Connecting the Dots: Reflections on Young Children’s Voices during COVID -19

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has affected the education system in Palestine in all respects, with perhaps the most important change being the need for a rapid transition away from in-person instruction to digital e-learning, which resulted in a months-long closure of physical schools in Palestine. While this rapid pivot to online learning had implications for all children's learning and development, this is vividly illustrated in the experiences of young children enrolled in kindergarten. As such, this study highlights the voices of 50 kindergarten children in Jerusalem, ages four and five, as they describe their responses to the shift from in-person to online learning. Drawing from interviews and analyses of synchronous and asynchronous lessons, the findings suggest that the young children selected for this study demonstrated minimal engagement and low motivation to participate in passive online learning, with a strong desire to return to in-person learning in schools.