Vol. 13, Issue 1 - A Balancing Act by Hey, Teach! Magazine

Vol. 13, Issue 1 • FALL 2021

HEY, TEach! The Victoria College Education Magazine

A BALANCiNG ACT CREATING EQUITY & EQUILIBRIUM IN EDUCATION

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS AND WE'RE BACK... Kind of! The last few academic years have been a roller coaster of ?unprecedented times?, ?Zoom University?, and figuring out how to navigate public transit again. The hybrid world that we now operate in brings a number of questions: How do you engage with in-person classes in contrast with online classes? How do you take care of your mental health in different types of classrooms? Simply put, how do we move towards restoring our ?normal?lives within education? This issue of Hey, Teach! asks all of these questions and more. Once again, everyone is on the same page of attempting to understand the fall semester and its impact on the rest of the academic year. Will the second time be the charm? ?A Balancing Act: Creating Equity & Equilibrium in Education? is just a snapshot of how it feels to find balance in our current world. Our many contributors brought multiple perspectives through their opinion articles, research, and amazing art pieces. Emma May uses poetry to consider how social constructs limiting potential affect us. Madeline Szabo asks their wise cat, Persimmon, how they are going to manage the school year in a prosaic interview. John Le Fay allows us to explore the differences between ?can?and ?should?, reminding us that to approach a successful school year, we must begin with being mindful of our mental health. In our feature piece, ?Language Transfer, the Thinking Method, and University Learning?, Jevan Konyar explores how teaching another language is an undertaking that requires not only practice, but calculated pedagogy to ensure student interactivity and engagement. By analyzing how scaffolding lessons build up to success, Jevan reflects on the method presented by Mihalis?program ?Language Transfer? and how its prioritization of the student?s position, not the language, makes all the difference. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone involved in creating ?A Balancing Act?. Being held up by an amazing group of undergraduates, graduates, and U of T alumni in this hybrid space never ceased to amaze us through every step of the process. Thank you so much to our contributors for bringing their talents to us; regardless of the subject matter, we could see the time and effort put into each submission. You spoke to innovative and original topics and highlighted how they require balance to bring benefits to others. That is the beauty of Hey, Teach! and education as a whole: learning something new. An enormous thank you also goes out to our Editing Team, Productions Team, First-Year Representatives, Features and Interviews Writer, and Social Media Representative! Your hard work brings the ultimate reading experience, with the highest quality being your collective goal. To our readers, thank you for picking up or virtually flipping through this issue. Your support is invaluable, and you remind us that education is something that requires effort, care, and balance. Happy reading and stay safe! Imani King and Bisman Kaur Editors-in-Chief Cait lyn Gr ant Editor-in-Chief Mentee

BISMAN KAUR

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

IMANI KING

CAITLYN GRANT

Edit or s-in-Chief Imani King Bisman Kaur Edit or -in-Chief Ment ee Caitlyn Grant

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1-2

Letter from the Editors & Table of Contents

3-4

Meet Your Contributors

5-6

Twists & Turns ? Emma May

7-8

Balancing a Hybrid Classroom ? Julia Pape

9-10

When Theatre Goes Digital ? Emily Hand

11-12

The Masked Normal ? Bisman Kaur

Senior Edit or s Yiannie Lin Julia Hu Anisha Huq

13-14

The Can/ Should Conundrum ? John Le Fay

15-16

Balancing Mental Health and Schooling During the Pandemic ? Yu Zheng

Public Relat ions Manager Jaemin Hwang

17-18

Gender Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis ? Vanessa Passalacqua

Feat ur es and Int er views Coor dinat or Jevan Konyar

19-22

Fir st -Year Repr esent at ives Jenny Ho Cecilia Xie Victoria Bortolussi

FEATURE ARTICLE: Language Transfer, the Thinking Method, and University Learning ? Jevan Konyar

23-24

Inclusive Language in Combinatorics ? Samer Sarej

25-26

Who Will Meet Us Where We Stand & Mangos at Midnight ? Alayna Jang

27-28

Flood ? Angelica Hu

29-30

Life-School Balance! ? Felicitas Damiano

31-32

Finding Ourselves by Finding Balance ? Madeline Szabo

33-34

The Tension Between Having Responsibilities and Having Fun ? Lois Lee

35-36

Junior Pr oduct ions Team Mojan Majid Cheryl Lee Trishla Parekh

Juggling, Except with Spiked Balls on a Tightrope with No Safety Net and Everything?s on Fire ? Caitlyn Grant

37-38

Teach Talks: Interview with Professor Julia Forgie ? Cecilia Xie, Jenny Ho, Victoria Bortolussi

Any questionsregarding articlesfound in this issue can be addressed to the Editors-in-Chief heyteach@utoronto.ca

39-42

Final Thoughts from the Executive Team

Senior Pr oduct ions Manager s Rachel Banh Derek Choi Associat e Pr oduct ions Manager s Kayla Paciocco Kelly Liu Mahathi Gandhamaneni

Junior Edit or s Mojan Majid Cheryl Lee Zetong Zhu Hannah Kim-Cragg Michela McMurrich Sana Zahra Adsaya Anpalagan Beverley Kwok Jevan Konyar Kelly Liu Madeline Szabo Tasneem Choudhury Trevor Bell Vincent Quach

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

meet y o u r c o n t r ibu t o r s w h a t i s y o u r i d ea o f eq u i t y w h en t ea c h i n g i n y o u r f i el d ?

i s w a t er w et ?

Samer Ser aj: My idea of equity in mathematical education is that students should be evaluated on the basis of competence. Since math is an exact science with little subjectivity, this is usually not difficult to achieve; a mathematical proof or computation is either correct or incorrect. Unfortunately, bias and discrimination can exist with regard to admissions and the distribution of opportunities. As a result, equalizing policies such as affirmative action and quotas across protected characteristics may be necessary to some extent. I lack the nuanced expertise to elaborate on the exact extent.

Madelin Szabo: My idea of equity in teaching, in a perfect world is everyone getting the tools and attention they need to succeed. Sometimes I think this means eliminating needless standards. There is an interesting Alternative School in Toronto that does not have grade levels but let's kids learn to read as they feel ready. This is more equitable for kids who struggle with reading and kids who may be ahead in reading.

Felicit as Damiano: Equity when teaching in my field is simple: ensuring that every student is accommodated, supported, and provided with what they need to succeed.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Julia Pape: Water is not wet! It just makes things wet!

Madeline Szabo: Water is wet because it just has to be.

Bisman Kaur : Water is definitely wet! John Le Fay: Yes, water is wet assuming we have more than a single H2O molecule. Assuming we define wet as 'covered or soaked with water or another liquid' (Merriam Webster), definitionally, a water molecule is wet if it is with others of its kind, even if it is in a solid or gaseous state.

Emma May: Water itself is not wet, it makes things wet.

w h a t 's y o u r w o r s t n ig h t ma r e o n a sc h o o l d a y ?

d o y o u p r ef er w r i t i n g n o t es o n p a p er o r d i g i t a l l y ?

Julia Pape: Finding out there was an

Julia Pape: I think I learn more if I write

assignment due that I forgot about. Or finding out that something awesome happened that you missed because of class, like a Britney Spears pop up performance at Museum station or something epic like that.

on paper but the convenience of digital notes is just unbeatable.

Samer Ser aj: Even years after graduation, I literally have nightmares about missing an exam.

Lois Lee: My worst nightmare on a school day would probably be the TTC breaking down, especially on the day of an evaluation. This has happened to me a few times before and it wasn't fun showing up to class late!

Bisman Kaur : My worst nightmare on a school day is forgetting that an assignment was due at the beginning of lecture. That anxiety is the reason why I add too much information to my Google Calendar!

Vanessa Passalacqua: My worst nightmare on a school day would be missing my morning alarm. I?m not a morning person, so this is a big fear of mine.

Emma May: Worst nightmare on a school day is being late to every class, tripping on my way in, failing all my essays of the day, and then getting locked out of my apartment.

Felicit as Damiano: I used to prefer writing notes on paper as I liked the freedom of using my handwriting and I could draw diagrams and doodle easier, but thanks to my new laptop, I'm able to write by hand digitally! That transferred me over to digital writing which I now do hybrid of typed and digital handwriting! I also prefer it for saving paper!

Lois Lee: I prefer to write my notes digitally! Personally, it's easier for me to keep up with material when I type things out and my notes always end up more organized this way.

Vanessa Passalacque: Definitely digitally! I used to write all of my notes on paper, but I feel so much more organized after switching to digital notes.

John Le Fay: Paper notes are superior in every way. Writing on a laptop is just not the same, and is much more expensive to burn in a large bonfire at the end of the semester.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Twists & Turns

EmmaMay SecondYear Engl ishMajor Fil mandDramaStudiesMinor

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

THE MAP IN FRONT OF HER was daunting; its twists and turns confusing even to its own creator. An attempt had been made to organize her winding thoughts but it served no purpose to her now. Tossing the map to the side and with a heavy sigh, she felt the weight of confusion continued to press down on her chest.

She had been so excited for this year. The announcement regarding in-person classes had brought a glimmer of hope and excitement to her relatively dull first year and arduous summer. But now, looking at the long list of in person vs online classes, reality hit her like a truck. There was no way she was going to keep them all straight in her head. Two were online for tutorials but had in person lectures, two were the opposite. One class became asynchronous, despite detailing in-person possibilities during registration, and one was ignoring the two-week online period U of T had suggested. It was all so confusing.

Should she stay on campus for both her online and in-person classes? Was there enough time to walk from her residence to the lecture hall? What was the weather going to be like this week, and the next, and the next? Would the lecture hall stay the same? Which libraries were still open and which ones were closed? How was it that there are more readings this year? Would it be rude to take an online tutorial in a library where others were trying to study? Is the on-campus WIFI really that reliable, especially outside? Should she take a scenic route or was she going to get lost? What room was that class in again? Why was her Professor changing the room for the third time?

Letting out another sigh of frustration, she collapsed onto her bed and smashed her face into a nearby pillow. Dual-delivery classes had seemed a bit like a dream ? getting to still have time to be at home, to do laundry, cook, and rest while also getting to commute to campus and finally experience what life was like pre-pandemic. She felt guilty for taking so much time to be upset about this; some students still were trapped in the online realm, more asynchronous than not. Some students were still trapped at home, not getting even a little bit of the college moving out experience.

One last sigh passed through her lips as she sat back up. No matter the twists and turns ? she still had to finish her physical map, she still had to do her work, and she still had to go to class.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

BALANCING A HYBRID CLASSROOM ALTHOUGH A YEAR OF Zoom University and Google High has made educators and students alike learn to detest their laptops, online learning has not ended for many students and teachers. I have been lucky enough to work within a high school English and Drama class this term, and despite only being present for a few weeks so far, I have already felt the struggle of a hybrid model. Having virtual and in-person students simultaneously poses unique challenges that we haven?t felt the need to even consider up to this point. While providing an online-learning option is a great step toward equitable access to education, it is important that we consider how we might make this access truly equal.

Julia Edda Pape Third Year English and French Language & Lit erat ure Major Educat ion & Societ y Minor

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Online learners tend to fall to the wayside in a hybrid classroom since educators are usually more comfortable with teaching in-person students. In-person students? engagement, enthusiasm, and understanding are also far easier to assess, making the teaching experience more fulfilling. On top of a general preference for teaching in-person students, it can simply be difficult to balance two different groups simultaneously, especially since each group might need different assignments, lesson plans, or scheduling. This challenge is extremely apparent in the Drama class I work with, where

online students have the extra work of recording, editing and uploading their performances. Since they need extra time for this additional effort, they are on a completely different assignment schedule than their in-person classmates. Additionally, since there is no way to assess their in-class participation or authentic theatre creation process, the marking schemes of their assignments are also altered. Managing these two distinct groups within a single class can seem utterly impossible.

As education students pursue placements and internships this year, I think we have a fantastic opportunity to provide support to our host teachers in engaging online learners. With our own experience as online learners still fresh in our minds, we are all familiar with what makes virtual learning such a challenge. We can empathize with these students and collaborate with our host teachers in supporting these students? particular needs. If you are currently working in a hybrid classroom, I challenge you

to make a conscious effort in prioritizing online learners, whether that be through leading a separate lesson with them, assigning a distance-learning project that caters to an online model, or just managing the Zoom call while the host teacher instructs. These small efforts can make a huge difference in making these students feel seen and hopefully giving them something closer to the education they deserve. The hybrid classroom model may be something we continue to see in classrooms for years to come. It has the potential to be a tremendous tool for accessibility, and an example of how technology can support equity in the classroom. But it?s not quite there yet. As future educators, we have the chance now to engage students in the present and to practice skills that may very well be necessary in years to come.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

w h en t h ea t r e g o es d ig it a l : Balancing the Joys and Tragedies of Hybrid Performance Training Emily Hand Thir d Year English and Theat r e Major

attainable for some subjects, is difficult in theatre. It lacks consistency and the opportunity to receive specific feedback from professors and peers. Finding balance between these two learning realms is an ongoing, complex affair; one that constantly juxtaposes the longing for consistency with the prospects of new alternatives in theatre practice.

LIKE MANY OF MY PEERS at the University of Toronto, I was ecstatic about the possibility of in person learning during the 2021-2022 academic year. However, when I entered my first performance class and was told that the acting portion of my training would be held online with voice and movement in person, I felt skeptical about how engaging this hybrid plan was going to be. Balancing online and in person classes, while

"Balancing online and in person classes lacks a sense of completeness."

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

This fluidity asks actors to reconcile the domains of online and physical spaces in order to create meaningful work.

As a performance student, balancing online and in person classes lacks a sense of completeness. Although acting from home gives a sense of comfort as it removes the pressure of always being watched by professors and peers, an important aspect of theatre is learning to be uncomfortable in a communal space where you can learn from and support each other. I was shocked at how non-verbal communication sparks between students during voice and movement classes, how we learn to speak with our eyes, body language, and the energy we give to and receive from each other. However, during online learning this spark seems to fade through the different mode of class delivery.

"Young actors must adapt to current art if we intend to continue our craft." Despite the limitations that hybrid performance training imposes, it still offers many opportunities and benefits to emerging artists. I have found new opportunities and comforts by using the area I have, and have managed to turn my tiny bedroom into a space where I can explore and create. Working on theatre from home has taught me to adapt my perspective and transform my personal space into a theatrical one.

Acting online and in person mirrors what theatre has become in the COVID-19 era, and what it may continue to look like in the future. Although I often reminisce about the past, I am also aware that young actors must adapt to current art if we intend to continue our craft after graduation.

With the rise of digital technology intersecting with performance, online acting training seems not only useful, but perhaps necessary. Students have adapted to find connections with each other via online platforms such as Facebook and Discord to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I enjoy reading discussions dissecting course materials or feelings on topics discussed in class. I still cannot fathom the joy and excitement of meeting my classmates in person for the very first time and speaking to them as if we were long term friends. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity considering that it is one that students did not have last year, and acknowledge that many still do not have this privilege. Although the tension of hybrid learning remains, and finding a balance between educational platforms is strenuous, it has not blocked student communication. Rather, I believe it has brought students closer together through balancing the shared experience of isolation alongside our first physical connection with others.

Image: Carl Graph via Flickr

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

t he m a s k ed n o r ma l : The Power of Masks in a Precarious Return to School

Bisman Kaur Fourth Year English Specialist and Mathematics Major THROUGHOUT THE PAST YEAR, I've noticed that many people view their masks with contempt. They?re definitely not ?anti-maskers? (no need to invoke the vicious protestors) but they await the day when they can rid themselves of the barrier protecting their health from an infectious virus. The face mask is a reminder of the pandemic that has turned the world upside down, a reminder of our fragile mortality, a reminder of the precarious state of the ordinary.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Rather than regarding the mask with resentment, I see it as an equalizer. The mask balances the scale between physical health and mental health by bringing us back to reality. Masks save lives, but they also help us enjoy life in a world overwhelmed by the pandemic. For me, the best part about the mask is that it acts as an all-access season pass to in-person education ? no ride at Canada's Wonderland could beat that.

Like countless others, my mental health suffered during online school. I woke up every morning without any sense of urgency, no longer motivated by the demands of train schedules. I struggled to stay engaged during online lectures, staring at rows upon rows of blank squares on Zoom. My only solace from the monotony of everyday life was masking up for a walk around my sleepy suburban neighbourhood, where I would reminisce about the busy streets of Toronto while nodding hello to others also enjoying their afternoon walks. Of course, it would always be a round trip ? it's a strange feeling when you're expected to be nowhere but your own home.

"Wearing a mask allows me to belong to the real world again." Now, my mask does more than accompany me on leisurely walks and grocery runs; it helps me experience the simple joys of pre-pandemic life in Toronto once again. My mask joins me on the train to Union, protecting me in a busy crowd of commuters. My mask follows me to the bookstore, where I can browse physical bookshelves instead of virtual ones. My mask guides me to the best bubble tea places on Spadina, and I pull my mask off outdoors to savour the first sweet sip. The strange novelty of wearing a mask allows me to belong to the real world again. The ordinary may take a new form in the present, but it?s a small price to pay for the long-awaited liberation from the four isolating walls of my bedroom. There?s a certain gratification in being expected and welcomed in places outside your own home.

The train station, bookstore, and bubble tea shop are all detours on the path to my main and much-anticipated destination: school. I sit in university classrooms where professors smile with their eyes, relieved to be back in a physical teaching environment. My glasses fog up while I write notes on Sidney, Auerbach, and Euclid, but it?s a vast improvement to my eyes glazing over during an asynchronous lecture video. I feel thankful towards my mask, for being a simple and effective safety measure that (combined with two vaccine doses!) can bring back some notion of normalcy. Masks help us prioritize in-person education while staying safe and healthy. To all those who wish to rid themselves of their masks sooner rather than later ? let's have them stick around a little while longer. They may have started off as uninvited guests, but they haven't overstayed their welcome just yet.

Image: Marco Verch via Flickr

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Ca n

T he

/ Sh

o uld Conu ndr um

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

John Le Fay Third Year Mathematics and Physics Specialist BALANCING SCHOOL AND mental well-being in the middle of a pandemic is difficult, there?s no doubt about it. We are each faced with daily choices about what we are going to do with our time, be it spending time with family and friends, or shutting ourselves in the basement of a library to get started on that one impossible assignment. As students, we often find ourselves thinking that while we should be studying or doing homework, we can push it off to later. In moderation, this mindset is fine. The odd bit of work might be left a little bit too late, but sooner or later, be it motivated by a deadline or a little bit too much free time, the can starts to fade and the should turns into a must. While it is certainly stressful to be writing an essay a day before it?s due, it's when we have nothing but should?s that our mental health really starts to suffer. I should call my mom, I should do that problem set, I should do those readings, I should start studying for that test. It is easy to feel trapped when everything is something that you should do, and there's nothing that you can do just because you want to. When there are too many things that need doing at once, every time you start on one task it feels like you are doing something wrong by ignoring the others. If everything is something that you should be doing, it feels like you have no choice in the matter, and as we all have experienced, being

told to do something takes all the fun out of it. It doesn't matter how much you might enjoy learning the materials in your course, being told to do a 50-page reading is decidedly not fun, right? So, as we can see, when you have nothing but things you should do, you can get stuck in a state of stress where you aren't even enjoying the tasks at hand. This in turn can lead to a complete lack of self-motivation, with stress and deadlines being the only reason you are getting anything done at all. If that doesn't sound like a recipe for poor mental health, I don?t know what does. So how can we avoid this? How can we escape the rut we find ourselves in when we are swamped with things that we should be doing? The answer is simple: make sure that there is always something else that you can do. Leave time so that you can take a break, find a book so that you can read something other than a dusty textbook for a change. Make sure that you can choose what you are doing, so that the choice is not forced on you by deadlines. Maintaining a healthy balance between things that you can be doing, and things that you should be doing is key. So, maybe you should start on that problem set you have been avoiding so that you can do something else later.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Balancing Mental Health and Schooling Dur ing the Pandemic: Int er nat ional S t udent s' P er cept ions AS AN OVERSEAS STUDENT MYSELF, I?ve been constantly thinking: is it the right choice for me to study abroad far away from my family, especially during these tough times? Lack of social support, changes in teaching methods, uncertainties about career paths, and stress-related to personal health are some of the biggest concerns for international students. It was shocking to see how the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected international students? mental health. A psychology study last year indicates that 84.7% of all 124 international student participants had moderate-to-high levels of perceived stress (Lai AY-k, 2020).

Yu Zheng Thir d Year

Management Specialist

When schools switched online last year, most international students chose to either go back to their home countries or stay in the same place as the school that they attended. Choosing to stay leaves international students especially vulnerable, as a recent study shows that international students who live far away from their family and close friends are at a higher risk of developing mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression (Zhai Y, 2021).

(Data Science Focus) Economics and Education Minor

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

For those who go back to their home countries, new problems can emerge. For instance, a Korean student said to me earlier this year, ?I?m already a second-year student, but I haven't been in a school classroom even once. It's so far from what I expected college life would be like, but I have no choice?. Although asynchronous lectures and time accommodations were provided

for some courses, time zone differences and technical issues disrupt students?learning routine, making it very hard to balance study and life. In addition, international students have more difficulties in accessing various campus resources, such as career centres, and academic resources such as workshops, because most campus events are scheduled based on local time in the institutional country, leading to separation from school and peers.

How can international students better cope with mental health and schooling? Here are several practical suggestions. To begin, create a flexible schedule and manage your time wisely. Online learning and time zone differences create more uncertainties, and therefore it is crucial to set reasonable weekly goals on assignments, projects, and papers, but don?t push yourself too hard. Second, stay in touch with family and friends whether via virtual chats or in-person interaction. Many studies have found that connecting with people in your social network helps alleviate stress and loneliness. Sharing your feelings and concerns could also benefit mental health. Last but not the least, try to maintain a sense of hope and positive thinking. It?s a tough time for everyone, but we could still choose to have an optimistic attitude and find thepositive side of the current situation.

Aside from quizzes, tests, and GPA, our mental health is as important as schooling. I would like to conclude with my favourite quote by Dr. Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist: ?try to create your own certainty by making healthy choices and commitments that off-set the upheaval in the world around you?.

R ef er ences Alam MD, Lu J, Ni L, Hu S and Xu Y (2021) Psychological Outcomes and Associated Factors Among the International Students Living in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Psychiatry 12:707342. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyt.2021.707342

Lai AY-k, Lee L, Wang M-p, Feng Y, Lai TT-k, Ho L-m, Lam VS-f, Ip MS-m and Lam T-h (2020) Mental Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on International University Students, Related Stressors, and Coping Strategies. Front. Psychiatry 11:584240. doi: 10.3389/ fpsyt.2020.584240

Wright, C. H. (2020, March 20). Defence Team Mental Health and Coping during COVID-19. Retrieved from Government of Canada: https:/ / www.canada.ca/ en/ department-national-defence/ maple-leaf/ defence/ 2020/ 03/ mental-health-covid-19.html Zhai Y, Du X. Mental health care for international Chinese students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry. (2020) 7:e22. doi: 10.1016/ S2215-0366(20)30089-4

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

GENDER DIFFERENCES

IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER DIAGNOSIS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms appearing throughout childhood. ASD has become increasingly prevalent within recent years, with 1 in every 66 children receiving an ASD diagnosis (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The average age of diagnosis is over four years of age (Harrop et al., 2020). Although the prevalence rates and average age of diagnosis are used to represent the entire population, these rates are drastically different when comparing the female and male

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

populations. There is a major difference in the age of diagnosis with males being diagnosed just under four years of age and females being diagnosed on average 1.8 years later. Currently, researchers believe that the ASD rate between females and males is actually closer than the 4:1 ratio, but there are multiple factors impacting these rates. Some of these factors include; method of diagnosis, typical female experience with ASD, expressed symptoms, masking or camouflaging, misdiagnosis based on comorbidities, under-diagnosis, and the current

populations used in ASD research. All of these factors influence the disproportionate rate of male to female ASD diagnosis, which in turn affects females' access to appropriate education. The DSM-5 uses male-stereotyped symptoms for ASD diagnosis, which is not suitable for females because they present their symptoms differently than males (Suckle, 2020). One area where these symptoms can differ is in the social domain. When females do have differences in social interactions they typically do not engage socially with large groups and can have a difficult time maintaining social relationships with peers. Autistic females can also demonstrate difficulties with understanding power dynamics which can cause them to be subjected to bullying and potentially being taken advantage of in certain social interactions (Suckle, 2020). In order to prevent this disequilibrium within social interactions with peers and lack of access to appropriate education, changes need to be made to the diagnostic criteria. There should be sex-sensitive screening in place, even before diagnosis occurs, in order to reduce the amount of time it would take to diagnose a female with ASD. Social differences and restricted, repetitive behaviours are two of the main diagnostic categories for ASD, and the described symptoms associated with these categories do not always align with the experienced and expressed symptoms of autistic females. Early intervention is known to have a significant benefit on students, therefore, it is crucial that the opportunity to receive early intervention is made equal for both males and females with ASD. Parents, teachers, and other professionals need to be aware of these potential differences in male and female expression of ASD symptoms in order to provide early interventions and appropriate educational strategies to allow autistic females an equal opportunity to succeed. As changes are made, the ratio between male to female ASD can decrease, females will be diagnosed earlier in life, and they will have equal access to earlier interventions.

Refer ences American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013. Bargiela, S., Steward, R., & Mandy, W. (2016). The experiences of late-diagnosed women with autism spectrum conditions: an investigation of the female autism phenotype. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(10), 3281-3294. doi:10.1007/ s10803-016-2872-8 Harrop, C., Libsack, E., Bernier, R., Dapretto, M., Jack, A., Mcpartland, J. C., . . . Pelphrey, K. (2020). Do biological sex and early developmental milestones predict the age of first concerns and eventual diagnosis in autism spectrum disorder? Autism Research, 14(1), 156-168. doi:10.1002/ aur.2446 Suckle, E. K. (2020). DSM-5 and challenges to female autism identification. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51(2), 754-759. doi:10.1007/ s10803-020-04574-5

VANESSA PASSALACQUA FIRST YEAR MA- CSE PROGRAM

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

L anguage T ransf er, t he

T hink ing M et hod, and

Universit y L earning| J evan Konyar Feat ures and Inter view s Coord inat or

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

" HELLO AND WELCOME TO COMPLETE..." are the opening lines of any given Language Transfer course. It?s remarkable that anybody can repeat the same opening lines eight times over (in English alone) with the same enthusiasm, but it?s something a listener comes to understand after spending some time with Mihalis, the man behind Language Transfer and a voice anybody who has used his lessons will recognize fondly. My experience with Language Transfer started during the application process for university, when it struck me that I was worryingly inept when it came to language learning. I found that I couldn?t retain much using traditional methods and spoke robotically in the languages I was learning, using memorized templates rather than actually figuring out what I wanted to say. When I stumbled across the Language Transfer app while looking for yet another memorization app to add to my collection, I intended to use it as revision material - something I?d do on the side after lessons. To my surprise, it soon became the core material I used for multiple languages. Language Transfer relies on what Mihalis describes as the ?Thinking Method?, an alternative to traditional approaches to language teaching. According to Mihalis, the system was originally devised around 2011 as a means to bridge the gap between the Turkish and Greek citizens of his native Cyprus, helping them learn more easily the others? language and form connections. He has used it to teach English across Latin America, travels around Europe guiding workshops, and recently produced a commissioned course in Swahili. It relies on ten key elements outlined in his Guidebook.

One:

Gett ing inside t he st udent ?s ?m ental

t heatre?

A teacher has to understand the student, not put themselves in their shoes. Essentially, they must assume no prior knowledge on behalf of the student, and write courses with full awareness that the student does not know what they know. This sounds elementary, but the thinking method approaches this in a novel way: throughout Mihalis? courses, for instance, there?s an intentional lack of technical vocabulary (in Complete Greek, he manages to only use the word ?case? once). He isn?t insulting the student?s intelligence, he?s making the course more universally accessible, cutting back on the brainpower a student wastes on understanding the teacher rather than the material.

Tw o: Taking t hing s one t houg ht

at a t im e

The thinking method covers structures generally before diving into their irregularities. There?s an obviously relaxed pace to Mihalis? lessons, his system relies on introducing things slowly and straightforwardly. This may sound simple, but it?s really quite tricky to achieve: According to Mihalis in his guidebook, it took him a failed attempt at writing a Spanish course to realize he had to introduce infinitives. It?s such a minute detail, something most teachers and students alike take for granted, but going over stuff like this is crucial to making a course more penetrable and less intense for students.

Three:

Using cont our s of d ifficult y, not

g rad ient s There seems to be an implicit belief that the more a student learns, the more their capacity to learn grows. While obviously prerequisite knowledge in

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

any area opens the doors to more advanced studies, it would be misguided to assume, especially in language teaching, that perpetually more intense studies are sustainable. Mihalis refers to this phenomenon of unending intensification as a ?difficulty gradient?, and offers the use of difficulty contours as an alternative. This means buffering more taxing work with less taking work, balancing the toughness of a lesson and course to fend off exhaustion.

Four : Im p or t ing

knowled g e, connect ing t o w hat t he st udent alread y know s The term ?language transfer? generally refers to details a learner or speaker of multiple languages carries over from one into another. It plays an important role in the language lessons given via Language Transfer and the thinking method behind them (who would've guessed?). New material is always introduced with a connection to the instruction language (in this case, English). To pull an example from the Spanish course, Mihalis introduces the verb ?deber?by explaining the Latin origins of the English ?debt?, or at another point he introduces the predicate ?con? with reference to compound words in English that begin with ?con-? or ?com-?. With the thinking method, teaching new material involves connecting to old knowledge.

Five: Using

refrain

A teacher has the power to present a target language however they want; ideally, they should aim to present it as simply as possible. I think Mihalis refers to this as ?refrain? because there?s always the temptation to take students on a tangent. Personally, I?ve never had a language teacher unwilling to go off-track and passionately detail an irregularity irrelevant to the lesson. As far as the thinking method is concerned, lessons

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

should be as simple as a teacher can make them, and these possibly confusing off-roads should be saved for when they can be smoothly worked into a lesson.

Six: Weaving

in new infor m at ion

After reading rule five, you should be asking the question: ?when do we introduce nuances?? The answer: whenever they are relevant. There?s often a tendency in language lessons, though noticeably less so in recent years, to introduce information in chunks of related bits. For instance, a teacher might begin a class by introducing all of a language?s simple present tense verb conjugations, or a vocab sheet might consist of a list of colours, numbers, or countries. The thinking method does not do this, one might actually find it quite difficult to imagine how it would while abiding by all its other rules. Information is introduced as it becomes necessary for the increasingly complex constructions taught.

Seven: Masking

repet it ion

The most frustrating, disheartening, disillusioning, annoying, unbearable, dull, tiresome, monotonous, irksome, dry thing I can imagine is memorizing grammar via repetition (though my feelings about it might be more intense than others?). Part of what makes Language Transfer so appealing in my experience is its apparent lack of repetition - note, ?apparent?. Repetition is necessary to any learning process, but the thinking method gets around the exhausting blandness of it by hiding it: things are repeated in different contexts, or different ways in the same context. Mihalis never asks a student to repeat something.

Eig ht : Cueing Obviously there?s a difficulty for students in adapting to such a different approach to language learning. Cueing and consistently being frank about what a student is supposed to do, is crucial. A teacher has to cue a student away from habits that don?t work with the method, like memorizing with mnemonics, repeating to memorize, or simplifying further than taught. More importantly than this, a teacher has to cue students to focus on what they?re doing, not the instructions given.

Nine: Taking ad vantag e of m istakes First, understand that one of the most fundamental elements of the thinking method is that a teacher doesn?t need to fret over the minor errors. If a student makes a mistake in both pronunciation and grammar at the same time, the latter is obviously more important, and the former can be ignored for a while. Now, the most important thing to remember in correcting is prompting self-correction. This manner of teaching is much less demotivating than traditional correction. The aim must be pushing a student to reflect on their mistake until they?ve figured out on their own where they went wrong.

Ten: Prod ucing

consciousness

We often get stuck in our languages. It?s natural, when doing a course in a given language, ordering coffee in a given language, and complaining about how busy you are in a given language, to think of that language as less of a language and more of a standard thing that people communicate with. In the thinking method, the student has to become aware that their language is just one of many modes for transcribing thought. Once students have realized this, and become conscious of just

how they use the language they do everyday, it?s easier to introduce them to another language, now just another vehicle to transcribe the very same thoughts. Something really crucial to note about the thinking method is that it doesn?t aim for fluency, it aims to provide the groundwork for it. This isn?t comprehensive language immersion, this is a new way of providing a starter kit, one that makes fluency easier later on.

Now comes the non-issue of applying this in a university setting. As demonstrated by Mihalis? Language Transfer app - which contains full recordings of lessons given in person - this model works surprisingly well in a digital framework. It?s no stretch to imagine a professor throwing together a course composed of about a hundred 5 to 10 minute modules over the summer and posting them for students, it would arguably be a less time consuming system for teachers more than anybody else. I feel however that there?s an issue in regards to curriculum, or rather the difficulty in holding to one. The less linear format of the thinking method and malleable pace makes it hard to cram the demands of a typical semester of language learning into it, not to mention that there?s no precedent for how ad hoc changes during the session might affect the flow of a thinking method based course. Despite these challenges, I think the thinking method has potential in institutional academic settings. It?s managed to help me (somebody utterly helpless) succeed outside the lecture hall, and I would argue that the shortcomings that might show themselves in class are minor. Something akin to what?s done with Language Transfer would make an excellent addition to a university?s repertoire of teaching material.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Inclusive Language in Combinatorics SOMETIMES, SOCIAL ASSUMPTIONS ARE embedded in the wordings of mathematical problems, and other times they are skirted by skillful phrasing. While most mathematical theorems are about abstract structures, problems in combinatorics often find interpretations in fictional social scenarios, creating opportunity for prejudiced or noninclusive language. In this article, we will look at examples of both kinds of writing, along with suggestions to educators for improving the inclusivity of their communication.

Samer Seraj Alumnus MathematicsSpecialist

First, the standard combinatorial interpretation of Vandermonde?s identity starts with a group of men and women, and finds two different ways of counting the number of ways to select a committee of a fixed size from these people. Due to many similar combinatorial statements, to educators for improving the inclusivity of their communication, folks who don?t identify as male or female might feel excluded.

As recently as the 2020 American Invitational Mathematics Examination I (AIME-I) contest, there was a problem based on Vandermonde?s identity expressed in terms of women and men. When developing mathematical problems, my solution is that, if there are no complex relations between the characters, we could simply use cats and dogs instead!

A second example is a corollary of Hall?s theorem, whose Wikipedia page includes the following hypothesis: ?[Imagine] for each woman, there is a subset of the men, any one of which she would happily marry; and any man would be happy to marry a woman who wants to marry him.? In addition to promulgating the idea that men are less selective in choosing partners than women, this framing seems to imply that males prefer to exclusively partner with females, and vice versa. Expressing the idea in terms of abstract objects, say from graph theory, is one way of preventing generalizations like these.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Finally, an old ?crossing the river? puzzle by Sam Loyd called The Four Elopements states: ?? not one of [the men] would permit his prospective bride to remain at any time in the company of any other man unless he was also present.? Unlike Hall?s theorem, it is difficult to find an abstract or otherwise uncontroversial formulation of such a complex criterion. In his recent book, Mathematical Puzzles, Peter Winkler prefaced a similar problem with, ?In eighth century Europe...? to avoid anachronism. If one is unable to find an equivalent unbiased interpretation of a problem or theorem, starting an archaic statement with a caveat about its origins works well.

There are also some encouraging examples. Where the 1987 American Junior High School Mathematics Examination (AJHSME) had characters named ?Abby, Bret, Carl, and Dana,? the 2020 American Mathematics Competition 8 (AMC-8) included more diverse names, such as Ricardo, Akash, Zara, and Jamal. The 1978 Gauss Contest successfully avoided making implicit assumptions about gender or heteronormativity by stating, ?Two couples share a bench. Neither couple wishes to be separated.? And the 2009 AIME-I communicated the idea of seating disagreeable national ambassadors by resorting to fiction: ?No Earthling can sit immediately to the left of a Martian, no Martian can sit immediately to the left of a Venusian? ? Minimizing bias in the language of combinatorics requires us to actively monitor the language we use in the construction of problem statements, analogies, and fictional scenarios.

References Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 24). Hall's marriage theorem. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https:/ / en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Hall%27s_marriage_theorem#Application_to_marriage. Winkler, P. (2021). The Puzzles. In Mathematical Puzzles (p. xxi). CRC press. Loyd, S. (1959). Puzzles. In Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd (pp. 29-30). Dover Publications, Inc.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

00 24

Who Will Meet Us Where We Stand

Chae Rin (Alayna) Jang Second Year Cognitive Science and Sociology Major Education & Society Minor

Four walls surround us To some, they expand To others, they restrain

Left and right were all we knew For we were never told to look up, Up where the sky is limitless And possibilities are endless Often thought the walls were conditional Raising the privileged higher and higher While the rest remain attached to the ground Who will lend us a hand? Who will meet us where we stand?

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Mangos At Midnight Visual Exposé by Alayna Jang

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

FLOOD, 20 21 Acrylic painting with attached cardboard sculpture Not e fr om t he ar t ist :

Angelica Hu First Year

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

?Flood is a visual representation of the imbalance between the economy and the environment, and the negative effects that this imbalance can have on the world. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the massive, powerful corporations that cause pollution that destroys the habitats of animals like polar bears. The fact that the Statue of Liberty and the polar bears are on opposite sides of the iceberg helps to show the massive divide that is present between the economy and the environment.? (Instagram: @ruienia)

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

LIFE SCHOOL E L N BA A C 29

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

THERE'S SO MUCH TALK about having a ?school-life? or a ?work-life? balance and I always thought about how strange it was that school and work came before life in those phrases. This implies that your life is not the priority ? well, to have an effective ?life-school? or ?life-work? balance, life needs to be prioritized. Many people can get so caught up in their academics and work that sometimes they forget to enjoy life and take the breaks they need that keep them going. The constant hustle can make us neglect our mental health and often lead to burnout and other problems. In high-school, I was ambitious; I was a competitive dancer, worked a part-time job all the while keeping up with all my high-school commitments and classes. Between the job and the studio, I barely had time to manage school, friends, and my health. I didn?t prioritize my health back then which led me to burnout quickly. So, in my first year of university, I knew I needed to cut back to focus on school. In my first year, all I had to worry about were my academics and dance. I still danced competitively with the Varsity Blues Pom Team, but even though I found my schedule less full, my academics and my mental health suffered as I still did not know how to handle this new balance. In my second year, I decided to take up a part-time job while continuing to dance competitively for the school, and took up a student leadership position within my residence. All of these became big time commitments and I noticed that I was stretching myself thin, but I was performing better academically. Knowing that I was busy forced me to get my tasks done earlier. I felt healthier as I was doing more things that I enjoyed and learned more about mental health and how to take care of it. I discovered that my ?life-work? balance wasn?t the same as anyone else?s and we shouldn?t compare ourselves to each other, everyone has their own balance to find! In my third year, I became a Residence Don which oftentimes took up similar hours to a full-time job, I still attended dance classes, had a course overload, and started tutoring students virtually. Even though it felt like a lot I still found that I was performing better academically than I did in my first-year and even my second-year. Taking the steps that I needed to recover my mental health by

taking days off, doing things that I enjoy, and reaching out for support, really helped me escape burnout ? doing things made it all worth it. Now in my fourth year of university, I feel like I should have a grasp of what my ?life-school? balance should be. I have the busiest schedule that I've ever had. All my friends have no idea how I maintain a life-school balance at all! But my secret is taking care of my mental health and staying organized. I work as a Residence Don, so I live where I work (which sometimes feels like working 24/ 7). I am also tutoring students 30+ hours a week (not including lesson planning), attending ballet class, dedicating an entire day weekly for my internship, managing a full course load, all while trying to get grad school applications in and still maintaining a social life. I stay organised by blocking sections dedicated to everything I need to work on for the week in my calendar along with the things I enjoy so I can look at each day knowing it can be productive and fun! Having a physical and digital planner helps me make sure I don?t miss a thing!

FELICITAS DAMIANO Fourt h Year Sociology and Drama Major Educat ion & Society Minor

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Fi ndi ng Our s el ves by Fi ndi ng Bal anc e: An I nt er vi ew wi t h a Cat Madeline Szabo Second Year Hist or y Maj or English and Educat ion & Societ y Minor THE ONLY BALANCE I want to have to find is between cat-naps and catnip, but unlike my acquaintance and bonafide street cat, Persimmon*, I had to make an excel spreadsheet and have a therapy session with my dearest friend to find any balance at all. So on a rainy Monday, I invited Persimmon to speak with me for an interview on how to find balance:

Int er viewer (me, duh): Good afternoon? Per simmon: Is it the afternoon? I just woke up. I: I need to ask you some questions and I?d like to just jump into it, if you don?t mind. P: Are you asking me for permission to start? This is on your time too. You don?t need to ask everyone?s permission for everything. I: Sorry, uh... Anyway! Every time I pass you, you seem so happy! How do you find balance?

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

P: In high school, I used countless hours of work as a kind of escapism. Meticulous notes and beautiful flashcards were less about getting a 99% and more about feeling like I was the sort of person who aimed to get 99%. I: I?ve spent a lot of my life feeling the same way. Would you say that the biggest obstacle you face to finding any kind of balance is rethinking how you value yourself? P: OK. You might be projecting now. *Lights a cigarette*. For me, a lot of it is that when I was a kitten, I struggled a lot in school. So instead of good grades, I worked hard. Teachers praised me for it, and I have often been told by my father that it will serve me well should I ever choose to enter a career in high-powered finance. I: Well, clearly, you?ve overcome this perception. You don?t even know the time. P: If you?re asking me how I lead such a lovely life, there are nicer ways to do it. But I will answer your question. I found other things I enjoyed. I made friends and found hobbies. My favourite is lying in the sun. I: I like to knit. P: So take time to knit. I: I think I will. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. This was fascinating! Wanna go hang out? I know some cool coffee places nearby. P: No, I?ve gotta go to work. And with that, the wise Persimmon wandered into the distance, towards the Home Depot where he worked. I think I?ll stop him again for more advice in January when papers come at me a bit too hard. For now, I?ll remember his September optimism and with it, who I am. *Name hasbeen changed to protect hisidentity.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

The Tension Between Having Responsibilities and Having Fun

l o is l ee f o u r t h y ea r bo o k & m ed ia s t u d ies m a j o r En g l is h a n d Dig it a l Hu m a n it ies Min o r

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

AS I BEGAN MY FOURTH and final year at U of T, I became overwhelmed with a sense of urgency. After shying away from any form of student involvement during my former years of undergrad, and then coping with the stresses of the pandemic, I realized that I haven?t been incredibly involved with the community around me. I began to feel a heavy obligation that I needed to strive for anything and everything in the little time I have left at this school; so now I?m juggling a full course load, a part-time job and several extracurriculars.

On one hand, I like being busy because it is incredibly gratifying when you complete a task and then there is always something to look forward to. On the other hand, time management has always been a challenge for me and I never know which tasks I should prioritize. I always have this dialogue in my head that goes, ?your grades should always be top priority, especially if you?re considering grad school? which translates to ?you can?t miss out on any shifts if your supervisor expects you to be there? and then it transitions to ?clubs are a team effort and it wouldn?t be fair if you don?t do your part as quickly as the others.?

But there is one question that always comes to mind: when do I get to rest? The essence of university life has conditioned a lot of us to believe that relaxation is a reward ? not a necessity ? it can only be granted after hours and hours of laborious work. Despite this, after spending a year and a half of my undergrad in isolation and as I progress through my final year, I?m also trying my absolute best to just have fun. Although I have some regrets about not getting involved sooner, I would regret it even more if I approached convocation, only to realize that I don?t have enough positive experiences to look back on. Getting the chance to walk aimlessly around the city, grab dinner with a friend or sleep in on a Saturday ? all of this has become valuable to me and I strive to incorporate these things into my routine. Our time in university is undeniably short and many of us may never achieve an equal school-life balance during those few years. But I think it?s okay if that is never achieved. Even if we do find ourselves tipping off the scale a little bit, there will always be a chance for us to step back towards the centre.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

J u g g l in g :

(

a n o s ll a B d e ik Sp h it w t p e c x E ty e f a S o N h it W e p o r t h ig T : e ir F n o s ? g in yt h r e v E d n a t e N

)

A Gu id e t o T ime Ma n a g e me n t OF ALL THE NIGHTMARES I've ever had, the worst one has to be the time I woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming about having to present a project while unprepared and having nothing to say. To this day, I will never forget the fear and humiliation I felt, standing in some made up auditorium on a pedestal, gaping like a fish as my voice failed me all because I didn?t take the time to prepare for something I had control over.

tasks we have to prioritize seems to be getting longer and longer. Where last year everything could be done from home while multitasking, now we suddenly have to factor commutes into our time. After two years of practical isolation, we crave social interaction. And that?s not to mention self-care and keeping in touch with our internal needs and desires. So how do we keep up with everything?

Balancing all of our day-to-day necessities seems like a pretty standard task. We block out certain periods of our day so that we can accomplish specific goals, and then we do exactly that. But with a ?new normal? just around the corner, the list of

As our obligations add up, it can feel overwhelming and hard to stay on top of everything. Here are my best tips to managing your time so that you don?t feel like falling off of the tightrope called life:

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

- Pr io r it iz e . In a series of tweets, Jennifer Barnes discussed a Q&A she attended with Nora Roberts about prioritizing (2020). Roberts refers to our obligations as a mixture of glass and plastic balls that we juggle. Some are more important than others; if we drop these, they will shatter. Some are less important and will bounce. I love this analogy because it reminds us that some projects don?t need to be prioritized. Don?t be afraid to say no to taking on these plastic balls that will inevitably cause you unnecessary stress.

- Ov e r e s t ima t e . Overestimate how long something is going to take. It?s better to have the time and not need it than vice versa.

- Ma k e y o u r t ime w o r k f o r y o u . In a meeting with a learning strategist, I was shocked when he recommended that I plan my week starting on Saturdays. In hindsight, this makes perfect sense. It gives me two extra days to accomplish tasks, such as readings, for the upcoming week. My study schedule will forever benefit from this.

- T a k e t ime f o r y o u r s e l f . Avoiding burnout and keeping obligations in check takes a lot of energy, and if you give too much of yourself, you minimize your productivity, which is counter-intuitive (Mayo Clinic, 2021). There?s no benefit to overworking yourself.

Overall, time management is a series of tricks that are only effective on an individual basis. These tips can be adapted to fit anyone based on your needs. Getting back into the swing of things may take some practice, but we?ve done it before, and we can do it again.

Re f e r e n c e s Barnes, J. L. [@jenlynnbarnes]. (2020, January 22). Q&A with Nora Roberts [Tweet]. Twitter. Retrieved from https:/ / twitter.com/ jenlynnbarnes/ status/ 1220182162118451200?lang=en. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, June 5). Know the signs of job burnout. Retrieved from https:/ / mayoclinic.org/ healthy-lifestyle/ adult-health/ in-depth/ burnout/ art-20046642

Cait lyn Gr ant

Second Year French Language & Literature Major Writing & Rhetoric and Sexual Diversity Studies Minor

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

PROFESSORSPOTLIGHT

TeachTALKS INTERVIEWWITHPROFESSORjul iaforgie What is educat ion? When I think about education as a more holistic term, I think about development, progress, and change. Education, whether formal (within university and school) or informal (incidental learning that happens in various contexts), leads to positive change, progress, development, knowledge, and the acquisition of skills that create greater opportunities for individuals. There are many goals of education, but we are ultimately looking at progress and change for the better. How do you t hink educat ion, lear ning, and agency ar e connect ed? Agency is a voice that includes people?s thoughts and beliefs. Ultimately, we all have a voice and we are all agents of our own beliefs. Creating opportunities to have these voices heard is an important goal in education. Skilled educators see the importance of agency in their students ? they make opportunities for student voices to be heard and beliefs, ideas, and values to be realized, acknowledged, and recognized. Education provides the context for agency and social change. It provides the opportunity for skills that are congruent with advocacy and agency to be developed, but also provides the forum for these voices to be heard and recognized. So I believe that they are all very much interrelated. Education, learning, and agency need to be acknowledged and prioritized by teachers in practice.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Interview Conducted by Cecilia Xie, Jenny Ho, and Victoria Bortolussi What ar e t hings t hat st udent s can do t o help t he pr ocess of t eaching, and what do pr ofessor s expect st udent s t o do? I do portions of lecturing, but I also value and prioritize giving students the opportunity to have their voices heard by taking agency in the content and applying the content in practical contexts. A lot of responsibility falls on the students, as I expect them to participate in these discussions and activities to take ownership of their learning. All of these things are ultimately going to influence the learning outcomes and the quality of instruction. I expect students to be prepared to engage at a comfortable level, in terms of participation and discussions or small group activities. I also expect students to ask questions and raise concerns, queries, or criticisms ? I invite dissenting voices or alternate perspectives on my teaching. I have very clear pragmatic expectations of my students, and I make it clear to them (many of these expectations are listed in the course syllabus), but I'm also constantly encouraging students to engage in a hands-on activity and work collaboratively with peers; these are not necessarily skills that all students have mastered. I try to make sure that they have the tools they need to succeed , but as a result, my expectations are very high.

Do you see cont r adict ions bet ween pr act ical applicat ions of pedagogy and t he ?ideal wor ld??

How do you feel about compet it ive ment alit ies in educat ion?

There are contradictions everywhere, in terms of pedagogical practices. Different instructors have different beliefs about the way that students learn in a given context. They have differences as a result of their beliefs, perspectives, and philosophies on teaching. You will have professors who believe that they are subject matter experts in their field, and that the best way to deliver content is through lecture: the dissemination of facts, figures, and ideas directly to the minds of their students. There are other professors who believe in more of a constructivist approach to knowledge and understanding, whereby learners will learn best if they have the opportunity to construct their own understanding of concepts. I think that a balanced approach is really valuable, where you are relying on some lectures, some heavier primary resource material that is evidence-based, and also given the opportunity to apply that knowledge. I think that's what students need and desire.

Generally speaking, the literature on using competition with young children as a form of motivation shows that it is largely ineffective. In fact, it's the opposite of what we're aiming for ? we want to inspire and motivate students to want to do well in school and to want to learn, so that the knowledge and understanding is the reward itself. Of course, in university and high school, grades become the primary metric of achievement. How can students really develop this intrinsic motivation and love for learning when, at the end of the day, so much emphasis is placed on academic standing as measured by grades? I think you can counter that by giving students the chance to demonstrate their knowledge in a way that will help them succeed. Allow for multiple representations of skill and knowledge as much as possible so that the grades can be an accurate representation of students?capabilities. I think that grades are a necessary component of assessment and evaluation in the university context but there are ways to counterbalance this necessity so that teachers can be confident that grades are truly reflective of their students' achievements.

Do you have any suggest ions for people who ar e confused about univer sit y policy or confused about what t hey ar e doing? In undertaking their university programs, students should be exposed to a diverse range of courses that foster attunement to other ways of thinking that are not dominant in their fields. But I think structurally or institutionally, we need to figure out how to do that without putting more stress and weight on the students. It's really important that students feel that they can ask questions and have their voices be heard. They need to know that various people are looking out for them and helping them. In my own classes, I try to explicitly articulate that I am somebody who students can always reach out to. I may not be able to answer every question they have, but I'm a great starting point. I can help direct them to various resources and sources of information. There are a lot of great resources available at the University of Toronto, they're just not always easy to access if you don't know where to look for them.

Julia Forgie isan Assistant Professor (Teaching Stream) and the Coordinator of the Education & Society Program at Victoria College. We would like to extend our gratitude to Professor Forgie for participating in "Teach Talks" and providing her insightson balance in education.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

EXECUTIVE FINAL THOUGHTS i m a n i k i n g ed it o r - in - c h ief Balance in education for me is being mindful of your educational journey and goals, requiring energy that you have to set aside as a lifelong learner.

b i s m a n k a u r ed it o r - in - c h ief Balance is necessary for both teachers and students. Setting aside time for self-care can help us avoid the burnout caused by excessive academic work and preserve our enthusiasm for teaching and learning!

c a i t l y n g r a n t ed it o r - in - c h ief - m en t ee Balance in education is ensuring that every moment and opportunity gets the energy it deserves.

r a c h el b a n h s en io r pr o d u c t io n sm a n a g er Balance applies to every aspect of our everyday lives. To me, balance in education means creating a healthy balance in academics and personal lives.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

ABALANCING ACT CREATING EQUITY &EQUILIBRIUM INEDUCATION d er ek c h o i s en io r pr o d u c t io n sm a n a g er Balance in education involves any number of things, when it comes to both teaching and being the student. As a student, it?s important for me to balance work I?m doing at school with time I spend just unwinding.

k a y l a p a c i o c c oa s s o c ia t epr o d u c t io n sm a n a g er Balance in education is a statement that implies an important aspect of the teaching field: managing time between both the classroom and outside of it, in terms of personal lives and hybrid models.

k el l y l i u a s s o c ia t epr o d u c t io n sm a n a g er To me, balance in education means reaching a common ground that identifies, addresses, and reconciles diverse experiences and identities of learners.

m a h a t h ig a n d h a m a n eia s s o c ia t epr o d u c t io n sm a n a g er Balance in education to me means striking a balance between school and life by giving a student the opportunities to learn and create meaningful experiences inside and outside of school.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

EXECUTIVE FINAL THOUGHTS y i a n n i el i n s en io r ed it o r To me, balance in education refers to the potential of schools to balance out unequal power dynamics in society!

j u l i a h u s en io r ed it o r To me, ?balance? means achieving equity in education and providing students with a well-rounded education.

a n ish ah u q

s en io r ed it o r

Balance in education is ensuring that every moment and opportunity gets the energy it deserves.

j a em i n h w a n g pu bl ic r el a t io n sm a n a g er Balance in education, including work- life balance and student- teacher power dynamics, is challenging to achieve yet vital for our lifelong learning.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

ABALANCING ACT CREATING EQUITY &EQUILIBRIUM INEDUCATION j ev a n k o n y a r f ea t u r es& in t er v iew sc o o r d in a t o r To me, the goal of education should be to provide students with the tools they need to learn on their own. A balanced approach is one that gives them a panorama of a discipline so that they can decide where to take their learning and how to take it there.

j en n y h o

f ir s t - y ea rr epr es en t a t iv e

Balance in education is the freedom to learn about and pursue fields that seem completely unrelated.

c ec i l i a x i e f ir s t - y ea rr epr es en t a t iv e Balance in education means giving everyone a chance.

v i c t o r i ab o r t o l u s s fi ir s t - y ea rr epr es en t a t iv e Balance in education to me is learning to manage your own aspirations while being wise enough to retire your obsession of what people think of you.

h ey t ea c h !

f a l l 20 21

Hey, Teach! is dedicated to developing the philosophies and ideas of aspiring teachers. The staff of Hey, Teach! Magazine extend their deepest gratitude to Victoria College faculty advisor Professor Julia Forgie, the supporting staff of the Office of the Principal, and VUSAC. Thank you!