Objectives. We present parental perspectives on screen-based learning for children during the first and most restrictive lockdown in the UK. In doing so, we examine the lived experience of parents as home educators and highlight the opportunities and challenges of screen-based learning, whilst identifying policy implications.
Perspective(s) or theoretical framework. Early in the pandemic, quantitative studies in the UK identified that the government enforced lockdowns may risk increasing inequalities based on gender, wealth and social background (Andrew et al., 2020). It was argued that the absence of formal education could have a significant negative impact upon educational attainment for marginalized groups (Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, 2021); in turn affecting opportunities for social mobility among the young (Major and Machin, 2020). With schools closed nationally and children having to learn from home, new family dynamics emerged as caregivers spent more time with their children and there was an expectation for parents to act as educators (Clayton et al., 2020). As schools sent more work to be completed via screens, education within the home also became increasingly digitalised (World Economic Forum, 2020). We discuss the phenomena associated with screen-based learning in the home during the pandemic.
Methods. We interviewed sixty parents from diverse backgrounds using qualitative semi-structured online interviews via Voice over Internet Protocol/VoIP mediated technologies (Microsoft Teams) or telephone interviews.
Methodologically, qualitative semi-structured online interviews are considered advantageous for their flexible and participant-friendly approaches, that help interviewees tell their stories, in their own words and their own time (Eder and Fingerson, 2003). This viewpoint aligns with the interpretivist stance of the study. VoIP mediated technologies allow for real-time interactions between the research team and the participants (Lo Iacono et al., 2016). Telephone interviews, like face-to-face interviews, have the ability to collect meaningful data and are advantageous in terms of their efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility (Azad et al., 2021).
Data sources. We developed a semi-structured interview guide, which included questions on the following:
1) To what extent, and in what ways, did schools facilitate children’s learning during lockdown
2) If screen-based approaches were used, how effective were they from a parental perspective
3) Did parents have any concerns about the use of screens for children’s home-learning
Interviews were recorded with participants’ permission, professionally transcribed (verbatim), coded and analyzed.
Results. Findings establish how teaching and learning behaviors changed during the pandemic; and how through the analysis of changes, we see the emergence of new attitudes towards screen based digital education amongst parents.
We identify positive and negative impacts from the increased use of screens for education, which provides educationalists and policymakers a more thorough understanding of the learning landscape, as the UK government pushes forwards with national digital strategies.
Scholarly Significance. As much literature is framed around the negative portrayal of the short–term and long-term impacts of the pandemic on young people’s education (Ofqual Report, 2021) including the learning loss and widening inequalities narratives (Child Poverty Action Group, 2020), this paper offers alternative viewpoints to be considered.
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