As COVID-19 vaccines are gradually rolling out, teachers in some states are already returning to in person learning or hybrid models of teaching both in person and online. While my biggest concern is without a doubt the safety of...
Image description: Common classroom rules that are enforced in virtual classrooms that may be discriminatory towards neurodivergent and disabled students. These include “make sure you are following the school dress code before signing on,” “pay attention to your teacher or other students who are speaking. Look directly into the camera,” “No eating during class,” “Turn on your video,” and, “Sit in one spot during class.”
As COVID-19 vaccines are gradually rolling out, teachers in some states are already returning to in person learning or hybrid models of teaching both in person and online. While my biggest concern is without a doubt the safety of teachers and students returning to the physical classroom environment during a global pandemic, a secondary concern that I have is if teachers will simply go back to the same old behaviorist classroom tactics the moment they set foot in a physical classroom to the detriment of neurodivergent and disabled students.
In the physical classroom environment, it is common for teachers to expect students to adhere to strict compliance; maintaining eye contact with the teacher to indicate attentiveness, using behavior charts and external rewards to incentivize students to complete homework and assignments, requiring students to use “whole body listening” which is a form of stim suppression that forces students to sit still and look directly at the instructor, and using planned ignoring when students do not adhere to expected class behaviors. Some other ways of implementing behaviorism in classrooms include using controversial surveillance apps like ClassDojo to reward or deduct points for students throughout the day for predetermined behaviors, with some teachers deducting points for students taking breaks from the classroom to use the bathroom or get a drink of water. These forms of behaviorism are unnecessary and ableist towards neurodivergent students, and do not promote student learning, growth, and self-determination, but instead strict compliance and obedience.
With most learning now taking place virtually, some teachers have tried to implement similar forms of behaviorism in the classroom, such as requiring students to maintain eye contact with their web camera or on the person who is speaking, or require verbal responses from students who are nonspeaking or who otherwise communicate nonverbally. Some teachers have taken more extreme measures such as enforcing a dress code for virtual learning such as not allowing students to wear their pajamas or anything they wouldn’t wear to a physical building, not allowing students to eat or drink during virtual classes (not even when muting their microphones), requiring students to sit at a table or stay still rather than pacing their room or moving around during class, and even having “Zoom detentions” for students who break the rules or who don’t show up to classes. It is not surprising that these forms of behaviorism, just like in a physical classroom, have largely backfired and have created resentment and frustration from both neurotypical and neurodivergent students. These punishments, just like in the physical classroom, have also disproportionately targeted students of color, one of whom was a 15 year old Black student who had been sent to a juvenile detention center for not doing her homework.
The common argument for implementing these rules are that the virtual classroom is an extension of the physical classroom, and therefore, the school dress code and all school rules apply, even in the comfort of one’s own home. But in virtual, distance learning, students are no longer in the physical classroom or the physical school building, they are inviting us into their homes. We are not just their teachers, but we are also their guests in their homes, and we should prioritize cultivating meaningful relationships with our students rather than attempting to enforce trivial rules such as policing whether or not a student has a toy or blanket with them during virtual learning or is wearing pajamas. If we want students to learn, then we should meet them where they are, where and how they are most comfortable learning. Being an autistic student teacher, the questions I ask fellow educators are, what good does it do when students are not allowed to eat, drink water or move around in their own home? As long as students are wearing clothes that are not offensive, do we really need to police what they are wearing in their own homes? Aren’t students having a hard enough of a time adjusting to virtual instruction, without recess, P.E., extracurriculars and sports, or seeing their friends and teachers in person? When doing distance learning, shouldn’t we simply be there for our students, and thank students for being there for us?
Of course, not all students who are absent for class actually want to be absent. Not all students have a reliable computer or WiFi connection to work with, or a quiet place to work at home during class. We shouldn’t punish students for circumstances beyond their control, and we should have more trust and faith in our students. It may be harder for students to catch up with their classwork and it may be easier for students to fall behind in certain classes. But we are in an unprecedented time, and should also make students’ emotional health a priority, too, and check in with students if they have not been showing up to class. My mental and emotional health surely has not been the greatest to say the least, so I could only imagine how students are processing what is happening in their lives and in the world. Make sure that they are okay, that their family is okay, and provide options if students are struggling with homework and assignments or coming to classes.
It is also important to keep in mind that the transition to in person learning, while it will be embraced and welcomed by many students and teachers who want nothing more than to see each other again, other students may have a more difficult time readjusting to in person instruction. While online learning has been very challenging for many students who thrive from hands on, in person instruction, other students have done well in virtual classrooms and may feel hesitant about returning to in person instruction. Students who have social anxiety, who prefer working independently, and have more space to stim and move around at home have found at least some benefit in virtual instruction. Students with social anxiety can turn their cameras and microphones off if they do not want others to see them or hear them speak. Students who are like myself and communicate better through writing can use the chat option or use text to speech to respond to discussions during virtual classes. Not to mention that some students who may otherwise have to worry about the commute to school or find enough time to eat breakfast in the morning can sleep in longer and feel more refreshed when starting school. As eager as many are to return to in person learning, educators should remember that some students may find the physical classroom as challenging as other students find the virtual classroom, and we need to find ways to support these students as well by providing them similar accessibility options as they have online, such as by accepting nonverbal responses from students and giving more space for students to move around and stim in a physical classroom, and more movement breaks for students as well during a long school day.
My first year as a student teacher was during January, 2020, back when I didn’t even know what COVID-19 even was. When in person instruction was still happening, I saw systems of behaviorism being implemented in classrooms. A “whole body listening” chart was on a classroom wall. A student had his fidget cube taken away for being a “distraction” to other students. Students were given tickets as rewards for behaving and doing their assigned work. I heard phrases such as “Quiet hands in the hallway, please!” And, “All eyes on me!” External rewards and incentives can work temporarily, but intrinsic motivation is not taught enough and is far more important. While I did learn a lot during my first term as a student teacher, I took mental notes of what not to do in the classroom as well.
In March of 2020, when cases of COVID-19 surged in the U.S. and in person learning stopped, teachers had to make quick adjustments and decisions. Some teachers panicked, thinking that without systems of behaviorism in place, student learning would not take place. There would be no structure, no accountability, no progress being made. Teachers panicked when some students did not show up to class at all, or kept their cameras and microphones off during the entire class period. And while I sympathize with teachers trying to navigate readjusting lessons or who have never done virtual instruction before trying to figure it all out, I know firsthand the impact that behaviorism has had on me as a student; whether it was being scored on my lunchroom eating habits and food choices in the cafeteria, or being told to sit still and make eye contact during class. The impact that behaviorism has on students is damaging, and for some students who have went through strict compliance therapies like Applied Behavioral Analysis like I have, can initiate years of passive obedience and compliance. Students need to learn how to stand up and advocate for themselves and for others. Passiveness and strict obedience are not skills we should teach our students.
As a 2020 participant of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s Autism Campus Inclusion program this summer, I learned some tips on how to make a safe, neurodivergent friendly virtual environment for students, like the one that ASAN had created for us as program participants. Captioning was available and present for every speaker. There was no requirement for participants to turn their cameras on or speak verbally if they did not wish to. Stimming was not only just allowed; it was encouraged and accepted by everyone! Participants had color coded communication badges that were optional to wear; green indicating that someone is actively seeking communication, yellow indicating that someone may wish to communicate with someone they recognize, and red indicating that someone is not wanting to communicate with anyone at all, or only with a select few people. This is one way that students and participants at other virtual events can indicate their communication preferences visually and nonverbally, and one way that virtual spaces, such as virtual classrooms, can be more accessible for students to display what their communication preferences are. If students have their cameras off, they could possibly instead put a G for green, Y for yellow, or R for red in the chat or by their displayed name to indicate their communication preference.
One concern that commonly popped up among teachers when student teaching was frustrations about students keeping their cameras and microphones off, and the lack of student interaction and participation. I understand why teachers are frustrated about this, as they do want to feel a more personal connection with their students and want more students to turn their cameras on. But forcing students to constantly keep eye contact with the instructor is ableist both in person and virtually, and should be avoided. Even when students’ cameras and microphones are off, that doesn’t mean students are not there, listening. They are not just a bunch of avatars or colored icons on a screen. Perhaps teachers can ask students what their communication preferences are, or find other ways to allow students to participate. Some ways I have seen instructors do this are by using Jamboard, which allows short virtual “sticky notes” or written responses to questions from students, or by having students click the “raise hand” icon in some platforms, such as Google Classroom, to answer a question or take attendance. Ask how students best communicate and provide options for them, and don’t make it mandatory for students to have their cameras and microphones on.
Distance learning during a pandemic has been challenging for both students and teachers to adjust to, but it also provided a unique experience for instructors to tailor their instruction to make it more accessible for students. Some teachers have embraced this opportunity by captioning their presentations and videos that they show to students, by providing multiple options of communication and interaction for students, by accommodating multiple learning styles in instructional materials, by providing image descriptions for images shown on PowerPoints or Google Slides, and by getting rid of common behaviorist tactics used in physical classrooms. Sadly, other teachers have tried to carry over behaviorist tactics to the online classroom instead, believing that this would provide more structure and stability for students, when it instead enforces standards that are not possible for all students to adhere to, and discriminates against neurodivergent and disabled students as well as students of color. Strict compliance does not belong in the physical classroom, and it does not belong in the virtual classroom, either. When we return to in person instruction post-pandemic, let’s ditch outdated behaviorist tactics and make accessibility a bigger priority than ever before to support all of our students.