OHS Canada: Teacher burnout a worry amid new-look safety protocols
by OHS Canada
Across Canada, classrooms have been transformed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in an academic year unlike any others
Teachers across Canada have seen their classrooms transformed this year due to physical distancing measures implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Vladimir Vladimirov/E+/Getty Images)
At the end of August, teachers across Canada were preparing for a year like no other.
“Our hearts were breaking,” said Robyn Gasparini, a kindergarten teacher in Mississauga, Ont.
With 29 years of experience behind her, fall’s return to school started with a difficult task for Gasparini — undoing years of work put in to make her classroom welcoming to her students.
Carpets, little couches, cozy furniture: everything had to go.
“Everything that we’ve done to make our spaces welcoming and comfortable — a place where you feel like you belong — all of a sudden were very sterile,” she said.
New health guidelines to reduce the risks of COVID-19 transmission meant that many activities requiring sharing games and space were no longer possible.
Read more on OHS Canada, one of Canadian Manufacturing‘s sister publications.
