Youth who have to stay at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax face obvious challenges to their otherwise regular lives. Whether it be medical, social or emotional, the disruption of having to stay at a hospital while undergoing care can be jarring to anyone. Kids, especially.
No one understands this more than Julia Countway. For 15 years, her teaching career has been based entirely within the IWK’s classrooms.
“I’m one of the therapeutic classroom teachers at the IWK,” says Countway in an interview with The Coast. “I specifically work in the Garron Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.”
Countway is one of seven teachers at the hospital. Six of those teachers, including Countway, work with mental health and addictions patients. One teacher is assigned to helping those in the IWK for physical health needs.
“My job is to take on the part of the patient’s education, or school piece, while they’re here in hospital,” she says. “There’s several classrooms throughout the IWK, but my classroom in in the Garron Centre.”
It’s a unique program. There are set classroom hours in which youth can visit the classroom and get help with their education while they’re away from their school. With youth coming in from New Brunswick and P.E.I. and it being an all-ages classroom, students are oftentimes working on different subjects and assignments.
“You might have a Grade 7 student working on their science and then a student in Grade 12 student working on calculus,” says Countway. “It’s very individualized, but it works well. It’s a shared learning space.”
The curriculum, for the most part, is that of each student’s school. Educators at the IWK communicate with teachers at the student’s schools to figure out what assignments to prioritize and where the focus of their studies should be. When a student is ready to return to their school, they will also help create a transition plan that allows students the support they need while getting back into the swing of their everyday life.
Normalcy and socialization
While within the IWK hospital, the classroom setting can help give youth a sense of normalcy.
“There’s a lot of things, when they’re here and they’re in treatment, that they don’t have choice over,” says Countway. “But, you know, they can come to the class and be like, I want to work on math right now. Then, after that, I’m going to work on science.”
While education is no doubt important, one of the most essential aspects of school is socialization. The IWK classrooms aid in that, as well, even with their being an age gap between students.
“As much as it’s individual in terms of different schools and grades and all that, we try to do a morning warm-up in our classroom, where everyone comes in. It could sometimes be, like, an online All Ten, or the New York Times’ Wordle. We have a number of different activities that we do to start.”
After some time, this kind of relationship building often leads to connections between students.
“A lot of the students have the opportunity to connect about the experience of being in hospital and maybe missing school, or missing things that they don’t want to be missing because they need to be in hospital,” says Countway.
“There’s lots of shared experiences, so even if someone, because of their illness, had to fail a class or miss out on something, there’s a chance for students to connect about these things. Support each other, encourage each other.”
With 15 years of experience, Countway still feels passionate about her work and feels “privileged” to work with students from across the province, all with their own evolving situations. In some ways, it continues to be a learning experience for her, especially when a student comes into the classroom with a subject she’s not familiar with.
“You’re an adult learner,” she says. “There’s lots of resources. You can learn things. It’s pushed me and challenged me, but I feel like I’ve become a better teacher through all of these experiences. The ability to adapt in the moment and figure things out, sometimes just being honest.”
Overall, she’s glad to be able to provide some sort of comfort to those in hospital.
“They’re unwell, but it’s their ability in the classroom, to still work hard, be dedicated, to try and overcome these barriers,” Countway says. “I just have so much admiration for them and we’ve had a lot of success stories.”
