Constraints, Contradictions and Challenges regarding Cooperation of Parents during COVID-19: A Social Capital Perspective

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: When calamity hits humanity in the form of natural disasters, they appear unannounced. The same applies to the recent destructive and disruptive Covid-19 pandemic. During the early days of this pandemic, life activities were halted abruptly. Global education systems were not spared - most institutions were caught napping and forced to close. The educational development of children was adversely affected by the hard lockdown and stringent restrictions that followed the outbreak of the pandemic. The role that parents had to play in the education of their children needed to evolve to meet the new demands. Methods: The researchers approached this study from a qualitative interpretivist philosophical stance to interview principals, teachers, and parents. In addition, this paper was located within Coleman’s social capital theory. Results: Amongst the key findings that emerged from the study were serious challenges regarding parents’ cooperation during the Covid-19 pandemic, namely, communication challenges between the school and home, increased learner absenteeism, and failure by learners to do schoolwork. Finally, the study also found that some parents were disinterested and disengaged from the schools. This study is significant because it provides epistemological insights and understanding of the challenges schools experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Discussion: Without exception, all participants felt strongly that the involvement of parents in a child’s education during a pandemic such as Covid-19 is significant. According to Durisic and Bunijevac (2017), the more actively parents are involved in their children's learning, the more benefits are achieved. In contrast, there often seems to be little to no collaboration between the school and the home in ensuring that their common goal of seeing the child succeed is achieved. This is in harmony with the findings of Porumbu and Necsoi (2013) who intimate that, sometimes, parents may feel like they are doing everything to help their children, but due to lack of communication between the parents and the school, the school may feel as though involvement is lacking. Limitations: The study was limited to only three schools and only nine participants were subjected to semi-structured interviews. Conclusions: The study provided epistemological insights regarding the cooperation and involvement of parents during the trying circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study provided the findings which are critical for theory, practice and policy to the education systems regarding future disasters.