Interviews

For my case study project, I conducted three interviews with two educators and a Director of Learning Innovation in Alberta. The questions I asked were to get an insight on the typical responsibilities of their roles and their thoughts on the successes and challenges regarding curriculum & technology integration in the province.

Interview #3: Aisha Qureshi

Question #1

Please briefly discuss your educational background and your prior/current teaching experience.

My name is Aisha Qureshi and I have a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology from Concordia University of Edmonton. Upon completion of my undergraduate studies, I worked at Women In Need Women’s Shelter to support women and families fleeing domestic violence. In August 2017 I then decided to relocate to Suzhou, China to teach English at the high school level. I enjoyed my experience; however, I did not have the accreditation/ qualifications to teach in Canada. Once I arrived back in Alberta, I completed a 2 year After-Ed Degree from University of Calgary with a focus on Special Needs Education for Elementary students.

Last year (2020 - 2021) I taught Grade 4 in Edmonton, Alberta. My students were primarily Syrian, Somali, and Palestinian refugees who had minimal exposure to schooling. It was an amazing experience and I learned so much about finding ways to support students and children who had experienced high levels of trauma in their early life.

Question # 2

Please state your current position and briefly discuss the typical responsibilities of your role.

Currently, I teach Kindergarten, specifically a program for Indigenous children who have mild/moderate disabilities. I have a lot of helping hands in my classroom which I am very grateful for. My team consists of:

• Educational Assistants (2 Full-time)

• Family Support Worker

• Occupational Therapist

• Speech &Language Pathologist

• Cree Language & Culture Teacher

• Mental Health Therapist

My students have varying abilities; some of them are still learning how to hold their pencils/crayons whilst others can write their name and short words. Overall, my team and I work together to create a culturally enriched program that delivers learning through play.

Question # 3

In what ways do you currently use technology in your classroom?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parents/ guardians of my students are not allowed to physically come inside of our classroom. Therefore, all of our IPP (Individualized Program Plan), Parent Council, and Family Check In meetings are facilitated via Zoom. We have tried to become creative in engaging our families during these meetings, and for our monthly Parent Council meetings. We have also done virtual scavenger hunts for the kids (i.e.: find something in your home that’s pink, show us something on the camera that you love doing at home). Many of our students are placed in foster care or have social service involvement so it’s great to see the families get together and bond- even if it is over Zoom. We also have a Facebook page where we post pictures and videos daily on what’s going on in our classroom. The Indigenous culture places a high value on land-based learning, therefore, a lot of our photos are when we are outside playing in the snow, at our farm, or learning about medicines that Mother Earth provides for us (sage, diamond willow fungus, cedar).

Inside of the classroom, technology plays an important role in documentation. We have a portal where all of our Student Files, Therapist Assessments, and IPP’s are stored. The portal allows all of the team to work together to support our students in their learning goals. We also have Excel Sheets where we can input information regarding family visits or medical information (as we are a Kindergarten program, professionals from Alberta Health Services come into our classroom and assess our children’s hearing and vision - free of cost).

Question # 4

Discuss your professional development experience in regards to technology integration in your pre-service program. How is technology integration addressed in professional development now in your current job?

During my pre-service teaching experience, my Partner (Mentor) Teacher was the head of the Technology Department at an inner city school. I had a lot to learn about coding programming, but I truly believe that learning about technology assisted my ability to teach students with disabilities. Specifically, some of the students that were in our class had severe reading and writing learning disabilities. Therefore, my mentor teacher always gave these students the opportunity to use “speech to text” for submitting their assignments (i.e.: writing their stories in Language Arts).

Currently, I use technology everyday to communicate with my students & families and also to keep up to date on student files and progress completed with their therapists (OT & SLP). Ultimately, the multi-disciplinary team would not be able to communicate effectively without technology.