School is closed!

Opportunity, Challenge, and Inequality in the Early Days of the Pandemic

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6714

Abstract

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.

 

Author Biographies

Rebecca Raby, Brock University

Rebecca Raby is a sociologist and professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University. She studies constructions of childhood and youth, intersecting inequalities in young lives, and theories of participation and agency. Her most recent publications include Smart Girls: Success, School and the Myth of Post-Feminism (2017, University of California Press) (with Shauna Pomerantz) and The Sociology of Childhood and Youth in Canada (2018, Canadian Scholars’ Press) (with Xiaobei Chen and Patrizia Albanese).

Nwakerendu Waboso, Brock University

Nwakerendu Waboso is a PhD student in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Her primary research interests include decolonization in education and deconstructing racism within educational policy and curriculum. Her secondary research interests include Critical Disability Studies, social justice, and community mental health. Nwakerendu locates herself as a transdisciplinary scholar, and her perspective is informed by her three primary-school-aged children who inspire her stance as an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion of all children and youth. Nwakerendu hails from the Ibo Tribe in Nigeria, West Africa.

Laurel Donison, Brock University

Laurel Donison is a PhD student at Brock University, Canada, in the Department of Child and Youth Studies. She is an Early Childhood Educator with experience working with children in a variety of different education settings. Laurel’s research interests include outdoor play, learning about children’s experiences and perspectives, as well as exploring arts-based methods and thinking about ethics in qualitative research with young children.

Evan Harding, Brock University

Evan Harding is an MA student in Child and Youth Studies at Brock University studying young peoples’ gendered experiences at a Christian summer camp through qualitative interviews. He also has extensive experience working with children and youth, most recently in the foster home setting.

Keely Grossman, Carleton University

Keely Grossman is a Sociology PhD student at Carleton University, Canada. She is interested in disability justice, deinstitutionalization, youth issues, and addressing inequalities.

Haley Myatt, Brock University

Haley Myatt is an MA student in Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Haley has been working in areas of student leadership for over a decade, both nationally and internationally. Her MA thesis is focused on student council leadership in Canada’s Atlantic provinces.

Lindsay C. Sheppard, York University

Lindsay C. Sheppard is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at York University, Canada. Her research interests include intersections of girlhood and activism in online and offline spaces, activism through art, conceptualizing agency, and young people’s participation.

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Published

2021-08-16

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2021): Special Issue: Emerging Research on the Impacts of COVID-19 for Children, Youth, and Education

Section

International Education Special Issue

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Copyright (c) 2021 Rebecca Raby, Nwakerendu Waboso, Laurel Donison, Evan Harding, Keely Grossman, Haley Myatt, Lindsay C. Sheppard

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