The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to sudden and unexpected circumstances in education for all the involved people (pupils, teachers, education policymakers, parents). International organizations have paid attention to their responses in crises by using alternative modes of teaching. The typical teaching methods had to be replaced by e-learning processes and all the participants needed to adjust themselves and adapt innovative methods. Most studies concentrated on teachers' and students' difficulties, barriers and new challenges. However, a different role was given to parents as well, especially in the case of primary and the first grades of secondary education, as they were asked to facilitate their children to use the e-learning processes and support them during the learning process. The present study examined the change of parental involvement during the pandemic in comparison to the previous situation in the case of mathematical subject. A questionnaire was constructed and administered to parents from Cyprus at the first days of the school year 2019-2020 in order to examine their beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs about their parental role and involvement during homework at their children's mathematical understanding and the development of their children's perseverance strategies during mathematical problem solving. The same questionnaire was administered to them at the end of the e-learning teaching processes in May 2020, after they had alternative experiences in order to identify any differences at their respective beliefs. Only the sample of parents who took part at both phases of the study was used for the comparative analyses. Results indicated that parents, especially in primary education, had the willingness to support their children's learning under the different teaching and learning processes; however they needed training in order to develop appropriate knowledge, relevant experiences, positive beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs.

This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and discusses its educational implications. The paper first outlines a set of principles that might allow tuning developmental priorities with educational priorities. It postulates, in contrast to several classic developmental theories, that developmental priorities change with development. It outlines the cognitive profile of four successive developmental cycles and presents evidence showing that developmental priorities change from interaction control in infancy to representational control in preschool to inferential control in primary school to logical truth control in adolescence. Studies are then summarized showing that the cognitive priorities of each cycle are the best predictors of school achievement in this or later cycles. Finally, we outline developmental changes in general problem-solving skills and show that learning in different domains, such as language and mathematics, depends on an interaction between the general cognitive processes dominating in each cycle and the state of the symbol systems associated with this domain. If command of any of these systems is deficient, specific learning deficiencies may emerge, as in dyslexia and dyscalculia. Principles for ameliorating these conditions are outlined.3 4 Bridging Educational Priorities with Developmental Priorities: Towards a Developmental Theory of Instruction delays in grasping and consolidating the concepts and skills of interest (Demetriou & Spanoudis, 2018). We focus on general problem-solving processes and learning and problem solving in two domains, language and mathematics. Table 1 summarizes developmental priorities, educational priorities, and learning goals across age periods and domains, Education has looked for direction and teaching practices in psychological theories since the early 20 th century. The interaction between education and psychology met with both successes and failures. Here, we will not discuss or evaluate in detail psychological theories, which have been important for education in the past. However, we attempt a brief overview of the main ideas drawn from them and evaluate their contribution to the development of education of our time. We will then present a comprehensive model drawing on the successes and failures of the past and capitalizing on recent research.

This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and elaborates on its educational implications. The theory postulates that development occurs in cycles along multiple fronts. Cognitive competence in each cycle comprises a different profile of executive, inferential, and awareness processes, reflecting changes in developmental priorities in each cycle. Changes reflect varying needs in representing, understanding, and interacting with the world. Interaction control dominates episodic representation in infancy; attention control and perceptual awareness dominate in realistic representations in preschool; inferential control and awareness dominate rule-based representation in primary school; truth and validity control and precise self-evaluation dominate in principle-based thought in adolescence. We demonstrate that the best predictors of school learning in each cycle are the cycle’s cognitive priorities. Also learning in different domains, e.g., language and mathematics, depends on an interaction between the general cognitive processes dominating in each cycle and the state of the representational systems associated with each domain. When a representational system is deficient, specific learning difficulties may emerge, e.g., dyslexia and dyscalculia. We also discuss the educational implications for evaluation and learning at school.

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In this chapter, the two authors co-construct meaning of their individual lived experiences as education faculty engaging in online teaching and learning. It highlights each faculty unique experiences facilitating graduate student learning in an online environment. Co-construction of meaning centers on pedagogical approaches, program design and focus, reflection of faculty-self experiences, employment of digital learning tools, and utilization of best practices of each faculty experience with teaching and learning in an online environment. This narrative is co-constructed following a collaborative autoethnographic approach by two faculty, whereby the central descriptions of each faculty member is situated in one's lived experiences and rich story of facilitating and instructing courses in an online learning environment. The faculty experiences are mainly derived from teaching graduate courses offered by a department of education. The research method in presenting two self-reflective narratives in online teaching and learning extends to doing “collaborative autoethnography.”