Students’ wellbeing in online dance coursework amid pandemic

Abstract

The students online dance coursework performances are affected due to low family income. This study aims to understand the students' wellbeing in the new education setup amidst the pandemic. It used a descriptive qualitative research design ensuing the six steps: familiarizing with data, creating codes, theming, reviewing, defining, and naming and producing the final report by Clarke and Braun1 thematic analysis of qualitative data interpretation. Anchored on the interview and focus group discussion using google meet recording. For the twenty-two student respondents in online dance coursework, the central theme identified is low family income which ripples the effect having four sub- themes identified based on the patterns of the responses. The following sub-themes derived are: (a) unreliable gadgets, (b) limited internet access, (c) overwhelming activities, and (d) emotionally distressed with sub-themes of the pandemic, family problems, environment, and due dates resulting in delayed to no submission of output. Listening to students' realities reveals that most of their families have low incomes, hampers them from attending an online dance class. And it creates a ripple effect on students' lives, be it in school activities, family, and personal responsibilities and concerns, leading to depression and stopping attending online classes. The teachers play a significant role in the well-being of the students by alleviating and motivating them to pursue their education amidst the challenges. From time to time, conduct and provide an accommodating, safe, non-judgmental and conducive for learning environment during informal talks about students' present situations. Then plan, organize, and provide alternative activities appropriate to students' context.