Teachers’ and schools’ approaches to include vulnerable learners in online environments: A comparative study of Norway and the US

• In Event: Inclusive, Equitable and Transformative Approaches to Education

Proposal

This study uses the Quality Learning Framework (QLF) (Maranto et al., 2022) as an analytical lens to investigate how teachers and schools in Norway and the United States reached out to support interaction and include vulnerable learners in online education environments. The unexpected closure of schools and subsequent transition to online environments during the Covid-19 pandemic underscored the critical roles of teacher-learner, learner-learner, and learner-content interactions. The study is framed within education in emergencies and sheds light on challenges related to inclusive practices during emergencies and contributes to the knowledge base that may be used to shape future policy and practices to better support vulnerable learners in any crisis that may disrupt education in the future.
The work presented in this paper stems from a larger study that explored teachers’ perspectives about their readiness to teach online and the approaches used to reach out to and interact with learners, particularly the population of vulnerable learners (Authors, 2020; Authors, 2022). For the purpose of this study, vulnerable learners were defined by aspects related to a learner’s (a) individual situation (e.g., illness, diagnoses, individualized education programmes, language difficulties); (b) family situation (e.g., neglect, mental disability, high level of conflict, addiction); (c) peer relationships (e.g., bullying, the challenge of establishing and staying in stable friendships); and (d) environment (e.g., poverty, criminal background, lack of social network).
Recognizing that disruptions in education resulting from global challenges have the potential to identify issues facing vulnerable learners (Herrenkohl et al., 2021) and inform future actions in times of crises, we investigated:
What measures were implemented at the school, district, or municipality level to include vulnerable students due to closed schools during the COVID-19 crisis?
What actions did teachers take to include vulnerable learners in their online practice at the onset of school closings during the COVID-19 crisis?
An open-ended survey was distributed internationally and collected 1186 responses from teachers during March and April 2020. In this paper, the authors descriptively and qualitatively analyzed responses from Norway (n=574) and US (n=239) participants to identify prevalent themes and perform a thematic and comparative analysis to identify similarities and differences between the approaches in the two countries.
The QLF (Manto et al., 2022) was used as an analytic lens to code teachers’ responses related to their perceptions of what measures were implemented at the school, district, and/or municipality levels as well as their actions to include vulnerable learners in the shift to online teaching. It provides a “holistic perspective on quality education and an inclusive learning environment in which all children are safe and protected, engaged by active and effective teachers/facilitators and supported by their parents/caregivers, community, and school/learning space leadership” (Manto et al., 2022, p. 11). Furthermore, it considers a broad definition of education to include” formal (government led and alternative), non-formal and informal, public and private activities” (Manto et al., 2022, p. 4) in any country, and is resilient and responsive to global challenges such as pandemics, climate change, conflicts, and natural disasters.
Quality learning in the framework is defined by five foundations that support the learning and wellbeing of all children: Emotional and Psychosocial Protection, Physical Protection, Teaching and Learning, Parents and Community, and School Leadership and Management. The foundations are further delineated by components that exemplify and provide nuance to each foundation. For example, the Teaching and Learning foundation is delineated as components: Teaching and Learning materials, Teacher/Facilitator Development and Wellbeing, Language for Learning, Pedagogical Practices, and Lesson Planning, Learning Assessment and Feedback.
We applied the QLF (Maranto et al., 2022) by first extracting indicators within the descriptions of the QLF foundations and related components that brought concreteness and action. The indicators were then used as a guide to identify similar actions in teachers’ responses.
Findings emphasize the vast differences in approaches made by the schools and teachers and how actions and communication strategies were tailored according to local situations and the individual needs of the learners. Additionally, there were indications that teachers took action on their own in the absence of school-wide or school district efforts. Moreover, findings reveal that some measures already existed and worked well to secure equal opportunities for the wide variety of vulnerable learners.
Implications and recommendations generated from this study include the need for teacher education to prepare both student teachers and in-practice teachers with strategies to include all learners in their online teaching. These strategies must go beyond providing access to digital technologies and include attention to pedagogy and emotional needs. At policy level the study provides information on the lack of centralized common guidelines which would secure a minimum educational opportunity and online participation for vulnerable learners. Finally, the formation of support teams in school districts with different stakeholders working with vulnerable learners to coordinate approaches is essential.

Authors

• Greta Björk Gudmundsdottir, Universitetet i Oslo - Institutt for lærerutdanning og skoleforskning

• Dawn Hathaway, George Mason University

• Julia L Lipman, George Mason University