New Norm, Old Obstacles: The Impact of Distance Learning on Student Agency during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Authors

  • Tyler Cardenas Mt. San Antonio College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15273/jue.v13i2.11798

Abstract

Mandatory distance learning implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic has produced a new educational landscape for elementary students. Working- and middle-class students have had to meet new expectations around class attendance, homework, and time management, and some are now responsible for overseeing their own education. This study examines students’ agentive expressions and perceptions of time to explore the effects of these expectations, and to contribute to a discussion about the implications of distance learning. Through participant observation and interviews with elementary school students across four Southern California school districts, this study offers insights into how students conceptualize their new role in their education and it provides concrete examples of how this manifests day-to-day. Students from ages five to thirteen learning from home, especially those with limited assistance
from guardians throughout the school day, have new responsibilities and a greater sense of “their time,” through which they simultaneously discover and establish their position as agents in their education.

Val and her garden. Photo by Lauren Culverwell.

Downloads

Published

2023-11-24

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

By sending potential submissions to the editors, you grant The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography a royalty-free, perpetual, license to: use, reproduce, store, adapt, translate, and publicly display such submissions for any purpose.  In addition to the grant of the above license, you hereby consent to your name appearing as the contributor of any submission where applicable, and to the disclosure and/or display of such information and any other information which appears in or is associated with a submission. Further, you acknowledge and agree that The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography is not responsible for any loss, damage, or corruption that may occur to your submissions, and acknowledge and agree that any submissions you provide for display on the website will be considered non-confidential. If your manuscript is rejected, the above license is revoked, and your submission (manuscript, name, and associated documentation) will be stored only in the correspondence records of The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. You may submit your manuscript to other publications, but must withdraw if selected for publication in The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. Your paper itself is published using a strict Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License that allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can‘t change them in any way or use them commercially. You retain the right to grant other permissions.