Play and Trauma in Young Children during a Pandemic

Vygotsky (1978) describes play as having three main components, one being the ability for a child to create an imaginary situation, the second taking on and acting out roles, and the third, following a set of rules that were determined by the roles children took on during play during social or group settings. Hence, supporting much needed social skills and processes that foster a positive social development. The ambiguities of play, specifically the intricate functions between what play entails and the aligned developmental outcomes of play, makes defining play challenging. Research has revealed that children who are in isolated environments, with reduced physical contact among peers of their own age, tend to have lower levels of academic achievements, and are more susceptible to long term psychological stress as they get older (Ammermueller, 2012, Lacey, Kumari & Bartley, 2014). Specifically, the trauma of isolation affects both the social and cognitive domains of development among preschoolers. Isolation, also takes a toll on the type of play children can engage in. The lack of play during a pandemic can prevent children from feeling a sense of joy and familiarity. This article describes how play is not just a mechanism for supporting academic achievement in young children, but also a form of supporting emotional survival during a crisis.

Building Back Better with Poems: Exploring Theory of Mind/Reflective Functioning, Emotional Literacy, and Poetry in a Pandemic Pod

During the 2020-21 school year, remote instruction due to COVID-19 significantly limited children's access to school-based social interactions. As schools return to in-person instruction, we ask: Can poetry and metaphor be used to develop theory of mind (ToM)/reflective functioning and emotional literacy in the early elementary setting? This article documents the use of poetry in a pandemic pod with four children ages four to eight years, demonstrating the relationship between children's developing understanding and use of metaphor and their emotional literacy skills. Although the psychological significance of ToM is well documented, the field of education rarely focuses on the role school environments play in supporting this essential building block of learning. Our findings support the use of content-rich instruction and the significant role parents and teachers play in supporting the emotional development of children.

Using "Positioning" Theory to Analyze a Female School Teacher's Experiences with Care Work during COVID-19 in India: Towards Decolonizing Feminist Research

The past few decades have been marked by growing awareness about the need to move beyond Anglocentric/Eurocentric epistemes, to instead engage in intellectual projects that effectively (re)present the voices and consciousness of marginalized populations (Manion & Shah, 2019). The term decolonizing research methodologies has thus come to acquire a central place within feminist research in the field of Comparative and International Education (CIE), with rallying calls to foreground the complexities and uniqueness of the lived realities of women through non-hierarchical and non-dichotomous modes of meaning-making (Lugones, 2010). However, methodological literature on decolonizing feminist research is largely linked to the data collection phase, with limited engagement with how to effectively analyze data once it is collected. This study demonstrates the use of positioning theory, a form of discourse analysis, as a decolonial analytical framework to investigate the micro details of a female school teacher's experiences with care work during COVID-19 in India. The analysis revealed the shifting, often contextual nature of the identities that the participant claimed for herself throughout the narrative, such as a pampered daughter, critical observer, adjusting daughter-in-law, guilty mother, and strategic choice maker. The study ends by making a case for the potential use of positioning theory towards decolonizing feminist research because of its ability to draw attention to the multiple and/or contradictory identities that participants claim for themselves throughout the discursive interaction.

Learning Loss Problems of Students Based on the Teachers and Parents' Perspectives as the "Tri Sentra Pendidikan" Actors during Online Learning

"Tri Sentra Pendidikan" has faced challenges during the pandemic. Teachers and parents as actors in the "Tri Sentra Pendidikan" or Three Centers of Education were close to the problem of learning loss during the pandemic. The limitations of learning dared to cause teachers and students to experience obstacles in the process of conveying and receiving learning knowledge. Parents could not be fully present in the learning process at home with the complexity of home activities that have changed since the pandemic situation. Qualitative research with a phenomenological approach was conducted on eight informants consisting of four teachers and four parents from various regions in Indonesia. The research results indicated that teachers and parents, and character education, were significant to note because of the link between learning loss and the development of children's character. Teachers and parents must ensure the effective use of technology for learning used by children in addition to the technological mastering skills by current students. It was because children's technological skills could be a solution to minimize learning loss if the practice or used as directed by teachers and parents who were actively paying attention and controlling. Teachers and parents, as actors in the "Tri Sentra Pendidikan," must know the students' characteristics to determine the right strategy for the development of student education.

Preservice Teachers Engage Parents in At-Home Learning: "We Are in This Together!"

During pandemic school closures, preservice teachers designed activity plans to support the at-home learning of children in early elementary grades and recognized parents as vital to supporting their children's learning. This article uses data from a multiple case study of preservice teachers' planning during an alternate practicum. Drawing on models of family vibrancy and parent engagement that arise from funds of knowledge and parent knowledge theories, we highlight how preservice teachers included parents in reciprocal and democratic ways that honoured diverse family's contexts and their knowledge of their children. Results illustrate the importance of asset-oriented, flexible pedagogies that include meaningful parent partnerships both during and beyond the pandemic.

The Correlation between Digital Literacy and Parents' Roles towards Elementary School Students' Critical Thinking

This study aimed at discovering the positive and significant relationships between digital literacy and the roles of parents together on the critical thinking skills of fifth-grade elementary school students. This study employs quantitative research, particularly correlational research. This research includes comparative causal research. This research is a quantitative research with a correlational design. The sample used was 70 students who were randomly selected. The data collection method used in this study was a survey using a questionnaire. The data analysis technique used to test the hypothesis is the product-moment correlation technique and regression multiple correlation analysis. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive and significant correlation between digital literacy and critical thinking skills. There is a positive and significant correlation between the roles of parents and critical thinking skills. There is a positive and significant correlation between digital literacy and the roles of parents together on critical thinking skills.

Religious and Educational Values in Rural Communities Due to COVID-19 in Bulusan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

For the past three years, all parts of the world have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The existence of the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on various things, including a decline in mental health for some people. This study aims to describe the values of religiosity and educational values of parents in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulusan Hamlet. This research was conducted in Bulusan Hamlet from February to March 2021. This qualitative research used a qualitative descriptive approach. The informants are members of the community and head of Bulusan. Data collection techniques using interviews to the heads of the hamlets and members of the people and using documentation. The data analysis technique was carried out using an interactive model from Miles and Huberman which consisted of data reduction, display data, conclusion/verification. The results showed that the values of religiosity that developed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulusan include: (1) Religious values, including: akidah, moral, worship, da'wah, and muamalah, and (2) Parents' educational values, including: leadership, facilitator, controlling, teaching, and modeling. The implications of this research are values and their implementation can be used as role models for other villagers, especially in the Sleman district.

Pods in Action: Joanna Rosa-Saenz. How a Bootstrapping Parent-Run Pod Served At-Risk Students

When the pandemic closed schools in Denver, an enterprising parent with community connections stepped in to meet immediate needs--and paved a new path to supporting students and families in the future. Joanna Rosa-Saenz determined to "turn negatives into positives" by using whatever means she had to ensure her children and others in the community had a safe space to continue learning. That meant stepping up and creating such a space herself. She converted her basement into a classroom, used her car like a school bus, and devoted her time and energy to support a pod that served up to 14 students at a given time. She welcomed them for as long as they needed to stay and charged no tuition. Older students mostly followed their school's remote instruction, with Rosa-Saenz serving in a supervisory role rather than providing direct academic instruction. True to Montessori-style teaching, Rosa-Saenz involved the older students as mentors for younger students. This article provides details on how Rosa-Saenz operated a pod in her community, which led to strong relationships with students and between students.

Home Literacy Initiatives of Middle School Families during the 2020 Quarantine Period: Transformation in Education?

The coronavirus pandemic changed everything almost overnight for students and their families. The purpose of this qualitative case study, thus, was to investigate the views of families about the student change in education for their middle school children, particularly literacy practices, during the pandemic. Drawing on Bourdieu's (1984) theoretical framework of cultural capital, coupled with economic status, funds of knowledge, and crisis management, we conducted interviews with four parents. Using the in vivo coding data analysis method, we identified some key preliminary findings: all-day happy hour, the strange disconnection between teachers and parents, and soft and hard approaches to school-home literacy. Participants revealed very distinctive dispositions to make this "school-home" education work on their own. These parental dispositions and new meaning-making from their children's education developed into what we referred to as "parentagogy," as they determined for themselves the skills they would need to use to help their children succeed in their new roles as parent and educators. This study confirms the importance of parental value in education.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on MotherScholars: A Comparative Case Study of United States and Australian Higher Education Women Faculty Role Strain

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences of women faculty with children in the United States and Australia as they contend with the blended roles and responsibilities of being a mother and an academic (i.e., MotherScholars). Using interpretive comparative case study design, the researchers interviewed MotherScholars to identify common themes based on roles and responsibilities that emerged as a result of the pandemic-caused shift to remote academic demands. Three primary themes emerged: (a) accumulative burdens, (b) rationalization, and (c) gendered expectations. These themes were explored through the lens of Goode's (1960) role strain theory to examine the experiences of both groups of MotherScholars. For these MotherScholars the circumstances of the pandemic rendered obsolete many coping mechanisms previously utilized to manage role strain, which contributed to increased role strain from the conflict between the role systems for mother and scholar. While the pandemic affected everyone, this research adds insight into how cultural contexts and norms can mitigate or exacerbate challenging circumstances.

Online Learning: How Does It Impact on Students' Mathematical Literacy in Elementary School?

This study aims to find out how to improve elementary school students' mathematical literacy in online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study uses a pre-experimental method with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The population in this study were grade 5 students in one of the sub-districts in Bandung. The sample used random sampling criteria with a total of 50 students. The instrument used a mathematical literacy test and an online learning perception questionnaire. The data analysis measures descriptive and inferential statistics using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 25. The results show that online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic is going well, although in its implementation, there are still various obstacles and problems. Based on the results of the t-test that the sig. is 0.000. So, there are differences in mathematical literacy skills before and after online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is also supported by the N-Gain score of 0.35 in the medium category. This research is expected to contribute to education to create effective online learning and improve mathematical literacy skills, especially in elementary schools.

Empowering Latinx Families to Help Children with Mathematics

The authors' experiences with Latinx families confirm research that shows parents are willing and have the desire to help their children with their mathematics schoolwork (Colegrove and Krause 2016). However, structural barriers make it challenging for Spanish-speaking parents to support their children's mathematics learning. For example, districts that offer computer and high-speed internet access fall short when they fail to give technical assistance and instructions in families' native languages (Chandra et al. 2020). Parents cannot then access school communication about academics and parent meetings. When parents cannot participate in their children's learning, this reinforces deficit attitudes that schools have toward immigrant families (Colegrove and Krause 2016). However, social media can support communication with families and increase their mathematics resource use at home. In the United States, 72 percent of Hispanic adults regularly use social media, and smartphones are often their primary means of access to digital resources (PEW Research Center 2019). This article describes the authors' innovative approach to support and empower Latinx families with preschool-age children and leverages their high use of mobile phones by sharing videos modeling conversations about mathematical concepts. To study the usefulness, accessibility, and usability of this approach, they conducted a pilot program with Spanish-speaking families in Massachusetts.

Kalayaan, Katarungan, Karangalan and Kapwa: A Provisional Exploration of Children's Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic through Philippine Virtue Ethics

This article presents a qualitative study in which families recorded themselves reading a child-friendly book about a bear in lockdown and combines ethnographic and autoethnographic methods to examine the reactions of home educated and traditionally schooled children during Aotearoa New Zealand's COVID-19 lockdowns. This research theorizes data sourced from family reading sessions through the writings of Philippine psychologist Virgilio Enriquez and the indigenous Philippine concepts of "kalayaan" (relational autonomy), "katarungan" (justice), "karangalan" (self-respect) and "kapwa" (shared inner identity). This research considers how children's experiences of lockdown differed according to their investment in a primarily school-based identity. It argues that pedagogies of love and care, along with the prospect of supporting children as they cope with the pandemic, should entail a recentering of reciprocal modes of thinking, doing, and relating.

School Is Closed! Opportunity, Challenge, and Inequality in the Early Days of the Pandemic

Drawing on biweekly interviews with thirty children from Southern Ontario, Canada, from diverse backgrounds and most of whom were between 8 years old and 15 years old, our paper discusses children's educational experiences when schooling shifted online during the first few months of the pandemic. We focus on the challenges and opportunities that were offered during that time, with a particular focus on how these were significantly shaped by inequality. We address the following key themes, all with attention to related inequalities: shifts in children's engagement with space and time;differential availability of help when faced with challenges in online schooling;missing school friends, peers, and teachers and strategies to remain connected;and finally, how some on- and offline schooling activities, as well as independent, explorative learning, helped the children to enjoy their online schooling.

Functional Skills for Learners with Special Educational Needs amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

The key purpose of this study is to determine the functional skills of learners with special educational needs (LSENs) in terms of life skills, social skills and community-based learning skills in the identified schools in Toledo City Division. It employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods to assess the functional skills of LSENs amidst the pandemic as rated by the parents. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling technique. The study utilised an adapted the research tool. The findings show that most of the learners were aged 10 years old or older, male, non-graded and with intellectual disabilities, while most of the parents were poor, housewives and had a high school level. The result also revealed that parents rated LSENs with moderate functional skills. The challenges encountered by parents include lack of relevant training, lack of knowledge about child care and lacks of time. With this, the school administrators should design responses with specific contexts and consider implementation of the functional skills of learners. Hence, the adoption of the parental intervention plan for LSENs is recommended.

How Did Parents Balance It All? Work-from-Home Parents' Engagement in Academic and Support Roles during Remote Learning

This study reports the transitional lived experiences of work-from-home parents, uncovering their roles and activities while balancing duties of working, parenting, and assisting children with remote learning. Using a phenomenological approach, a three-step coding process was applied to organize a macro-micro view of parent engagement emerging from ten semi-structured interviews with parents from the Philippines. Parents demonstrated a positive mindset amidst balancing five academic roles including organizing learning, facilitating learning, monitoring learning, motivating learning, nurturing learning, and a sixth role in supporting learning. The role of "supporting learning" was deemed most important and central to the success of other roles. Parents assumed a primary instructor role as teachers were less prepared and performed activities distinctive to student needs. Parents served as digital classroom managers who organized schedules, assisted with assignments/projects and participated in online chat groups. Parents repurposed living spaces and furniture for makeshift study and work areas. Parents helped children develop an online learning mindset but faced challenges motivating children to focus and finding the right mix of screen-time. Parents valued children's well-being, bonding time, socialization, and life skills. This research is a novel contribution of work-from-home parent experiences and adds to the literature on remote/ online education during COVID-19.

Learning at Home: Parents' Lived Experiences on Distance Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

COVID-19 pandemic has closed-down educational institutions and dramatically shifts the instruction to distance learning. However, students rooted from the marginalized families and from rural areas have limited access to technology necessary for online learning. Modular learning addresses this learning inequality by providing more inclusive access to education. This study explored the lived experiences of the parents who act as learning supervisor, tutor, and home-schooling teacher for modular learning during the health crisis. This research surveyed parents from the Philippines and applied Inductive Content Analysis. The results showed an agreement on the effectiveness of the implemented educational policies to contain the pandemic including the nationwide closures of schools, delaying the reopening of classes, and implementation of various instructional modalities. On the other hand, parents have encountered various challenges from the new mode of learning in virtual setting;delivery of instruction;unsatisfactory learning outcomes;financial difficulties while working for the family during lockdown;struggle with the use and availability of technology;and personal problems on health, stress, and learning style. This study serves as a basis for providing a comprehensive and inclusive education policies while considering the perspective of the learners' parents during the pandemic and beyond.