The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way of life and caused a lot of uncertainty and fear in people. The newly created situation in society required many adaptations of individuals to what was happening, both adults and children. As a result of the preventive measures implemented and adopted during the declaration of the peak of the pandemic, the everyday life of families has changed significantly. Many parents were left either without a job, or were sent to wait for work or worked from home, which further affected their well-being and mental health. At the same time, due to the closing of the schools, they were also forced to take care of the children who were studying remotely.
The basic purpose of the master's thesis was to find out how families with school-age children coped with distance education and with containment measures. I was interested in what the teachers' observations were after the students returned to classes for several months, and what was the impact of the containment measures in the school on the students and their well-being and behaviour. I was also interested in the counsellors’ insight into the problems that families had during school closures and the challenges that arose due to the new containment measures in schools.
The results show that the distance education measure had the greatest impact on the family and its dynamics. The obtained results showed that in the initial phase the students were satisfied with the distance learning measure, but over time it began to appear that the students urgently need social contact and companionship. There were other shortcomings and problems related to the organization and use of ICT technology. Due to home schooling, the time spent in front of screens has increased. Certain parents initially reported fear regarding the disease itself and the situation, while others were advised to stay at home in the initial phase. After a certain time, problems related to the organization and coordination of distance school, work and other obligations began to appear. The parents themselves perceived that the children did not feel well, as they lacked social contact with their peers. After returning to classrooms, the vast majority of parents were concerned about testing and vaccinations.
On the part of the teachers, it was the most difficult in the initial phase, as they were mostly left to their own autonomy, and the guidelines and instructions from the Ministry were delayed and arrived too late. After a certain period of time, it became easier to carry out lessons through cooperation and the establishment of ICT tools. However, problems arose in other areas, as they found that the children's motivation, on the other hand, fell sharply. Counselled workers also noticed a decline in motivation for work, and after returning to classes a large deficit in several areas. It was also a challenge to plan lessons while taking into account preventive measures in the school. At the same time, the principals also had to deal with a lot of additional work brought about by the new restrictions, and at the same time, they were able to devote more time to the parents, since they were the only ones who had more dilemmas, questions and comments.
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