That’s Why You Hired Me! Because I Know Some of This!

Ms. Reeves is a veteran science teacher at a suburban high school in Minnesota. As a result of her scientific background and personal interest in science, she took the initiative to begin learning about COVID as soon as information about the virus was available.

I have a master’s degree in molecular biology and worked as a cytogeneticist for 12 years before I was a teacher. If there’s one thing in the world that – I don’t want to say paranoid, but I know enough about viruses to know they’re the thing that I’m most afraid of. Do you know what I mean? I have huge respect for what a virus could do. So, I was very curious from the beginning.

Therefore, it wasn’t a huge surprise to her when her school moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 in efforts to socially distance students from one another. This transition wasn’t easy, but Ms. Reeves noted that she and her colleagues quickly pivoted and did what they could to make the transition as seamless as possible for their students.

So I remember the last day with the kids was March 17th, because it was St. Patrick’s Day. And it was the last day I was with them. And I remember saying, “It won’t be long. Don’t worry, we’re going to be okay. We’re just going to try this virtual stuff.” . . . And I want to say teachers were rock stars right then. Because they were in a world that they were completely unprepared for. And you know what? At the end of the day, we pulled it off. It’s rather amazing that we did that. But we were given one week, and then we had spring break. And so starting in the beginning of April, we went right into virtual learning with kids.

As online learning got underway, Ms. Reeves noted that some of her colleagues did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation and did not agree with the importance of distancing. This caused some tension in the school and put her in a position where she had to push back against practices that were not aligned with the scientific knowledge available at that time.

As we got into fall, and I realized it would be virtual, I had teachers and administrators that were insisting on in-person meetings. And I have some health concerns, so that I’m like, “I really don’t feel comfortable doing in-person meetings.” I called my principal, who had been my friend forever, and I said, “You know what? I’m very concerned about this. There’s absolutely no reason staff has to meet in person. This isn’t like we’re working with kids. Meeting with kids I think would have higher priority in person.” And he went in a direction of being suspicious of all of this, “It’s not that bad. It’s just the flu.” And then I’m saying, “I know about this.” And at which point he told me to stop throwing my credentials at him. And I’m like, “That’s what I have to offer! That’s why you hired me! Because I know some of this!”

Despite the challenges of online learning, Ms. Reeves was fully committed to providing her students with the most comprehensive, up-to-date information about COVID that was available. She also used the pandemic as an opportunity to teach about the nature of science, particularly the tentativeness of scientific knowledge and its tendency to change as new information emerges.

I always talked about COVID, always. I am an AP Biology teacher. I teach them about viruses. I tell them that these are scary things. We don’t know where this is going. I teach them science. I teach them that science changes as new data comes in. We’re talking about, “Is this going to work? Can you keep a virus out?” I mean, we talked about all of this.

As the pandemic persisted into the following school year (2020–21), her school retained the online learning structure it had adopted the previous year. However, there was a lot of pressure from parents and others in the community to get students back into classrooms. Although her school board voted to keep remote learning in place until a vaccine was widely available, Ms. Reeves expressed frustration at the lack of concern shown for teachers at that time.

I think what really got me was I’ve always felt this community has always really supported me. I have good relationships with my parents. They know my background, and they trust me with their kids. But we had parents, about February it blew up, that were picketing board meetings wanting us to go back. And the vaccine hadn’t come out yet. And like I said, I’m not a young teacher. I had some reasons that I didn’t feel comfortable going back. . . . And they were insisting that we come back. And I think that’s the part that really took me down, to have these parents doing that. I’ve given them so much, and my life wasn’t worth a few more weeks of inconvenience?. . . But wow, that was brutal. That made me look at my value.

Her school eventually transitioned to a hybrid approach where students attended school in person on some days and continued with remote instruction on other days. Consistent with her previous instruction, Ms. Reeves expanded her focus on COVID to include emerging topics, including masking and vaccines.

The nature-of-science unit had a huge COVID section that had masks and all the things. We jumped into it right away. In fact, one of the things we did was we took different kinds of masks and were trying to blow out candles and see which ones kept the air. It was a nice little way to look at science, and very relevant at the time.

However, differing public opinions about the severity of the virus, necessity for precautionary measures, and efficacy of the vaccine increasingly made their way into Ms. Reeve’s classroom. Although she aimed to simply provide scientifically accurate information about COVID, she explained that it was difficult to do so without getting caught up in the politics of the situation.

I don’t know why it was hard for me to stay away from politics. I don’t teach politics. I don’t do social studies, come on. But all of a sudden, my science became political. And I resented that. . . . I am not interested in what you think about it or what your opinion is about it. That’s not what we’re doing. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t believe it. I mean, it’s just that’s the way it is. And so I became very, very frustrated with vaccines and things like that becoming political. That made me crazy. And I guess what bothered me the most is I studied science. I mean, I have two master’s degrees and a doctorate. I’ve studied science forever. And to have people not believe what I tell them was just kind of like, “Are you kidding me, because you read something on Facebook? Are you kidding me?”

Ms. Reeves recalled multiple instances where she received direct pushback from parents and students as a result of her COVID instruction. However, her answer to this criticism was always to put science at the forefront and use it to defend her position.

I had one student who gave me some grief at first. He was telling me that vaccines were causing more disease than COVID, but I had all the data. And he brought his data in, and I’m like, “Okay, this is a great opportunity for us. Remember how I tell you in science, we have to look at our sources? Okay, let’s look at your sources.” And we really picked it apart. And all of a sudden, I had a new convert. Because my children aren’t stupid. They’re really bright. And they know I’m teaching them science, and they can figure this out for themselves. “What’s a good source? Who do you believe? Who do you not? Now we’re learning.”

Over time, the cumulative effects of the pandemic made science teaching progressively more difficult. In addition to logistical and political concerns, Ms. Reeves noted that many teachers struggled with the isolation that accompanied online and hybrid learning.

I think emotionally as teachers, that was really rough. Teaching is a funny profession, because I always tell people you have to have an ego. Because you can’t get up in front of a class if you don’t have an ego. Get serious! Who’s going to stand in front of 30 16-year-olds? You’ve got to believe in yourself. . . . You have to feel good about yourself. You have to feel confident. And you can do that better with other people. Sitting alone at a computer by yourself, it’s hard to get to that place you have to be to teach well. So we were fighting – I don’t know if you want to call that depression. I suppose that there was probably some of that playing out. Isolation is not good for teachers. It’s kind of a team sport.

Although the 2021–22 school year brought back some measure of normalcy, the lingering effects of COVID remain. Specifically, Ms. Reeves reflected on how the pandemic once again positioned science teachers at the center of a larger social issue. She also expressed disappointment with the widespread lack of respect for teachers that accompanied this monumental event, despite teachers’ incredible efforts to help their students succeed. Further, looking ahead, she expressed concern for the future of the science teaching profession.

We have gone from being the good guys, to the bad guys, to the whole end of the deal. . . . We’ve got to be careful with teachers. Because I’m coming to the end of my career, and I am very, very concerned that there isn’t going to be anyone to replace me. Because we have made this profession so ugly, and I don’t know why. We’re right in the center of so many issues, COVID is just one of them. There are so many issues in this world, and teachers end up in the center, right? Politics is [raking] us over the coals. . . . And from both sides, everything comes down on top of teachers, and we’re supposed to do the right thing. And no matter what we say, it’s the wrong thing.