Lessons to Keep: Learning in the Time of COVID

• In Event: Families, COVID, and Unequal Schooling: Stories and Lessons From the Field

Abstract

In Fall, 2020, in response to family distress reported widely, we conducted five online convenings between families hosting their children’s educations in their homes and technologists who had created the tools and learning systems used for remote learning. We wanted to (a) uncover the issues families were facing and (b) engage the technologists who created the platforms being used.

Theoretical Framework. Three constructs afforded a nuanced analysis of our data (a) Eisner’s notion of educational connoisseurs; (b) black feminists’ conceptualizations of criticism; and (c) transgressive carework to peel the layers of critique and care being balanced by families. As they stepped back from their direct misgivings about technology as users and user/critics, families offered a larger critique of systems and structures.

Methods. Each three-hour convening afforded the opportunity for families and technologists to talk and listen. Of the participating 75 urban families in the study, 77% were from Spanish speaking households, 19% from English speaking homes and 4% spoke Khmer/Cambodian. During the convenings, families shared observations of student learning and interaction with their teachers. Fourteen technologists representing seven tech companies listened to the ways in which their products facilitated and hindered learning and communication. They asked questions and, in one convening, had a chance to talk about their work and products. Technologists then created prototypes of improved processes, designs, and new products that could reduce barriers to learning and communication. They test drove those prototypes with the families in their last convening. All zoom sessions were conducted with English/Spanish translators and trained facilitators.

Data sources and Findings. Transcripts were coded by at least two coders, a codebook created, and a set of themes co-constructed. Families in this study were exquisitely attuned to the ways in which technology mediated teaching and learning. As they stepped back from their direct misgivings about technology as users and user/critics, a larger critique of systems and structures emerged: Families as (a) First Educators; (b) Transgressive Caregivers; and (c) Learners.

The shifts in everyday routines and rising uncertainty as the pandemic evolved in 2020 were compounded by the new roles that families assumed in virtual schooling. Whether parents lost paid work, began working from home, or continued working outside their homes, their new roles as educators became full-time jobs. One parent said that her new insights about her son’s learning compelled her to work with her son’s teachers, and she was “surprised at how much we’ve been able to improve his focus (CFam290).” Decoding instructional language was a critical pivot point that enabled families to design supports and decode the grammar of instruction.

Scholarly Insight. The findings underscore how historically persistent systemic failures were exacerbated during the pandemic. Families built critiques from an evaluative stance and situated them in their social locations in ways that indexed power disparities. These findings underscore the key role that family insight and partnership play in improving learning designs and outcomes. The policy implications extend from local contexts to federal policy.

Authors

• Tamara Handy, Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth B. Kozleski, Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Karoline Trepper, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Emma Bene, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author