Parental Involvement in Children's Mathematics Learning Before and During the Period of the COVID-19

Rita Panaoura Rita Panaoura

doi:10.37256/ser.212021547

Abstract

The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to sudden and unexpected circumstances in education for all the involved people (pupils, teachers, education policymakers, parents). International organizations have paid attention to their responses in crises by using alternative modes of teaching. The typical teaching methods had to be replaced by e-learning processes and all the participants needed to adjust themselves and adapt innovative methods. Most studies concentrated on teachers' and students' difficulties, barriers and new challenges. However, a different role was given to parents as well, especially in the case of primary and the first grades of secondary education, as they were asked to facilitate their children to use the e-learning processes and support them during the learning process. The present study examined the change of parental involvement during the pandemic in comparison to the previous situation in the case of mathematical subject. A questionnaire was constructed and administered to parents from Cyprus at the first days of the school year 2019-2020 in order to examine their beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs about their parental role and involvement during homework at their children's mathematical understanding and the development of their children's perseverance strategies during mathematical problem solving. The same questionnaire was administered to them at the end of the e-learning teaching processes in May 2020, after they had alternative experiences in order to identify any differences at their respective beliefs. Only the sample of parents who took part at both phases of the study was used for the comparative analyses. Results indicated that parents, especially in primary education, had the willingness to support their children's learning under the different teaching and learning processes; however they needed training in order to develop appropriate knowledge, relevant experiences, positive beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs.

Highlights

Classroom instruction is accepted as a central component for understanding the dynamic processes and the organization of students’ mathematical thinking and learning (Cai, 2004)
The recent pandemic of COVID-19 led to the interruption of the normal and typical teaching processes at schools for more than two months
The present study examined this parental involvement at a different framework based on their beliefs and selfefficacy beliefs about their role and contribution

Summary

Introduction

Classroom instruction is accepted as a central component for understanding the dynamic processes and the organization of students’ mathematical thinking and learning (Cai, 2004). This is the normal situation where all the studies are conducted in order to examine the influence and interrelations of the teaching and learning variables. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 led to the interruption of the normal and typical teaching processes at schools for more than two months. Governments implemented measures to limit the number of people in public places and schools and they had to handle the situation in order to offer alternative teaching and learning processes in the cases that were possible

Methods

Results

Conclusion