Teaching and parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The closure of school buildings not only meant interrupting a student’s learning process and daily schedule, but it also represented significant changes in our family’s routine and its access to books, instructional materials, educational technology (in classrooms and libraries), and one of the most crucial areas: food. This autoethnography study offers invaluable insights for educators and school leaders as it provides real-time context for how changes in schooling affect families during a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic. This study was conducted through the lens of critical pedagogy addressing specific aspects of the diffusion of innovations framework. Freire’s critical pedagogy (1970) starts from the premise that a critical education must lead to the development of citizens who are able to reflect on their social, historical, and cultural realities, enabling to transform them. The critical reflection process leads students and teacher to greater autonomy and emancipation. Diffusion is the process by which innovations spread to members of a social system. It is a very social process that involves interpersonal communication relationships (Rogers, 1971, 1995). Through this auto-ethnographic study, I explored, as a parent, educator, member of the USD 383 community, and academic researcher, how these changes were applied at a micro-level in the community and how the real-life implications of implementing the Continuous Learning process in my home were impacted. The communication process was key to determine the success of the process, but as the research, showed the process must be well organized including the players. As for the introduction of innovations, educational technology was not considered a key factor for elementary school children, as its use was mostly optional. The findings from this study inform the education community and school leaders of future challenges and circumstances we may face.