Inclusion and exclusion during COVID 19 school closures

TY - JOUR

T1 - Inclusion and exclusion during COVID 19 school closures

AU - Qvortrup, Lars

AU - Wistoft, Karen

N1 - The authors were supported by the Research Council of Norway (grant number: 325977) during the preparation of this article.

PY - 2024/8/21

Y1 - 2024/8/21

N2 - In spring 2020, schools across the world closed down for students and teachers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, there have been numerous inquiries into how the school closures affected students. However, most of these inquiries apply a simple causal perspective according to which school closures are described as cause, and poor wellbeing, learning loss, etc. as effects. The aim of this article is to identify the complex social mechanisms that were triggered in the schoolchildren’s everyday lives in relation to school and home. The method employed is to analyze quantitative and qualitative data concerning students’ (n = 5,953) and parents’ (n = 5,054) reactions to the school closures in Denmark in spring 2020 through the lens of a system theoretical understanding of inclusion and exclusion mechanisms. The analysis demonstrates that one important reason for the consequences of school closures was that fundamental school-based inclusion and exclusion processes were interrupted, and that these processes could not be fully compensated by parents and siblings or by the use of digital media. Finally, the analysis argues that the closures not only affected the students’ learning and wellbeing but also presented a threat to their acquisition of fundamental inclusion and exclusion competencies.

AB - In spring 2020, schools across the world closed down for students and teachers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, there have been numerous inquiries into how the school closures affected students. However, most of these inquiries apply a simple causal perspective according to which school closures are described as cause, and poor wellbeing, learning loss, etc. as effects. The aim of this article is to identify the complex social mechanisms that were triggered in the schoolchildren’s everyday lives in relation to school and home. The method employed is to analyze quantitative and qualitative data concerning students’ (n = 5,953) and parents’ (n = 5,054) reactions to the school closures in Denmark in spring 2020 through the lens of a system theoretical understanding of inclusion and exclusion mechanisms. The analysis demonstrates that one important reason for the consequences of school closures was that fundamental school-based inclusion and exclusion processes were interrupted, and that these processes could not be fully compensated by parents and siblings or by the use of digital media. Finally, the analysis argues that the closures not only affected the students’ learning and wellbeing but also presented a threat to their acquisition of fundamental inclusion and exclusion competencies.

KW - Covid-19

KW - Disabilities

KW - Exclusion

KW - Inclusion

KW - Inclusion competencies

KW - School closures

KW - Students

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201713116&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13603116.2024.2390635

DO - 10.1080/13603116.2024.2390635

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

SN - 1360-3116

JO - International Journal of Inclusive Education

JF - International Journal of Inclusive Education

T2 - Trivsel og mistrivsel blandt børn og unge. Hvad ved vi, og hvad kan vi gøre?

Y2 - 27 March 2023 through 27 March 2023

ER -