Communicating Digitally: Building Preschool Teacher-Parent Partnerships Via Digital Technologies During COVID-19

Abstract

During COVID-19, many schools in the United States restrict parent visits and parent-teacher face-to-face meetings. Consequently, teachers and parents rely on digital technologies to communicate and build partnerships. Yet, little is known about their perceived experiences with digital communication. To contribute knowledge to this area, this study investigated the perceptions of the classroom teacher and parents of preschool children concerning their experiences of communicating with each other via digital technologies during COVID-19. The participants consisted of one teacher and three mothers of 3-year-olds in the same classroom of a private childcare center serving preschool children from mostly middle-class backgrounds in a northeastern state of the United States. The teacher and parents were interviewed individually and virtually via Zoom for 30–60 min ( M = 45 min). A thematic analysis uncovered four salient themes: (1) modes of digital communication between the teacher and parents, (2) the nature of digital communication, (3) limitations of digital communication, and (4) digital communication via ClassDojo. The ClassDojo theme further revealed three subthemes: (1) ClassDojo for promoting proactive parent involvement, (2) ClassDojo for building teacher-parent partnerships, and (3) the use of limited functions of ClassDojo. The data were triangulated by analyzing teacher-parent communication artifacts on ClassDojo, which confirmed the findings related to the use of this digital platform.

Parental involvement in the case of primary school children with autism during COVID-19

“…This was in particular the case during the COVID-19 pandemic because of national lockdown regulations, resulting in schools utilising alternative methods such as one-on-one meetings between teachers and parents, virtual meetings, emails or telephone calls, taking into account the fact that some parents did not have access to electronic devices or data to benefit from virtual activities. While social media had previously http://www.sajce.co.za Open Access been used, the schools intensified its use during the pandemic reflecting a global trend (Chen & Rivera-Vernazza 2022;Francis et al 2022). However, as soon as the restrictions eased, they held individual meetings with parents which is commendable.…”

Digital Bonds: Exploring the Impact of Computer-Mediated Communication on Parent–Educator Relationships in Early Childhood Education and Care

“…Other communication modes will likely still be required within ECEC settings to facilitate strong relationships, convey nuanced information, and ensure the adequate transfer of care between families and educators [11,14,56]. Further, given the extent to which face-to-face communication was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required most ECEC settings to reimagine communication and connection with families [57] and rely more heavily on CMC [14], this research is particularly relevant in offering insight into the consideration of pairing multiple methods of communication, such as those that may replicate face-to-face communication alongside applications like HiMama. Accordingly, it is necessary to consider how multi-mode CMC strategies can be best implemented, supported, and utilized within ECEC settings.…”

Digital Leadership of School Heads and Job Satisfaction of Teachers in the Philippines during the Pandemic

“…Further, the lack of preparedness of parents for home-based learning is also a significant obstacle. In other countries, parental involvement in remote learning, including interventions to enhance parent-teacher communication, was necessary for the success of remote learning (Chen & Rivera-Vernazza, 2022;Knopik et al, 2021;Ricker et al, 2021). This shift in education from traditional teaching methods is a complex process that requires mutual communication and cooperation among various stakeholders, including parents (Tocalo, 2022).…”