FAMILY-RELATED FACTORS THAT DETERIORATE EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITIES: THE CASE OF EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING (ERT) DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN GREECE

Maria Rafaela Tziouvara, Domna - Mika Kakana

Abstract


The abrupt outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led countries worldwide to adopt a series of safety measures to protect public health. This unprecedented health crisis has greatly impacted the educational sector, leading to the precipitous adoption of an emergency type of distance education called Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). ERT was an urgent solution to provide teachers and students with an online environment to continue the educational process while interacting safely from home. The new normality formed by the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought to the surface and may have exacerbated already existing educational inequalities. In this paper, we explore family-related factors that may have led to the deterioration of educational inequalities during school closures. The research design followed a mixed method, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, respectively. The participants in our quantitative research were 271 parents and in our quantitative research were 20 parents from various regions of Greece. The results indicate important family-related factors, such as Individual factors, Parental involvement, Parental support, Technical/technological factors, Infrastructure, Economic factors, and Geographical factors, which had a significant role in children's Participation in ERT and may have increased existing educational inequalities. Our findings show that the Language spoken at home, Parents’ education, Digital skills, Employment status during ERT, Combination of work and supporting child(ren) during ERT, Ability to understand and explain the educational material for ERT, Ability to resolve technical/technological problems, Internet connectivity, Access to online educational platforms, Access and Adequacy of the technological equipment and Place of residence, played a significant role in students’ participation in ERT. Our research provides useful information that can be used in the future to promote students’ participation in ERT and tackle educational inequalities.

 

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family-related factors, parents, educational inequalities, Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), COVID-19

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