Playful Learning During the Reopening of Danish Schools After Covid 19 Closures

Abstract

This article is based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from teachers and pupils in Danish schools in June 2020, as schools reopened following closures in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It investigates the transformations in school life that took place in this period in response to strict official guidelines to prevent the spread of infection, transformations both in school learning environments and in teaching activities. Using factor and cluster analyses and logistic regression, it explores the relation between teaching environment and pupils' emotional, social, and academic wellbeing, identifying correlations between key factors in the environment and the three dimensions of wellbeing. The study contributes both to understanding and dealing with the crisis in which education systems in the Nordic countries have found themselves in and adds relevant knowledge on themes of importance for education in the future.

COVID-19 Risk Management and Emotional Reactions to COVID-19 Among School Teachers in Denmark

“…12 In a sample of 174 teachers in Denmark, 43% of the participants reported that they felt nervous or anxious due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 13 In our sample, the prevalence of individuals reporting fear of infection or fear of transmitting infection from work to home, was similar to what we have observed among employees working within eldercare, childcare and hospital/ rehabilitation, respectively. 14 The prevalence of teachers, who feared transmitting infection to pupils, was comparable to the figures for employees in childcare, and lower than observed among employees in eldercare.…”

“…Not surprisingly, another qualitative study including 8 teachers of children with special needs, that is, refugees, found it particularly challenging to support their pupils during the school closure 12 . In a sample of 174 teachers in Denmark, 43% of the participants reported that they felt nervous or anxious due to the COVID-19 outbreak 13 . In our sample, the prevalence of individuals reporting fear of infection or fear of transmitting infection from work to home, was similar to what we have observed among employees working within eldercare, childcare and hospital/rehabilitation, respectively 14 .…”

The Perception of Workplace Safety and of Risk of Contagion among Preschool Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…A study conducted in a different context (Denmark) showed that in a sample of 174 teachers, 43% of participants reported feeling nervous or anxious about the outbreak of COVID-19 [11]. In this study, most reported fear of infection or fear of transmitting the infection from work to home, the same as employees working in elder care, child-care, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities [12]. Several studies [13,14] have shown that one of the main causes of healthcare workers' fears during the pandemic was the fear of infecting family members, which was even greater than the fear of infecting themselves.…”

Students’ Well-Being Fluctuations during COVID-19—A Matter of Grade, State, or Trait?

“…As students progress, they seem to exhibit greater independence from state factors in their academic well-being, while simultaneously becoming more state reliant in their social well-being. It is shown that academic well-being is correlated with students' perceived coping, i.e., their perceived ability to cope with activities or tasks they are faced with in specific contexts [68], and that repeated experiences of perceived coping or lack of perceived coping will affect the more context-independent self-efficacy or belief in own abilities [69]. Therefore, it is-especially in the period when academic well-being is state reliant-important to support the students' perceived coping.…”

“…There are several ways to do this, but for example positive feedback is important. Furthermore, during the COVID19-period, studies found that student-centered activities, such as guided discovery, project oriented, problem-based, and inquiry-based activities, positively affected students' social and academic well-being [68].…”