Coping Strategies for Online Learning from Home

Abstract

The closure of schools as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented situation where parents have to take an active role in their children's learning process. This fact has generated both positive and negative emotions and behaviors that had not been evidenced before. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the coping strategies used by parents and their perceptions regarding online learning methods during the pandemic. The research was carried out with a mixed approach, where 201 parents with children in elementary school were recruited through social networks. In the quantitative part, the results revealed that cognitive and spiritual coping strategies predominated, motivated by the level of parental involvement in their children's education. On the other hand, in the qualitative part, a semi-structured interview was used focusing on social relationship, self-blame, and planning, where the emotional and affective bond that parents provided to their children during this period was highlighted. However, their concern and frustration were also evidenced by not having the necessary competencies to support their children's tasks and being unfamiliar with the use of technology, so they sought help from specialists and family members to obtain technological and didactic support that would allow sustaining the parent-school dyad in the transition to online learning from home. These findings lead to a rethink of learning management from the perspective of parents, which gives rise to a digital communication model that links the cognitive, affective, and spiritual aspects.