A Preliminary Examination of Key Strategies, Challenges, and Benefits of Remote Learning Expressed by Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Among the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most dramatic was the immediate closure of in-person schooling when parents were faced with much greater responsibility in supporting their children’s learning. Despite this, few studies have examined parents’ own perspectives of this experience. The aims of this preliminary study were to (1) identify challenges, benefits, and useful strategies related to remote learning and (2) examine differences in findings across two countries, between parents of youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and between parents of children and adolescents. To address these aims, parent responses to open-ended questions on the Home Adjustment to COVID-19 Scale (HACS; Becker et al., 2020) were examined across three studies conducted in the United States and Australia (N=606, children: 68.5% male, ages 6-17 years). The challenges most frequently expressed by parents included the child’s difficulty staying on task (20.5%), lack of motivation (15.3%), remote learning factors (13.4%), and lack of social interaction (10.9%). The most frequently expressed strategy related to using routines and schedules (51.4%) and the biggest benefit was more family time (18.3%). Findings were largely consistent across countries, ADHD status, and age, suggesting that many parental responses to remote learning appear to be universal. Given that the most common challenges were child- (e.g., difficulties with staying on task and motivation), parent- (e.g., balancing remote learning with work responsibilities), and school- (e.g., limited direct contact with teachers) related, there is a need for improved support across these systems going forward.