Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 forced schools in China to shift abruptly to online learning, placing unexpected demands and responsibilities on parents who supported their children’s online learning over a two-year period (2020-2022). Families and teachers were unprepared for this change, especially for families with young children. This study examines how parents as co-educators navigated these responsibilities and developed Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) within international school contexts during the pandemic. A qualitative design was adopted, utilising semi-structured interviews with three parents of children aged 3-9 years enrolled in an International school that offers the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in China. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. The TPACK framework was used to analyse the data to determine how parents integrated technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. Findings reveal that parents initially struggled with unfamiliar technologies and pedagogical strategies. However, they gained a sophisticated knowledge of supporting their children’s learning online over the two-year period. Children's online learning was influenced by contextual factors, such as device access, parental workload, household composition, culture, and developmental level. Parental TPACK was developed through experiential experiences, which differed from those of teachers with formal training, thereby expanding the framework beyond teacher use. The study highlights the critical role of parents as co-educators, with implications that include strengthening parent-school partnership models, developing hybrid-readiness policies, and underscoring the need for policies that account for home-based learning in future educational planning, particularly during times of crisis.
 

Keywords

References

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