Parents as Partners: School Resilience and Cohesion Post-COVID-19
摘要
The COVID-19 pandemic was a shock to educational systems across the globe and the impacts have not been fully explored in a Canadian context. School closures, shifts to remote learning, and loss of services during the COVID-19 pandemic amplified educational inequalities experienced by all Canadian students, from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and beyond. This chapter explores the impacts of these abrupt changes through the lens of parents and caregivers to help understand how education systems can be built back better to create more equitable, inclusive, and accessible post-pandemic educational opportunities. As parents are regarded as “partners” in their children’s education (Alberta Education, Education act, Chapter E-0.3, 2012), this chapter uses the results of a survey of parents and caregivers (n = 5596) in Alberta, Canada to explore the impacts they noted in their students, namely, the perceived missing skills and the abilities of schools and school boards to address these knowledge gaps. This study finds that parents and caregivers identify several persistent missing skills and knowledge for their children, including academic, social, and emotional skills. Parents and caregivers also provided several areas for possible support interventions, including smaller class sizes, increased funding, more material and training resources for educators, and mental health support.