Distance Learning in Early Childhood During the COVID-19 Crisis: Family and Educators’ Experiences

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis presented teachers and families with the challenge of educating young children online. This study explored the experiences with virtual education of 51 parents and 53 teachers of young children. The results have shown that families and educators were aligned in their goals for early childhood education. Nevertheless, teachers rated the online environment as significantly more effective at achieving these goals than parents did. Similarly, families rated online activities as significantly less effective than teachers at engaging young children in learning. Finally, both teachers and families indicated that the online environment was successful when promoting communication and support. Parents experienced more support than teachers during this period. Implications for the future of online education for young children are discussed.

The views of preschool educators on the development of environmental awareness through distance education

“…In the discussion of our findings, it is evident that the majority of educators demonstrated a favorable attitude toward distance learning, a trend also documented in the research by Plotka and Guirguis (2023). In the study by Bubb and Jones (2020), some preschool educators reported a reduction in their workload, allowing them to dedicate more attention to students.…”

Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Educators: The Impact of Online Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Teaching remotely presented a challenge to all K-12 educators, as well as faculty at the undergraduate and graduate level (e.g. Kim, 2020;Plotka & Guirguis, 2020). Specifically, remote teaching in the early childhood grades created a unique set of challenges due to the active nature of young children's learning; these challenges directly impacted the engagement of young children in meaningful learning experiences.…”

Reconceptualizing Family Engagement as an Improvisational Practice: Lessons from Pre-K Teachers’ Practices During COVID-19

“…During the shutdown, teachers also experienced challenges connecting with caregivers, due to the loss of face-to-face contact, particularly at drop-off and pick-up times or during planned family engagement events (Ford et al, 2021 ; Levickis et al, 2022 ). Teachers compensated in a variety of ways: by instituting regular phone check-ins; sharing via text, Facebook Messenger, or similar two-way text-based app use; or sending email updates to the whole class or to individual caregivers (Ford et al, 2021 ; Plotka & Guirguis, 2022 ; Silver & Coba-Rodriguez, 2022 ). Eventually, some programs began to use interactive video-based platforms such as Zoom or WhatsApp for family conversations or events (Levickis et al, 2022 ), while others also adopted platforms designed for use in education (Levickis et al, 2022 ; Silver & Coba-Rodriguez, 2022 ).…”

“…As the pandemic progressed, many programs moved to online or hybrid instruction, which presented new challenges for teachers and parents. Surveys of educators and families revealed that both groups understood that distance learning for preschool children required caregiver involvement (Ford et al, 2021 ; Plotka & Guirguis, 2022 ; Stites et al, 2021 )—involvement that both groups understood to be difficult for parents, especially when they had to work.…”

“…Although ECE teachers faced unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, some research suggests that the effect of the pandemic on family-school communication and engagement was not all negative. For example, one study in a major metropolitan area in the U.S. found educators and caregivers perceived that school–family communication increased during lockdown (Plotka & Guirguis, 2022 ). The Illinois Head Start study mentioned above also concluded that, despite the challenges associated with the pandemic, local programs had engaged families “in new and potentially more effective ways” (Silver & Coba-Rodriguez, 2022 , p. 8).…”