COVID-19 did not damage the relationship with families, according to leaders and teachers in compulsory schools

Abstract

The first wave of COVID-19 in Iceland lasted from March to May in 2020. Around 92% of the compulsory schools remained open, albeit with some restrictions in order to minimize the risk of spreading the pandemic amongst school children. These restrictions included grouping students and organising their attendance in school at different times or days. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture did not organise attendance in school centrally but was active in the discussion of best solutions. Local authorities and school leaders made the decisions, thus solutions diverged between schools and school districts, although all students were expected to study at home to compensate for time not spent at school. Schools also responded by increasing information to parents and almost all of them started some kind of distance teaching to support students when they were supposed to study at home. Neither children nor their parents are a homogeneous group and these changes in compulsory schooling affected families in different ways.

Researchers on the impact of COVID-19 on compulsory schooling and school children have already revealed negative effects. Children belonging to lower SES groups were more likely than other children to lack support from their schools, and during school closures in Britain and Ireland, parents’ educational level also influenced the material they received from teachers to assist their children (Bayrakdar & Guveli, 2020; Doyle, 2020). In Norway schools closed for six weeks in spring 2020 but then gradually opened again. Scientists from health and educational institutions in Norway pointed out that evidence for the effect of school closures on the reduction of COVID-19 disease burden is limited, while the negative consequences of school closures include the real risks of deepening social, economic and health inequities (Johansen et al., 2020). The authorities stated that rules or guidelines, they had provided on safe reopening of schools, were perceived as reassuring for the concerned parents and teachers involved.

This research builds on answers from school leaders and teachers that participated in an online-survey in April-May 2020. Answers came from 151 compulsory school out of 170 in total in Iceland. The questions focused on teachers’ and school leaders’ opinions regarding the re-organisation of teaching and learning during the first wave of COVID-19, with special attention to home-school relationship.

Findings showed that teachers and school leaders were fully aware that students’ opportunities to study at home were diverse. Even so – or maybe just because of that – they put a lot of effort into keeping the schools open as much as possible, also to provide students with books and tasks to work on at home. Teachers used more time than usual in teaching and in planning and preparing as they had to change the curriculum considerably. They spent additional time on contacting and informing students’ families. School leaders and teachers were very content with the teaching in general, but they were less content with parent participation in children’s studies. The professionals were concerned about students in vulnerable groups, such as students of immigrant origin or those with weak social background. Those students were more often missing from school than their fellow classmates. The findings reveal a slight disappointment relating to communication with parents during this period, although many teachers and school leaders report that they received support and praise from parents as well. Altogether, findings suggest that home-school relations were strengthened rather than weakened during the first wave of COVID-19.