plan to ramp up forest thinning and prescribed burns. Two foresters explain why these projects are so important.
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Bart Elmore, The Ohio State University
Farmers are stuck in a chemical war against weeds, which have developed resistance to many widely used herbicides. Seed companies’ answer – using more varied herbicides – is causing new problems.
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Science + Technology
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Christian L'Orange, Colorado State University
The CDC’s updated mask guidelines say that cloth masks offer the least protection from COVID-19. Differences in the materials masks are made from and the ways they fit are the reason.
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Maggie Villiger, The Conversation
None of our authors can see the future, but many do have expertise that offers insights about what’s reasonable to expect.
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Ethics + Religion
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Natasha Mikles, Texas State University
A scholar conducted over 70 hours of interviews with people involved in the medical and funerary professions to understand the impact of changes in death rituals during the pandemic.
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Arts + Culture
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Riki Thompson, University of Washington
Some users say Bumble’s efforts to shake up the gender dynamics of dating fall flat.
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