Vulnerable Students, Inclusion, and Digital Education in the Covid‐19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Case Study From Austria

Abstract

Worldwide, more than 1.5 billion students had to switch to distance learning in 2020. Education took place at home, where parents attended to their children, and teachers taught their students in digital mode, while minors were physically and socially isolated from their peers. Concerning the situation in Austria, several quantitative studies expose two central challenges: First, the comprehensive lack of digital infrastructure disrupted (digital) distance learning. Second, the Covid‐19 pandemic particularly affected vulnerable students and extended educational inequality. The state of the art emphasizes a lack of qualitative studies demonstrating different perspectives on the educational situation of vulnerable students in general and with SEN in particular during the pandemic. This leads to the following research question: How do professional actors map the situation of inclusive and digital education during the Covid‐19 pandemic in Austria? To research this unprecedented situation, four focus groups with diverse stakeholders (teachers, principals, psychologists, and school board employees) discussed their experiences in the school years 2019–2020 and 2020–2021. Data were analyzed according to the Grounded Theory method of the postmodern approach referred to as “situational analysis.” The study visualizes various parallel discourses and voices within the situation of (digital distance) learning during the Covid‐19 pandemic. The theoretical context of the intersection of inclusive and digital education frames the empirical findings. Central findings relate to missing or discriminatory guidelines and policies, a lack of digital infrastructure, and altered professional‐pedagogical support that minimized or disrupted inclusive education during (digital) distance learning.

The Influence of Psychosocial Factors on the Successful Formal Education Trajectories of Young Spanish People in Vulnerable Situations

“…We chose a case study approach because young people, even though they are from different regions of Spain, belong to the same federation of entities [54]. Other studies have examined the perspectives of young people in situations of social vulnerability regarding their academic pathway using qualitative research, notably the case study approach [4,5,45,55,56]. Thus, our study fits within the constructivist paradigm because we aim to explore and interpret the meanings that participants construct about themselves, their experiences, and their social interactions [57].…”

Disability and Social Inclusion: Lessons From the Pandemic

“…Similarly, Snaefríðar-og Gunnarsdóttir et al ( 2023) highlight how disabled children were completely overlooked in planning and implementing measures to deal with the effects of the virus. Möhlen and Prummer (2023) reveal how the move to digital learning, while having the potential to increase the inclusion of disabled learners, only increased their marginalisation.…”