Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Both Sides of Accountability: Opinions of Teachers and Parents

This study, which aims to examine the distance education experiences of people who work as teachers but who are also parents during the COVID-19 pandemic uses descriptive phenomenology, an approach used in qualitative research. The analysis revealed six main themes that explain the distance education experiences of parent-teachers -- students' academic learning environment, teacher-student communication, use of EIN (education information network) and live lessons, family support, advantages and limitations of distance education, and teachers' views on distance education. The study concluded that the academic learning environment students have during distance learning is inadequate, that the quality and duration of student-teacher communication during distance learning is inadequate, that the quality of teacher-student communication favored students in private schools over teacher parent-children communication, that parent-teachers possessed negative views about distance education, and that distance learning led to unequal opportunities among students.

What Happened When COVID-19 Shut Down In-Person Higher Education? Parents Speak Out

This study was designed to understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the family's role in their students' college experiences. Specifically, the authors examined parents' attitudes towards institutions' COVID-19 decision-making, parents' perceptions of communication quality between families and institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the short-term impact of the pandemic on students' education and personal well-being in addition to family well-being.

Psychological Issues on Family Caregivers of Stroke Patients in Brunei Darussalam: In the Era of Pandemic COVID-19

Family caregivers play an important role in providing main support for family members with a disability in order for them to function normally in their everyday life. The main goal of this research study is to promote psychological health awareness of stroke family caregivers in Brunei Darussalam, especially during the pandemic of COVID-19. This study concentrated particularly on long-term family caregivers who provide care to stroke family members who were severely affected by the disease that caused them to heavily depended on their family caretakers. This qualitative research involves interviewing 8 locals participants using snowballing sampling and a thematic analysis approach that investigate thoroughly the challenges and identifies the needs required by family caregivers in Brunei. The findings of the study discovered that all family caregivers experience psychological issues such as 'Depression' and 'Stress' and are in need of family support and self-care to reduce challenges they experience such as emotional exhaustion, physical problem, sleep deprivation, financial issues, and accessibility to basic needs in caregiving.

Conditions Fostering International Graduate Students' Happiness and Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper focuses on eight conditions that kept international master's students (IMS) in a Southern Ontario university happy and engaged in their studies during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the first phase of the Appreciative Inquiry's (AI) 4-D cycle--i.e., discovery--this doctoral study conducted 14 individual interviews and three focus group discussions to identify conditions that made the IMS students happier and more engaged despite pandemic-related challenges. The study is crucial in advancing positive experiences of IMS because existing literature has focused primarily on their challenges and problems. The study's use of AI, a strength-based theoretical and methodological approach, suggests the need to highlight the quality experiences of this minoritized group. Data revealed specific factors that brought about happiness and boosted IMS engagement in their studies, namely: financial and emotional support from family, responsive instructors, employment opportunities during the pandemic, and learning and engaging in extracurricular activities with colleagues and friends. Other conditions also proved crucial to participants' happiness and engagement in their studies, including: professionalism of non-teaching staff, the institution's learning management system and supporting online platforms, virtual access to campus software and other learning resources, and reduced travel time. Study findings aim to inform international student policy and enrich the international student experience literature.

Is it my job? Leaders' family-supportive role perceptions

PurposeDespite a burgeoning literature on family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB), it is unclear whether supervisors view these behaviors as in-role or discretionary. We proposed a new cognitive motivational construct, FSSB role perceptions (FSSB-RP;that is the extent to which supervisors perceive FSSB as an expected part of their job) and evaluated it as a mediator of the relationship between supervisors' own work–family experiences and FSSB.Design/methodology/approachWe used an online survey of 245 US based supervisors.FindingsWe find that FSSB role perceptions is a unique but related construct to FSSB, and that approximately half of our sample of 245 supervisors either do not believe that FSSB is a part of their job or are unsure as to whether it is. Path analyses revealed that supervisors' own experiences of work–family conflict and enrichment are related to engaging in FSSB through role perceptions, especially when a reward system is in place that values FSSB.Practical implicationsThese results may influence the design, implementation and dissemination of leader family-supportive training programs.Originality/valueThe factors that drive supervisors to engage in FSSB are relatively unknown, yet this study suggests the novel construct of FSSB role perceptions and supervisors' own work–family experiences are important factors.