Inequalities in home learning and schools’ remote teaching provision during the Covid-19 school closure in the UK

TY - JOUR

T1 - Inequalities in home learning and schools’ remote teaching provision during the Covid-19 school closure in the UK

AU - Bayrakdar, Sait

AU - Guveli, Ayse

PY - 2022/6/28

Y1 - 2022/6/28

N2 - Millions were affected by Covid-19 school closures, with parents and schools caught unprepared. Since the role attributed to education in creating equal opportunities, transferring schooling responsibilities to families may increase learning inequalities generated by family backgrounds. We examined the time pupils spent on home learning and explored differences across parental education, eligibility for free school meals, ethnicity and single parenthood. Schools’ distance teaching provisions may explain differences in time spent on home learning. Using the Understandings Society Covid-19 dataset, we found children who received free school meals before the lockdown, children from lower-educated and single-parent families and children with Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds spent significantly less time on schoolwork. Schools’ provision of offline and online distance teaching and homework checking significantly increased the time spent on learning and reduced some inequalities, demonstrating the policy relevance of digital preparedness of schools to limit learning loss in future school closures.

AB - Millions were affected by Covid-19 school closures, with parents and schools caught unprepared. Since the role attributed to education in creating equal opportunities, transferring schooling responsibilities to families may increase learning inequalities generated by family backgrounds. We examined the time pupils spent on home learning and explored differences across parental education, eligibility for free school meals, ethnicity and single parenthood. Schools’ distance teaching provisions may explain differences in time spent on home learning. Using the Understandings Society Covid-19 dataset, we found children who received free school meals before the lockdown, children from lower-educated and single-parent families and children with Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds spent significantly less time on schoolwork. Schools’ provision of offline and online distance teaching and homework checking significantly increased the time spent on learning and reduced some inequalities, demonstrating the policy relevance of digital preparedness of schools to limit learning loss in future school closures.

M3 - Article

SN - 0038-0385

JO - Sociology

JF - Sociology

ER -