tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/home-schooling-13896/articlesHome schooling – The Conversation2023-12-20T19:06:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190002023-12-20T19:06:53Z2023-12-20T19:06:53ZFar-right ‘tradwives’ see feminism as evil. Their lifestyles push back against ‘the lie of equality’<p>There is a seductive simplicity to the “tradwife” trend, with its filtered representations of domestic bliss – from homesteading to homeschooling, home baking to homemaking. </p>
<p>Tradwife is internet shorthand for “traditional wife”. While tradwives emerge across the political spectrum, a small subculture use their platforms to promote the dark ideas of the far right. They operate across social media platforms, prominent on X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and Instagram. For some, the lifestyle seems driven by social media, but for others, it’s a way of living.</p>
<p>The number of tradwives aligned with the far right may be small, but their popularity on social media platforms suggests their cohort is growing. And we know from our research that far-right tradwives are active in Australia, on places such as X and Tik Tok, Instagram and YouTube.</p>
<p>In 2020, UK-based <a href="https://primer.com.au/toad-wives-julie-ebner/">extremism researcher Julia Ebner suggested</a> 30,000 women identified as tradwives or Red Pill Women: <a href="https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/09/07/take-the-redpill-understanding-the-allure-of-conspiratorial-thinking-among-proud-boys/">women aligned with the far-right male online community Red Pill</a>, who claim to be “awakened” to “male subjugation by feminism”. </p>
<p>Journalist Sian Norris, who has investigated the British far right, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/31/white-supremacy-trad-wives-far-right-feminist-politics">wrote this year</a> that while most of these women are in the US, “due to the networked nature of the modern far right”, trends that start there spread around the world. </p>
<p><a href="https://gnet-research.org/2023/07/07/tradwives-the-housewives-commodifying-right-wing-ideology/">Far-right tradwives</a> believe contemporary society is beset by decadence and consumerism, sexual depravity and promiscuity, and “unnatural” ways of living. This is all supposedly engineered to weaken the white race. Becoming a tradwife is one way far-right women push back against these supposed threats. </p>
<p>Ebner believes “the search for love is what radicalises most Trad Wives”: they adopt the rhetoric of men’s rights activists who want “a return to traditional power roles and exaggerated notions of masculinity and femininity”.</p>
<p>Our research shows far-right tradwives believe their roles as mothers and wives guarantee the survival of the white race, while actively weakening enemies. In an effort to encourage men to the cause, some tradwives claim they embraced their “true” femininity only after they were protected by a “real man” who embodies the (toxic) masculine ideals of the far right.</p>
<p>The exploitation of “traditional” gender identities to promote far-right ideas is dangerous. It makes women’s subordination to men seem legitimate – and even natural – and justifies violence when this natural order is disrupted.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/right-wing-extremism-has-a-long-history-in-australia-113842">Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia</a>
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<h2>‘Submitting’</h2>
<p>The tradwife is not a new phenomenon. In recent years, the identity has been adopted by women preferring domestic duties over the modern workforce. The tradwife aesthetic is soft, feminine and sometimes political. Not all tradwives are far-right – and of course, women have every right to choose the lifestyle that best suits them. </p>
<p>Tradwives across the political spectrum believe the place of women is in the home: as wives and mothers. They justify this through political or religious beliefs, or their own personal choices. Many argue they are returning to a traditional way of living that has become unconventional in a society that expects women to be part of the workforce. </p>
<p>For example, tradwife influencer Estee Williams, who has more than 134,000 followers on TikTok, includes submitting to her husband, no opposite-sex friendships and letting her husband have the final say on their finances in her <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@esteecwilliams/video/7193858884636020014">advice for a successful marriage</a>.</p>
<p>One Australian tradwife influencer with a substantial TikTok following (also active on X) similarly exalts submitting to her husband.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ps7g6uB94LQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Estee Williams’ advice for a successful marriage includes submitting to her husband.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Tradwives and the far right</h2>
<p>The far right has long had a girl problem. Far-right men (and women) discuss the <a href="https://news.csu.edu.au/opinion/women-of-the-far-right-not-just-homemakers-and-home-bakers">ideal roles and behaviours</a> of women almost to excess. </p>
<p>For instance, they describe the “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/9/149">good woman</a>” as demure, well-behaved, quietly intelligent – and although incapable of leadership, key to the future of white people. These women are “wounded by the lie of equality, but not broken by it”.</p>
<p>The tradwife is one celebrated form of women’s identity in the far right, weaponised to promote <a href="https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/177/132">racially focused ideas</a>.</p>
<p>The far right centralises women’s value as one of service. This means serving as a wife by caring for – and bearing children for – their husband, and serving children by being a mother. Through those two efforts, they serve – and indeed continue – their imagined racial and cultural heritage. </p>
<p>Far-right ideology has emotional appeal beyond racial concerns, too. Its ideology and structure provides certainty in times of chaos, order in times of disorder, and meaning in times of existential struggle.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566541/original/file-20231219-17-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The far right centralises women’s value as one of service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elina Fairytale/Pexels</span></span>
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<p>For far-right tradwives, ideology provides gendered clarity by mandating how they should behave, dress, live and interact with others. Their roles as wives and mothers are celebrated as a pure, authentic form of white womanhood. The far-right believe tradwives should be the norm – not an exception. </p>
<p>In an era of #girlboss and hustle culture, tradwives feel judged for their lifestyle choices. Ironically, though, many manage carefully curated, sometimes monetised social media followings. (Some even sell social media advice to followers.)</p>
<p>Far-right tradwives argue the insatiable demands of the capitalism system and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-22/tradwife-movement-personal-pleasures-or-extreme-right-ideologies/100356514">feminism</a> are complicit in an all-out war on womanhood. </p>
<p>One prominent far-right tradwife claims feminist domination has resulted in the repression of men who are tired of being <a href="https://impakter.com/from-incels-to-tradwives-understanding-the-spectrum-of-gender-and-online-extremism/">shamed</a> for their masculinity.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-masculinity-what-does-it-mean-where-did-it-come-from-and-is-the-term-useful-or-harmful-189298">'Toxic masculinity': what does it mean, where did it come from – and is the term useful or harmful?</a>
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<p>Those who do not conform to the feminine ideal are seen as unnatural, racial traitors or enemies. Some far-right tradwives use their social media platforms to <a href="https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/177/132">attack the LGBTQIA+</a> community for not adhering to heterosexual norms, as well as feminists and victims of domestic violence. </p>
<p>For instance, in response to the claimed fall in white births, which she attributes to female “traitors”, one tradwife infamously called for the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/opinion/sunday/tradwives-women-alt-right.html">white baby challenge</a>”. “I’ve made six!” she wrote. “Match or beat me!” She is not an exception. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566542/original/file-20231219-29-pbfcsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One tradwife infamously called for ‘the white baby challenge’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rene Asmussen/Pexels</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/ps/article/view/1645/1512">Others use their platforms</a> to denounce measures that aim to promote equality – one made a widely viewed video in which she said “I blame feminism” for welcoming attitudes to refugees.</p>
<p>The political actions of these far-right women <a href="https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/177/132">are carefully positioned</a> as “protective and instinctual”, rather than “power-seeking”.</p>
<p>Through the tradwife ethos, the far right projects a range of ideas harmful to women. They oppose divorce, birth control and women in the workforce, and support “<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/quiverfull-movement-facts_n_7444604">quiverfull</a>” notions of procreation: a conservative Christian movement that rejects contraception and views large families as a blessing. </p>
<p>Our research shows some even argue rape does not exist in marriage. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-extremists-have-used-the-covid-pandemic-to-further-their-own-ends-often-with-chaotic-results-174400">How extremists have used the COVID pandemic to further their own ends, often with chaotic results</a>
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<h2>The feminist agenda</h2>
<p>A favourite topic among far-right tradwives is feminism as an evil, dominating force. The liberal feminist agenda to integrate women into the workforce is seen as the catalyst to the downfall of white men and women – while sexual liberation has destroyed, and in some cases “diluted”, the family unit. </p>
<p>They believe women “forced” to work are robbed of a happy family and strong male provider, while men have been stripped of their “right” to work, marry and bear children. Feminism is seen to erode “traditional” gender norms by undermining the roles women and men are biologically destined to fulfil.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s no problem with women valuing “traditional” roles as mothers and wives. What’s dangerous is when these roles are weaponised to advance the far right’s racially focused agenda – or when women are coerced into conforming, and punished when they transgress its narrow construction of a “good” woman.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1422%2C1050&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C1422%2C1050&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566532/original/file-20231219-17-rhodbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">There’s no problem with valuing ‘traditional’ roles as wives or mothers – the danger is when these roles are weaponised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Vaughan/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>A fantasy twist on history</h2>
<p>Tradwives believe they are returning to a “traditional” gender order. </p>
<p>But in fact, they are living a modern version of a very short period in history during which women were largely excluded from the workforce. </p>
<p>Women have worked outside domestic demands <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/complicated-history-women-working-home/">throughout history</a>, including in textile production and managing crops and livestock. Women were employed in factories during the Industrial Revolution, and in munitions and other forms of military service and production in the 1940s. </p>
<p>This regressed in the 1950s, when women were largely denied genuine access to the workforce – or the ability to choose. The male breadwinner, female homemaker “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_family">nuclear family</a>” ideal of this specific window in time is what tradwives glamorise as “traditional”.</p>
<p>While women’s roles as mothers and wives should be valued, this has been exploited by the far right for their own purpose. </p>
<p>It’s ironic that women who choose to become far-right tradwives are romantically reimagining a time when women couldn’t choose their own conditions – while condemning the feminism that has allowed them to make those choices today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While tradwives emerge across the political spectrum, a small subculture use their platforms to promote the dark ideas of the far-right – including in Australia.Kristy Campion, Senior Lecturer in Terrorism Studies, Charles Sturt UniversityKiriloi M. Ingram, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180622023-12-06T15:53:38Z2023-12-06T15:53:38ZRural communities are being left behind because of poor digital infrastructure, research shows<p>In an era where businesses and households depend on the internet for everything from marketing to banking and shopping, the lack of adequate digital access can be a significant hurdle. And our recent research shows that many <a href="https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/publications/the-socio-economic-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-ceredigion-">homes</a> and <a href="https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/publications/the-economic-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-ceredigion-busine">businesses</a> in the UK are being left stranded in the digital age.</p>
<p>Our two studies focused on a rural county in Wales, Ceredigion, where the lack of reliable digital infrastructure worsened the impacts of the pandemic on families and businesses. Poor digital accessibility and connectivity exacerbated the stress levels of families who were already having to juggle home schooling and working from home. </p>
<p>Similarly, businesses had to struggle with issues around internet provision, availability of effective digital infrastructure and digital proficiency while working and running businesses from home. </p>
<p>Our research involved two online surveys. One focused on households and the other on businesses and the self-employed between April and June 2021. The survey questions were designed to address the challenges and opportunities brought about by the pandemic. </p>
<p>Some important themes emerged in the responses we received to both surveys. These were insufficient digital accessibility and connectivity, lack of digital skills and training opportunities and the cost of broadband and mobile access.</p>
<h2>Household experiences</h2>
<p>Our research showed that 12% of homes did not have enough digital equipment for their needs during the pandemic and 76% of these included children who were being home schooled. Schools and some workplaces provided equipment in some instances, but 18% of households had to borrow equipment. </p>
<p>Despite that ability to borrow, many homes found themselves juggling equipment between homeworking adults and children learning online. Many pupils relied on small mobile devices to access lessons, while others lacked access to equipment like printers.</p>
<p>These problems were compounded in rural and remote areas, where slow broadband speeds and a lack of reliable mobile signal were cited as the biggest issues. Other issues included the cost of broadband and mobile access, the lack of digital skills or training opportunities to improve digital skills, poor customer service from broadband providers and issues with connectivity.</p>
<h2>Business and self-employed experiences</h2>
<p>The pandemic brought similar challenges to businesses. The closure of non-essential firms during the pandemic led to a <a href="https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/e-commerce-in-the-time-of-covid-19-3a2b78e8/">surge</a> in e-commerce. Companies that could embrace online sales were able to continue operating despite lockdowns and restrictions. </p>
<p>But businesses that were slow to adopt e-commerce or lacked the necessary infrastructure struggled to adapt. In fact, our research found that 47% of businesses faced difficulties with digital access and connectivity during the pandemic. Some of the other issues faced by businesses included:</p>
<p>• a lack of reliable broadband or mobile (37%)</p>
<p>• slow broadband speed (29%)</p>
<p>• poor mobile signal (26%)</p>
<p>• lack of digital skills or access to training schemes (16%)</p>
<p>• the cost of access (13%)</p>
<p>People working from home in rural locations also had problems due to a lack of digital infrastructure, poor connectivity and a lack of digital skills. </p>
<h2>Bridging the gap</h2>
<p>In the future, an increased reliance on online work, education and public services, such as online health and welfare support, will further disadvantage those without adequate internet access. The digital divide is widening between those with higher incomes and those with lower incomes. </p>
<p>For example, households with higher incomes were <a href="https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=3051117">more likely</a> to have had access to technology for home schooling and remote working during the pandemic, unlike those with lower incomes.</p>
<p>The gap in access to digital technology is often determined by location too. Remote and sparsely populated areas often lack adequate broadband and mobile signal coverage. Bridging this digital divide is crucial for economic growth, social inclusion and access to essential services. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-supported-children-and-parents-through-covid-19-school-closures-181380">How teachers supported children and parents through COVID-19 school closures</a>
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<p>To address the digital divide, the UK and devolved governments need to invest in digital infrastructure in rural areas to ensure that everywhere has at least a minimum quality coverage. Local authorities could introduce schemes that enable people to gain access to cost-effective computer devices and internet access.</p>
<p>Expanding digital literacy and empowering businesses in rural areas is also crucial. Enhancing digital skills training would better prepare future generations for the digital world. </p>
<p>Additionally, businesses in rural areas require tailored support, such as funding for digital infrastructure upgrades, training opportunities and guidance on consumer privacy and protection, to enable their digital growth and sustainability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218062/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aloysius Igboekwu currently volunteers for a Childcare charity as a Trustee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Plotnikova and Sarah Lindop do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research reveals the digital divide that was exposed by the COVID pandemic.Aloysius Igboekwu, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Aberystwyth UniversityMaria Plotnikova, Lecturer in Economics, Aberystwyth UniversitySarah Lindop, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058482023-06-04T20:04:10Z2023-06-04T20:04:10ZDistance education tutors don’t need any formal qualifications – we should make this role a career<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529712/original/file-20230602-23-f1rer4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are an estimated <a href="https://www.hea.edu.au/">24,000-plus</a> students who study by distance education in Australia.</p>
<p>While their lessons are delivered remotely, by law, all of these students still need to be supervised by somebody in person. This is the role of the “remote education tutor”, who is the<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">link between</a>the student and the teacher.</p>
<p>Despite the vital work they do, there is no prerequisite or formal qualification for this role, and no precise data on their number, as their work is often misrepresented as parenting, childcare or nannying. </p>
<p>We need to start recognising this key educational role as a career. </p>
<h2>Who are remote tutors and what do they do?</h2>
<p>For students who are unable to attend mainstream schooling, it is the tutor’s job to facilitate everyday classroom learning. The student will be provided instruction and given materials by their school, but the tutor needs to organise and supervise the completion of tasks and lessons. </p>
<p>It is a vital role in the child’s education. </p>
<p>We know remote education tutors are <a href="https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/314?fbclid=IwAR039gzMnvoSji9n5ZZA_y3UoyaQx5XmTw4qXJGKIviiC2gwMCr9JH8JfOk">mostly women</a>. </p>
<p>They are either a family member (typically the mother) or an externally employed person. If it is a non-family member, these tutors come from a wide range of backgrounds, including young people on a gap year, university students who want to work while studying, and domestic and international travellers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A desk with pencils, books and calculators." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is the tutor’s job to organise, supervise and support the ‘classroom’ at home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It is hard to find and keep a tutor</h2>
<p>We also know remote tutors are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/outback-governesses-in-short-supply/11803298">hard to recruit</a>.</p>
<p>The position has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">complex demands and responsibilities</a>, but wages are unregulated and there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">no targeted qualifications</a> required or available to advance people’s careers. </p>
<p>This is not helped by a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/outback-governesses-in-short-supply/11803298">lack of government incentives</a> for, say, teaching students to spend a “year in the bush”, or visa provisions to allow overseas-qualified teachers to stay for longer periods in these roles. </p>
<p>So there is a high turnover. Most are only in the job with the one family for <a href="https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/314?fbclid=IwAR039gzMnvoSji9n5ZZA_y3UoyaQx5XmTw4qXJGKIviiC2gwMCr9JH8JfOk">one to two years</a> before leaving the role altogether.</p>
<p>There is a federal government <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/payment-rates-assistance-for-isolated-children?context=22121">allowance</a> for families doing distance education and some minor <a href="https://icpa.com.au/au/news/federal-allowances-2023-rural-and-remote-students">state government subsidies</a> for internet access and computer hardware. But families say these are <a href="https://icpa.com.au/au/federal-distance-education-briefing-paper">not enough</a> to help parents recruit and retain a supervisor.</p>
<h2>Why should we recognise tutors?</h2>
<p>If there is formal recognition of remote educator tutors’ knowledge and skills, this provides status and makes the job a more attractive career pathway. </p>
<p>Tutors would not have to do a full education degree, like school teachers. Instead, they could be trained in specific components of a degree through microcredentials, or smaller courses of learning. </p>
<p>They could start with specific skills for setting up and managing a learning space, and strategies for teaching reading, spelling and basic numeracy. These examples are core to the remote educator tutor qualifications, which could also be later used as part of other qualifications, if they wanted to do future study.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/microcredentials-what-are-they-and-will-they-really-revolutionise-education-and-improve-job-prospects-169265">Microcredentials: what are they, and will they really revolutionise education and improve job prospects?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>This could go beyond distance education</h2>
<p>Dedicated, targeted training for remote education tutors could be applied beyond this workforce as well. We know there are many school students studying at home for reasons other than being too far from the nearest school.</p>
<p>Growing <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooling-boomed-last-year-but-these-4-charts-show-it-was-on-the-rise-before-covid-157309">numbers of students</a> either study online at private schools or are home-schooled. They also need to be supervised (most often by parents). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teenage girl works at her desk in her bedroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing numbers of Australian students are doing their schooling from home, regardless of where they live.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other groups who would benefit from these training opportunities include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>parents who are home tutors for their children enrolled in distance education </p></li>
<li><p>parents who home-school their children </p></li>
<li><p>parents who want to develop skills to tutor their child (or children) enrolled in general schooling.</p></li>
<li><p>teacher aides who want to boost their current qualifications.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This training could be done through online university courses or other vocational providers. It would not only support the professional needs of remote tutors but also empower families to better support their children as they navigate distance education. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-new-online-only-private-school-what-are-the-options-if-the-mainstream-system-doesnt-suit-your-child-189138">Australia has a new online-only private school: what are the options if the mainstream system doesn't suit your child?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Karen Peel is affiliated with Australian Geographically Isolated Learner Education (AGILE). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Brad McLennan is affiliated with Australian Geographically Isolated Learner Education (AGILE)</span></em></p>Students who study remotely need to have someone supervise them in-person. If it’s not a family member, it is an external tutor, who are hard to recruit and keep.Dr Karen Peel, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Southern Queenskand, University of Southern QueenslandDr Brad McLennan, Senior Lecturer in School of Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1830392022-06-08T01:09:44Z2022-06-08T01:09:44ZRemote learning was even tougher for migrant parents. Here’s what they want schools to know in case lockdowns return<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467313/original/file-20220606-20-jzflup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4361%2C2909&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When COVID forced school closures, many parents found themselves more involved than ever with their children’s learning. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/6/302">For some</a> <a href="https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/107/3/e5.full.pdf">parents</a>, it was hard work but broadly achievable. Many migrant parents, however, found themselves at a distinct disadvantage.</p>
<p>Parental engagement is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Hard-Reach-Parents-Teacher-Parent/dp/0470516321">strongly linked</a> to student learning outcomes.</p>
<p>With learn-from-home likely to return the next time there is a pandemic or other emergency, it’s important we understand why many migrant families found this mode of education delivery so incredibly challenging – and how the system can be improved.</p>
<p>We interviewed 20 migrant parents from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan who told us about the complex challenges they faced during lockdowns.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-learning-is-even-harder-when-english-isnt-students-first-language-schools-told-us-their-priorities-for-supporting-them-166957">Remote learning is even harder when English isn't students' first language. Schools told us their priorities for supporting them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Language and technological barriers</h2>
<p>Many of our interviewees told us limited English language proficiency made it hard to engage with their children’s learning. Understanding school and government messages was often a struggle. One parent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My daughter has a very native accent, and it is difficult for me to understand what she says […] Sometimes I do not understand what she wants or how I should help her. When I approached the school, they sent me English emails that I didn’t understand.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The pandemic also highlighted Australia’s <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/covid-digital-divide-learning-education/">digital divide</a>; some participants struggled to set up their digital devices.</p>
<p>Limited parental digital literacy makes difficult to monitor student learning, especially in large families. Some parents told us they knew their kids only pretended they were on school tasks, while really watching YouTube or playing games.</p>
<h2>Financial pressure and competing demands</h2>
<p>Our interviewees also reported intense financial stress during lockdowns. As children stayed home for an extended period, grocery and utility bills soared. One parent told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You need to spend more. They eat more; they want to play in the bathtub. They watch TV; I have to use the vacuum cleaner and washing machine more often.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Parents had to also buy tablet devices and printers for children to participate in remote learning. Worrying their children were not doing schoolwork properly, some paid for tutoring and spent more on books.</p>
<p>Many parents worked full time during the pandemic and had limited time to educate their children. One participant reflected:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have to work and be a teacher at the same time. It is not possible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am a single mum with four kids from Year 1 to year 7. […] I have to deal with four different age groups, four schools, four classes, and four iPads. […] Sometimes, I need to cut my sleep hours, which again makes me wake up tired.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467316/original/file-20220606-12-ojmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some parents felt what was expected of them was too complex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Uncertainty and withdrawal</h2>
<p>Some parents eventually withdrew from their children’s education:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have asked my children to do their duties on their own. […] In the case of my little son, I only know that he progresses through his course, can pass his units, and proceed to the next year, but I am not aware of his academic situation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Reflecting on his inability to support his children’s learning during the lockdowns, one parent told us, “it’s out of my hands”.</p>
<p>Another told her child’s school:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Look, you need to provide me with simpler guidance. I’m not a teacher; provide me with a bit simpler communication; what they need to study, what they need to learn.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-home-is-testing-students-online-search-skills-here-are-3-ways-to-improve-them-165752">Learning from home is testing students' online search skills. Here are 3 ways to improve them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A sigh of relief</h2>
<p>Almost all parents who participated in our study reported remote learning was exhausting.</p>
<p>One parent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You get tired of your children; you’re connected to them, that is good, but now it’s too much. I can’t wait until they get back to school.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some parents worried about the potential strain of remote schooling on their relationships with their children.</p>
<p>One single mother, working full time while her child was home alone, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had to teach him while he was very impatient and expected me to know the answer for everything. When I was a little unsure about any subject, he got angry and miffed. So, I decided not to help him […] I told him: ‘Look, do whatever you can and leave the rest undone; when you get back to school, ask your teacher.’ I came to the conclusion that the bond and the relationships between a son and a mother are far more important than schooling and learning.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others in the study also reiterated the importance of not putting too much pressure on already distressed children.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467317/original/file-20220606-15990-n8mwmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some parents told us they knew their kids only pretended they were on school tasks, while really watching YouTube or playing games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Emergency remote learning may return</h2>
<p>Our research showed migrant parents faced myriad challenges during the remote learning period, with some only able to engage in a limited way with their children’s education.</p>
<p>Remote learning may very well return in future when the next disaster strikes, so it’s crucial we prepare for such disruption by improving equitable access to education delivered online and at home.</p>
<p>To achieve this, we must ensure:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>all students have access to digital remote learning devices</p></li>
<li><p>disadvantaged families receive additional support (including financial and language support) during remote learning periods</p></li>
<li><p>all parents are well informed about their roles and responsibilities, and</p></li>
<li><p>school messages are easy to understand.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors would like to acknowledge the work of research team members Dr Hossein Shokouhi and Dr Ruth Arber.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tebeje Molla works for Deakin University. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, and Deakin’s Faculty of Arts and Education. Tebeje has published on refugee education and is a member of the Refugee Education Special Interest Group (<a href="http://www.refugee-education.org">www.refugee-education.org</a>). This story is part of The Conversation’s Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amin Zaini works for Deakin University, School of Education where he obtained his PhD. Amin is a lecturer, a unit chair, and a Chief Investigator, at Deakin, and has already received an internal grant to work on migrant and refugee families. His areas of expertise and interest involve Education, social justice, as well as the analysis of power relations in the society. </span></em></p>With learn-from-home likely to return during the pandemic or other emergency, it’s important we understand why many migrant families found this mode of education delivery so challenging.Tebeje Molla, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Deakin UniversityAmin Zaini, Lecturer, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1776082022-03-01T19:06:03Z2022-03-01T19:06:03ZTraditional school doesn’t suit everyone. Australia needs more flexible options<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/449095/original/file-20220301-15-1l79adn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teen-girl-school-pupil-wearing-headphones-1701863359">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Schools were <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/changing-role-teachers-and-technologies-amidst-covid-19-pandemic-key-findings-cross">thrown into a spin</a> by the COVID-19 pandemic. When children were sent home to learn remotely, teaching methods remained largely the same. Many children, parents and teachers were frustrated by the difficulties they faced when schools tried to transplant face-to-face classroom learning into homes. </p>
<p>Over time, a number of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2021.1930479">teachers</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-want-to-send-the-kids-back-to-school-why-not-try-unschooling-at-home-136256">parents</a> adapted their approach by reducing contact hours and the reliance on lecture-style instruction. Many moved to games and small-group discussion instead. For <a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-studies-show-most-kids-have-done-just-fine-in-remote-schooling-heres-how-to-survive-the-home-stretch-167969">some students</a> this worked well. </p>
<p>Schools in all states have now reopened and <a href="https://qed.qld.gov.au/covid-19/Documents/back-to-school-plan.pdf">students</a> are required to return to a pre-COVID status quo. But, many cannot or will not, and others feel they are being forced into <a href="https://www.covidsafeschools.org.au/">arrangements</a> they don’t like. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooling-boomed-last-year-but-these-4-charts-show-it-was-on-the-rise-before-covid-157309">Homeschooling boomed last year. But these 4 charts show it was on the rise before COVID</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The pandemic has changed some parents’ and children’s <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/pandemic-homeschoolers-who-are-not-going-back/">expectations</a> and experiences of schooling. For instance, many parents saw benefits for their child <a href="https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/6a3f524c-02c1-4e29-ac16-32a92a204599/20aps-ccn-is-transitioning-to-school-p1.pdf">working at their own pace</a> and being <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspor.2020.589227/full">more active</a>.</p>
<p>Research <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588847.pdf">suggests many parents</a> would keep their children in schools if the system was more flexible – even if it allowed the option of attending school part time while learning remotely the rest of the time.</p>
<h2>From changed expectations to different choices</h2>
<p>While most children in Australia returned to school, a large and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-25/queensland-home-school-registrations-soar-during-covid-19-/100778840">growing proportion of families</a> have opted for some kind of <a href="https://sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/jped-2021-0004">at-home learning</a>.</p>
<p>In December 2021, the <a href="https://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/1910132/Report-Inquiry-into-the-COVID-19-2021-pandemic-response-.pdf">ACT held an inquiry</a> into the pandemic’s impact on the community. Many parents sent in submissions requesting the state to continue to allow remote learning for those who elected to do so. One of the recommendations on the pandemic’s impact on schools was for the ACT government to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>consider the benefits of remote learning for some children and […] whether to introduce this as an ongoing arrangement for those who are better suited to remote learning. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Across the country, home education numbers have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-08/home-and-alternative-schooling-on-the-rise-in-australia/100503948">increased</a> dramatically. While the exact figures are yet to be released by all state and territory authorities, in NSW, there’s been a reported <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sick-of-the-disruption-dramatic-rise-in-children-registered-for-home-schooling-20220119-p59pfc.html">28% increase in registrations (from 7032 to 8981) in just ten months</a>. This has been accompanied by a blow-out in the <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/regulation/home-schooling/home-schooling-registration">wait-time to be registered</a>, which has more than doubled for some families.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1494466882442653708"}"></div></p>
<p>Vivienne Fox (administrator of an online home school registration support page) told us the NSW registration process: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>has blown out to at least 16 weeks from submitting the application to receiving the certificate, which is when they say that you’re recognised as registered […] that’s more than one term. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-30/pandemic-drives-surge-in-enrolments-at-qld-independent-schools/100413048">private distance education schools</a> have seen a substantial jump in enrolments. </p>
<p>Dr <a href="https://au.linkedin.com/in/terry-harding-8a825420">Terry Harding</a>, the manager of <a href="https://www.acc.edu.au/online-schools/index.html">Australian Christian College</a>, one of the country’s largest providers of non-government distance education services, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have four schools in four states. All are experiencing higher than normal enrolments. One has closed new enrolments for term 1 because of the massive influx of new students.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Rise of illegal pop-up schools</h2>
<p>Another, more worrying, change has been the emergence of education services that fall into a legal grey area. Teachers who have been forced out of the school system (often for reasons related to <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/catastrophic-qld-could-lose-6000-teachers-due-to-vax-mandate-says-union-20211130-p59dc2.html">COVID vaccination</a> or the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-and-schools-australia-is-about-to-feel-the-full-brunt-of-its-teacher-shortage-174885">disease</a> itself) <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/home-schooling-on-the-rise/13729858">are moving</a> into the home education sector.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentsandteachers">Facebook groups</a> have been set up to connect families with teachers. Some offer tutoring or classes that parents attend with their children. Others have created pop-up schools where parents can drop children to classes and which provide progress reports.</p>
<p>These pop-up schools are not legally or validly operating and are not a non-government school. </p>
<p>To be classed as a non-government school in Australia, schools must be registered by statutory authorities in their state or territory. In Queensland, for example, it’s <a href="https://nssab.qld.edu.au/">NSSAB</a>, the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-switching-to-homeschooling-permanently-after-lockdown-here-are-5-things-to-consider-155381">Thinking of switching to homeschooling permanently after lockdown? Here are 5 things to consider</a>
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<p>In all states and territories, these <a href="https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources/structure-australian-government-public-sector/types-australian-government-bodies#structures-linked-to-the-australian-government-through-statutory-contracts-agreements-and-delegations">authorities</a> are made up of various <a href="https://nssab.qld.edu.au/About/BoardMembers.php">representatives</a> of the main non-state school authorities (such as the Catholic Education Commission and independent schools associations). They are convened by education departments to register non-state schools and ensure they are validly operating, including that they are not <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-2017-024">offering a school service to home educators</a>. </p>
<p>However, these pop-up schools are specifically targeting the home education community and offering a service to them. This is illegal. A spokesperson of the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is an offence for a person to conduct, knowingly permit or assist in the conduct of an unregistered school, for the education of school aged children […] Where NESA has information raising concerns that an illegal school may be operating, NESA will conduct an investigation.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What does this mean going forward?</h2>
<p>Schools are now a tricky position. They are trying to balance the needs of <a href="https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7593166/school-still-unsafe-fernhill-mother-member-of-group-suing-education-department/">fearful parents</a> with the needs of those who think mandates, especially <a href="https://youtu.be/cAAELDBH2h8">banning parents</a> from school grounds if they are un-vaccinated, have gone too far. They are also dealing with parents’ concerns about children bringing the virus home to vulnerable family members. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1495309226260197376"}"></div></p>
<p>Some factors pushing families to homeschool and distance education are already well recognised. These include a child having a diagnosis such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2020.1728232">autism spectrum disorder</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2018.1532955?casa_token=EcB-Ogm2bXgAAAAA:lzMDJq-hNQK6mVWxveVGwHFjgFDGCV7wXUfS8KTHAwoqDATeS7j6o5i0A32d0Fc2dPS3Mq117Sl3">bullying</a> and the family feeling schools are <a href="https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/soc4.12725?casa_token=36pttErRnp0AAAAA%3A0i4DAe2ce9d8lQDtmZTS_VnRqpSQfpHejlGJE9xhiWkbSuKp-gl3i1g4MTPXibNkBpvn7n4ani41fg">not catering</a> to their children’s needs. We have known for a long time homeschooling is not the first choice for all families. </p>
<p>For many it is a last ditch attempt to <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/1837/100716%20The%20provision%20of%20education%20to%20students%20with.pdf">meet their children’s learning and well-being needs</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-want-to-send-the-kids-back-to-school-why-not-try-unschooling-at-home-136256">Don't want to send the kids back to school? Why not try unschooling at home?</a>
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<p>Schools may have to adapt to a changed mode to meet parent and students’ needs. Flexible delivery, including opening up the distance education schools for broader enrolments, would support those who benefit from being home some of the time and help those who are concerned about risks associated with school attendance. </p>
<p>More options for distance education would minimise the problem of pop-up schools. And it would leave home education for those who want it, not for those who feel they have <a href="https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jped-2021-0004">no other option</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177608/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca English is a member of the Home Education Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Krogh is affiliated with Home Education Australia - a national, not-for-profit, membership-based association supporting home educators. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giuliana Liberto is a member of the Home Education Association, Inc.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karleen Gribble is a member of the Home Education Association.</span></em></p>As a result of long remote learning periods due to COVID, many families have found they prefer this method over traditional school.Rebecca English, Senior Lecturer in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyChris Krogh, Lecturer, University of NewcastleGiuliana Liberto, PhD candidate, Western Sydney UniversityKarleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1657522021-08-26T02:50:23Z2021-08-26T02:50:23ZLearning from home is testing students’ online search skills. Here are 3 ways to improve them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417164/original/file-20210820-17-1fxrd7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/girl-helps-figure-out-how-use-1689900094">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, school closures meant <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/dont-let-children-be-hidden-victims-covid-19-pandemic">more than 90%</a> of the world’s learners had to study virtually or from home. The internet, already an invaluable educational tool, has therefore become even more important for students. One of students’ most common internet activities, both <a href="https://www.iea.nl/publications/study-reports/preparing-life-digital-world">in schools</a> and in <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/266758">home schooling</a>, is online searching. </p>
<p>This means teachers, and those parents currently standing in for teachers, need to help students develop skills for searching online. So what can parents do to support their children when tasks sent home from school require them to search for information online? And what can they do to extend such work for gifted students or when the work sent home runs out? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/schooling-in-lockdown-isnt-home-schooling-but-we-can-learn-from-the-real-thing-165004">Schooling in lockdown isn't home schooling – but we can learn from the real thing</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360131510003180?via%3Dihub">Teachers</a> and <a href="https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/75100.pdf">parents</a> can have an influence on a child’s internet skills. Indeed, their search success is related to the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240096241_Children's_use_of_the_Internet_for_information-seeking_What_strategies_do_they_use_and_what_factors_affect_their_performance">amount of adult guidance</a> and <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2637002.2637007?casa_token=blVwAr_8hXEAAAAA:57_aWkNBZxpeqkLktZi_z0xBWLCRmzgxL4OwjPfAYdugNPGkIeU4G-bUoctBcJVHlYPV1ldO5-6Z_Qk">explicit instruction they receive</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, research suggests some teachers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268387581_Teachers'_views_of_information_literacy_practices_in_secondary_education_A_qualitative_study_in_the_Greek_educational_setting">don’t offer such explicit instruction</a>. Some also have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323544203_Teaching_in_a_Digital_Environment_TIDE_Defining_and_measuring_teachers'_capacity_to_develop_students'_digital_information_and_communication_skills">trouble structuring</a> (and providing support for) student online search tasks that go beyond lower-order skills. Evidence even exists of a lack of search skills <a href="https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1256&context=cs_facpubs">among teachers</a> and <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2538862.2538933?casa_token=9_dgOIs9dWMAAAAA:TL3wFzwq__P-KZVZ6dxw054IIh0NtE5XzpF3melq00N_qTaR40-5KTYWwDZRUGDhxkDmvMWiOnewCEY">parents</a> themselves. </p>
<p>The following three tips may help. </p>
<h2>Focus on ‘learning to search’ as well as ‘searching to learn’</h2>
<p>Making the “invisible” processes behind searches more visible <a href="http://informationr.net/ir/24-1/isic2018/isic1824.html">improves the online information-seeking</a> of both teachers and students. In this way, educators (be they temporary or professional) should design activities that foreground the search process itself. This makes students more aware of what goes on “behind the scenes” of a search and of their ability to affect these processes. </p>
<p>How might you do this? In one <a href="https://www.aare.edu.au/data/2016_Conference/Full_papers/295_Renee_Morrisson.pdf">Queensland study</a>, students were asked to sort 12 picture cards. The cards were designed so three “categories” – animals, transport modes and countries – were obvious at first. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="3 cards with illustrations of kangaroo, double-decker bus and Australian flag map" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=204&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=204&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=204&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417342/original/file-20210823-19-5ei9el.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just like picture cards can be categorised in different ways, so can online search content.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Images: Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Students easily sorted the cards into these categories. But they were then challenged to recognise any other sorting options, much like Google does every second of every day. When “kangaroo” was removed from the “animals” pile and placed alongside “Australia” instead, for example, students were quick to assemble the remaining cards in a similar fashion. </p>
<p>This activity encouraged discussions about just how many different ways not 12 but 200 million cards – or <a href="https://www.Internetlivestats.com/">websites</a> - could be sorted. It’s a reminder of how important it is to clearly specify what you want from Google, helping it to sort its 200 million websites. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-learning-is-real-world-learning-thats-why-blended-on-campus-and-online-study-is-best-163002">Digital learning is real-world learning. That's why blended on-campus and online study is best</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Become more critical users of the web</h2>
<p>Educators sometimes set tasks that are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1475939X.2021.1883105?journalCode=rtpe20">too broad for students</a> and likely to return millions of search results. Many will probably be irrelevent or inaccurate. Teachers may also set tasks that encourage students to use Google <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/266758">as a mere encyclopedia</a>, which requires only passive lower-order learning. </p>
<p>If we instead want students to engage in higher-order thinking, greater structuring of search tasks is needed. </p>
<p>Educators can start this by setting specific requirements for the results students work with. Perhaps ask them to find one website from Australia (try adding “site:.au” to the end of queries) and one from England – this could be particularly interesting around the time The Ashes are played. Perhaps students are told to find some sources from before the year 2000 and others from the previous 12 months (select “Tools” then “Any time” in the dropdown menu). </p>
<p>Asking students to purposefully find websites with conflicting information and to describe how they decided which to believe requires that they compare, evaluate and analyse. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-such-thing-as-alternative-facts-5-ways-to-spot-misinformation-and-stop-sharing-it-online-152894">There's no such thing as 'alternative facts'. 5 ways to spot misinformation and stop sharing it online</a>
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<p>The number of results a search engine returns can help indicate the quality of your query and make finding reliable information more efficient. In school, students <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331101627_Search_engine_use_as_a_literacy_in_the_middle_years_The_need_for_explicit_instruction_and_active_learners">report</a> that they typically don’t consider the number of results returned and have little experience in limiting or increasing these results. In Australian home-schooling too, parent-educators and students rank “limiting/expanding searches” as <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/393191">one of the hardest steps in search</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="father and son seated on a couch discussing something on their laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417172/original/file-20210820-21-1n19zcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The confidence in the skills of ‘digital natives’ may be misplaced as parents often have stronger search skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teen-boy-explaining-father-how-use-1958419573?irclickid=Uyq13yXigxyLUG0w4myhqQ3eUkBWlXSfYQriUk0&irgwc=1&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_source=77643&utm_term=&c3ch=Affiliate&c3nid=IR-77643">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Now that students know a little more about how Google must sort websites, ask them to alter their query to rearrange the top five or ten results returned. Challenge them to reduce the (likely millions of) results returned to just 10,000, 1,000 or even ten. </p>
<p><a href="http://informationr.net/ir/24-1/isic2018/isic1824.html">Students explain</a> that when it is only the final product or outcome of searching that “counts” or is graded, their focus is upon that and never the search process itself. This changes when tasks are more structured and specific requirements and guidance are given. Students then focus more upon gathering quality information. </p>
<h2>Shift your thinking about search</h2>
<p><a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ882506.pdf">Attitudes have proven more important</a> than available resources or even teacher skill when it comes to increasing students’ authentic technology-enabled learning. Many limiting attitudes about search need to be turned around to ensure students get the most out of Google. </p>
<p>We can start switching attitudes about <em>what</em> to search for and <em>how</em> by using the tips above. But what if your child <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/266758">doesn’t want to listen</a> to you during search? This is <a href="https://repository.isls.org/handle/1/177">commonly reported</a>.</p>
<p>Students don’t always see their teachers as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00313831.2020.1788145">good information sources</a> during search either. And it’s true, some teachers and parents still have much to learn about using Google.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/less-than-half-of-australian-adults-know-how-to-identify-misinformation-online-156124">Less than half of Australian adults know how to identify misinformation online</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>However, <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/266758">my study</a>, which tested the “generational digital divide” concept among Australian home-schoolers, found the parent-educators (the older generation) were stronger searchers than their kids, the so-called “digital natives”. Perhaps students can learn more about search from their parents. </p>
<p>The answer is unlikely to be forcing your children to recognise your strengths and their weaknesses. Instead, shifting young people’s attitude to search, and encouraging them to realise it is sometimes hard and frustrating, <a href="http://informationr.net/ir/24-1/isic2018/isic1824.html">can help</a>. </p>
<p>When it comes to schoolwork, data from over 45,000 students in 12 countries <a href="https://www.iea.nl/publications/study-reports/preparing-life-digital-world">tell us</a> internet research is “by far the most frequently recorded use of ICT”. Educators who focus upon “learning to search” as well as “searching to learn”, who encourage critical use, and begin to challenge attitudes about Google will be better placed to help students capitalise on the unprecedented educational opportunities online search can provide.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-just-google-it-3-ways-students-can-get-the-most-from-searching-online-116519">Don't 'just Google it': 3 ways students can get the most from searching online</a>
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</em>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renee Morrison works at the University of Tasmania. This research was conducted at Griffith University. </span></em></p>If you think the ‘digital natives’ have better online search skills than their parents, you’d be wrong. But simply telling students what to do isn’t the best way to improve their skills.Renee Morrison, Lecturer in Curriculum Studies, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1650042021-07-28T19:55:43Z2021-07-28T19:55:43ZSchooling in lockdown isn’t home schooling – but we can learn from the real thing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413440/original/file-20210727-17-17ih6wn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=255%2C0%2C5061%2C3393&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stressed-mother-son-frustrated-over-failure-1106116742">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Adding to the clamour of argument over whether schools should be open to all during lockdown is confusion in terminology. Using the term “home schooling” to describe schooling during lockdown is disrespectful to both teachers and home schoolers. </p>
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<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-homeschooling-and-should-i-be-doing-that-with-my-kid-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown-135027">Home schooling</a> requires parents to seek registration for their child to not attend school. These parents are then required to develop and implement learning with their children. That is a far cry from the situation for students enrolled at school who have been temporarily learning at home during lockdown in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/schools-should-reopen-as-an-essential-industry-asap-health-experts-20210723-p58cit.html">Sydney</a> and, until July 28 when restrictions eased, in <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-prepares-to-move-cautiously-out-of-lockdown-as-state-records-10-new-local-cases-20210727-p58d6h.html">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-27/sport-training-but-not-competition-to-resume-after-sa-lockdown/100325524">South Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, home schooling does offer parents lessons in how to support schooling from home. This article includes five essential tips drawn from home schooling.</p>
<h2>Schools are offering support</h2>
<p>Families have been provided with enormous support during lockdowns. They are encouraged to contact the school with any specific needs they might have. Teachers and schools have enabled schooling during lockdown through online classes, independent learning activities, printed learning materials and other resources to support the learning within a class. </p>
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<p>School during lockdown takes many different forms to provide individual and class-based learning opportunities. Schools can provide additional support to meet diverse student (and family) needs. </p>
<p>Support necessarily looks different across schools. Each school works with families to determine and meet their needs. The support from schools ranges from surveys and individual phone calls, online one-on-one learning support sessions, walk-by pick-up of printed materials and resources such as stationery and art supplies, to home delivery of technology and even food. </p>
<p>Schools have learned from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-learning-didnt-affect-most-nsw-primary-students-in-our-study-academically-but-well-being-suffered-154171">experience of 2020</a>, creating the best way forward for their communities when lockdowns prevent learning in a physical classroom.</p>
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<p>Beyond schools, <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/learning-at-home">education systems</a> and many <a href="https://www.cela.org.au/publications/amplify!-blog/may-2020/home-learning-resources">school-related organisations</a> are providing extensive resources to support schooling during lockdown. They are offering <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/teaching-at-home/teaching-and-learning-resources/learning-opportunities?fbclid=IwAR10uB1TcwJMNWS51IrngWsBJ2Jz4eAmZltdke-cWd98M_ljyzbEEbZf-TY">virtual excursions</a>, <a href="https://newywithkids.com.au/best-online-kids-resources-australia/">videos</a> and <a href="https://australian.museum/inside-out/homeschool-resources/">print</a> activities that are downloaded or posted.</p>
<p>To suggest that schooling during lockdown is home schooling disregards the enormous, valuable work every teacher and school staff member is providing.</p>
<p>Yes, parents are required to do more than they usually need to when their children are physically attending school. It still doesn’t make it home schooling.</p>
<h2>Home schooling is a big step</h2>
<p>Home schooling is a big step outside the schooling system. It’s a step outside the free support and resources from teachers and schools – <a href="https://theconversation.com/thinking-of-switching-to-homeschooling-permanently-after-lockdown-here-are-5-things-to-consider-155381">parents do it all</a>. </p>
<p>To be permitted to home-school, parents must seek registration with the <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/regulation/home-schooling/home-schooling-registration">National Education Standards Authority</a> (NESA). They must adhere to all of the curriculum requirements that schools must meet. </p>
<p>Parents must interpret the curriculum documents and assessment requirements to select and design appropriate learning opportunities for their children. They must implement assessment processes. They must maintain accurate records of learning and achievement. </p>
<p>Contrary to a <a href="https://wehavekids.com/education/Socializing-and-Homeschooling-Why-The-Socialization-Question-Is-Stupid">common assumption</a>, home-schooled children are <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooled-children-are-far-more-socially-engaged-than-you-might-think-111353">well socialised</a>. They are engaged in a vast array of shared learning within and beyond the home. Excursions, sports carnivals, performances, workshops, social gatherings and more feature constantly within the home-schooling community. </p>
<p>When states lock down, what cannot be moved online is in limbo. The best that can be hoped for is postponement. This means home schoolers feel the pressure of lockdown along with every other parent and child right now. </p>
<p>To sum up, home-schooling parents must do everything that teachers, schools and education systems are doing in enabling schooling during lockdown, as well as what many parents are now facing with their children at home. </p>
<h2>Lessons from home schooling</h2>
<p>So, what can we learn from home schooling as we juggle working from home with children schooling at home during lockdown? </p>
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<p><strong>Children are <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-want-to-send-the-kids-back-to-school-why-not-try-unschooling-at-home-136256">always learning</a></strong> (and succeeding). So value the immense learning that occurs through play, and build on the incidental learning that arises.</p>
<p><strong>A six-hour school day is made up of many different things</strong> and does not equate to a six-hour day of schooling at home. We need to shift our view of what learning looks like, be flexible, value what might seem like a “distraction” and recognise <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-wont-get-through-all-school-content-while-learning-at-home-here-are-3-things-to-prioritise-134539">not everything prepared by school will be finished</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Support independence</strong> by drawing on interests to build skills for self-organisation. This could involve setting a daily Lego challenge, or building a bridge that spans 15cm, or a vehicle that moves without wheels, or a marble run, or a boat that floats. Remember that <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-your-kids-with-homework-without-doing-it-for-them-126192">supporting their learning means not doing it for them</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Resources are available everywhere</strong>. From the home-delivery boxes taking over the living room to the exponential growth in online sources, everything offers an opportunity for learning. For example, why not gather paper and card from the recycling for <a href="https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/77853/stem-paper-airplane-challenge/">paper plane challenges</a> using different types and sizes of paper? And when your child needs help with maths go <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">online</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://homeschoolcpa.com/leading-a-virtual-coop/">Don’t try to do it all yourself</a>.</strong> Collaborate with friends, family and parents in your child’s class to rotate regular online gatherings hosted by a parent. It could be a social gathering, shared reading, maths problem solving, completing a school activity together, music activity, art activity and so on. This will give every other parent time to work.</p>
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<p><em>Correction: this article originally referred to the National Education Standards Authority (NESA), which has been corrected to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole (Nikki) Brunker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While parents in lockdown might have gained a greater appreciation of what it takes to teach children at home, they haven’t been ‘home schooling’. But 5 tips drawn from home schooling may help them.Nicole (Nikki) Brunker, Lecturer in Education, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1600452021-05-28T10:52:46Z2021-05-28T10:52:46ZStress management: six lessons parents can take from pandemic homeschooling<p>Now that children in the UK are back to school, parents have the opportunity to reflect on what can be learned from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jan/23/i-feel-like-im-failing-parents-stress-rises-over-home-schooling-in-covid-lockdown">lockdown homeschooling</a>. Or as some rightly took to calling it, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/crisis-schooling-new-routines-pandemic-parenting/">crisis schooling</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">New research</a> we have conducted examines parents’ experiences of homeschooling – and what made their stress better or worse – during the first lockdown in England.</p>
<p>A total of 323 parents completed a quantitative online survey between May 1 and July 24 2020. We found that although most parents reported feeling stressed, some had used <a href="https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4296546/file/4296563.pdf">effective</a> coping mechanisms, which improved their wellbeing. Those who were the most stressed reported not enjoying homeschooling their children and felt insecure about how to do it. </p>
<p>Despite how extraordinary the circumstances of the past year have felt, the stresses associated with them are not uncommon, nor is that feeling of insecurity in not knowing how to overcome them. Here are six practical tips our findings back up, that could prove helpful for parents in the future. </p>
<h2>Plan ahead</h2>
<p>Prep and planning was one of the positive coping mechanisms parents responding to <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">our survey</a> reported as having helped during lockdown schooling. This chimes with much of the <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/does-homeschooling-during-pandemic-have-you-overwhelmed-here-are-some-tips">media advice</a> for harried parents suddenly expected to become teachers during that time.</p>
<p>Research shows that planning ahead can help everyone <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10909-3">feel in control</a> and gain a much needed sense of security during difficult patches. It helps avoid – as much as possible – the unexpected events that may create additional <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00383.x?casa_token=D33RZyuvnfAAAAAA:piPmhhLW39be2VpG8EpbveGZ14GAfDT6WuqFWoP1uI8E_2rRfNiDATU5QInJtJWh7D5WuWoQHHcLxIU">stress</a>.</p>
<p>There will always be aspects of our lives that we cannot control. In that sense, families may find it useful, beyond the pandemic, to plan their week ahead on Sundays. Make sure that each member of the family knows what is going on. Check that the children have everything they need for school and they are aware of their activities for the week. </p>
<h2>Think creatively</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">our study</a>, parents who considered themselves creative reported feeling less stressed and better able to support their children’s homeschooling needs. We tend to think of creative people as being good at arts, but <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/288919386.pdf">creativity</a> is also about <a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-at-home-because-of-coronavirus-here-are-4-ways-to-keep-them-happy-without-resorting-to-netflix-133772">finding solutions</a> to everyday problems. </p>
<p>Educators encouraged parents grappling with homeschooling for the first time to <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-support-online-homeschooling-through-the-coronavirus-pandemic-144147">find alternative ways</a> use their home spaces or to <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/coronavirus/analysis-commentary/make-room-for-fun-homeschooling/">make room for fun</a>. These were examples of creative thinking. </p>
<p>Try to harness a similar approach to parental problem solving in general. Ask yourself what is under your control. What can you do differently? What resources do I have? </p>
<h2>Learn through reflection</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">We found</a> that parents who engaged in positive reflection reported feeling less stressed when homeschooling their children. Research bears this out: there are lessons to be learned from any situation, sometimes even more so from <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ginny-Sprang/publication/259432942_Posttraumatic_Stress_Disorder_in_Parents_and_Youth_After_Health-Related_Disasters/links/5e81f724458515efa0ba0a5d/Posttraumatic-Stress-Disorder-in-Parents-and-Youth-After-Health-Related-Disasters.pdf">negative ones</a>. </p>
<p>During lockdown, educators emphasised that it was important for parents to <a href="https://www.theschoolrun.com/home-learning-timetables-for-primary-school-children">stay flexible</a> in their approach to home learning. Reflecting on your experiences could prove valuable. What works and what doesn’t? When things go back to normal, what would you like to change and what would you like to keep? </p>
<p>Similarly, come the weekend, you might find it useful, as a family, to reflect about your experiences of the week and what can be learned from them. Doing so will help the children to get to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963721416655100?casa_token=v4uRXaCo_vEAAAAA:QPnWcB4_H50S_yPC_rP2Qj8SGndN7RLuAfNlhG7JXNFOq0MnW8Yy7Zgc6wrtvXRrVJartP_hWrUVkQ">know themselves better</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4665103/">bring the family together</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A father in a green top holds a toddler in front of a red wall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401689/original/file-20210519-19-l6ut29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Taking the time to reflect on what you learned from lockdown, as a parent, can be helpful.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Cc-CQTUkbH0">humphrey muleba | unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
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<h2>Think about discipline</h2>
<p>Some parents who participated in our study who were very stressed during lockdown <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">reported disciplining</a> their children more harshly and more frequently than those who were less stressed. Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/sntxz">study</a> conducted in Germany asked 562 parents to write a 21-day journal during the 2020 lockdown and found that in general, school closures had a negative impact in parent-child relations. Relations were worse both when children were doing schoolwork every day and when they weren’t doing any at all. This suggests that as tricky as it was to find a balance between work and fun, it was nonetheless helpful in keeping the relationship healthy. </p>
<p>We know that when parents are stressed, they tend to behave in a more authoritarian manner and use harsher discipline techniques – sometimes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3768154/">even corporal punishment</a>. This happens because when we are stressed we are more likely to have trouble controlling our negative emotions and lose patience. </p>
<p>So whenever you are going through a rough patch, try to reflect on how you are disciplining your children, and what that may tell you about yourself at that particular time. In terms of addressing wrong behaviour, try to explain it to your children, and together, think about how to behave next time. This is what we call <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00221325.2016.1173008?casa_token=QvVtKiFN6NcAAAAA:BiDn53HxfR-qNvPVRjW3FDQWLQeQ37c2eKhliy-bmNWyGwOld3r2tnDnUa7LHFEMfIOhU_dbgltm2Q">inductive discipline</a>. When repeated consistently, it tends to be more effective than punitive discipline. </p>
<h2>Look ahead</h2>
<p>Parents who engaged in what we call catastrophising – who ruminated over how terrible homeschooling was and how endless it seemed – reported feeling more stressed when home-schooling their children than those who could <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019188690600506X?casa_token=O1M0CGnTgfAAAAAA:1Dh12nJOJmoaWTH3wl3dgial65xKUG_l94y9rjVS7FsjaGtxsuPPG9hkgiun_w_ietaxU5oAGZo">put things into perspective</a>. </p>
<p>In difficult situations, especially those we cannot control, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of not seeing the end of it – another example of an ineffective coping mechanism. It is important to keep reminding ourselves – and our children – that it will end. This helps everyone feel more positive and more in control. </p>
<h2>Take care of yourself</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in red leggings does crunches on an exercise mat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401682/original/file-20210519-19-1sl8bef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Self-care is crucial in order to be fully present and caring for your children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/lrQPTQs7nQQ">jonathan borba | unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dzh8m">we found</a> that those parents who were very stressed, coped worse with the demands of homeschooling than those who weren’t. This is probably the most basic rule of parenting but one we often forget. We can only look after others if we are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cp.12059">feeling well and strong</a>. </p>
<p>As psychologists pointed out when <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_reduce_the_stress_of_homeschooling_on_everyone">lockdown learning began</a>, in order to cope with the demands of being a homeschooling parent, it was important to find ways of <a href="https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/how-to-homeschool-during-school-shutdown">dealing</a> with our own stresses. </p>
<p>This always applies. Dedicate time each day to yourself, even if it is only 30 minutes. Go for a walk, have a bath, talk to a friend, have a quick nap – some activity that will <a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A301098&dswid=5893">improve your wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>Children learn by observing parents – it is what we call <a href="https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/1/152/2418042">modelling</a>). So let us lead by example and take stock of what can be learned from the experience of homeschooling during the pandemic. We can teach children to use positive coping mechanisms, to face problems in a creative manner, and to face the future with optimism. By doing so, we will be giving them the tools to face other problems life may throw at them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Aznar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In learning what we can from stressful situations, we can model efficient ways of coping for our childrenAna Aznar, Lecturer in Psychology, University of WinchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1548342021-02-11T19:06:26Z2021-02-11T19:06:26ZCOVID forced Australian fathers to do more at home, but at the same cost mothers have long endured<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383424/original/file-20210209-19-4pi1ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic was heralded as an opportunity to restart gender expectations at home. Our research shows Australian fathers have stepped into more participatory roles, but the question remains: will it last?</p>
<p>At the height of the first lockdown, the global economy closed and with it schools, childcare centres and employment shut. For many parents, the work associated with maintaining a job, homeschooling, round-the-clock caregiving and keeping a household afloat fell squarely on their shoulders. Some <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/21/860091230/pandemic-makes-evident-grotesque-gender-inequality-in-household-work">argued</a> this would be a critical moment for men to step up as more egalitarian partners and help equalise gender norms in the home. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1097184X21990737">Our new study</a> indicates Australian fathers took on more domestic work than their US counterparts but at the same cost women have suffered in trying to reconcile their work and family commitments: a rise in sleeplessness and anxiety. </p>
<h2>COVID reshaped parents’ paid and unpaid work</h2>
<p>We surveyed 1,375 Australian and US parents using the YouGov panels in May and September 2020. In May, the global economy had largely shut down in response to the virus. By September, US children were starting a new school year, while Australia was facing a second spike and a severe lockdown in Victoria. </p>
<p>We asked parents about how their employment, housework and childcare had changed during these COVID-affected times.</p>
<p>We found roughly one in three Australian mothers and fathers in our sample lost or reduced work under COVID in May, which continued into September. Of course, these patterns varied by state, with Victorians <a href="https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/the-policy-lab/projects/projects/worsening">bearing the brunt</a> of employment disruption. </p>
<p>One in three US parents reported employment disruptions in May. By September, employment disruptions had declined, but still remained at high levels. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-is-a-disaster-for-mothers-employment-and-no-working-from-home-is-not-the-solution-142650">COVID-19 is a disaster for mothers' employment. And no, working from home is not the solution</a>
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<p>What happened on the home front? We found Australian and US mothers both reported picking up more housework during the pandemic. For fathers, an interesting pattern emerged. </p>
<p>Australian fathers increased their contributions to housework. We first observed this in May 2020, then again four months later.</p>
<p>US fathers, in contrast, picked up more housework in May, but this was short-lived. As the pandemic endured, US mothers have filled the housework and childcare voids while US fathers pulled back their contributions to domestic work and caregiving. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man hangs washing on a washing line." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/383706/original/file-20210211-16-1rj5erb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There was one silver lining of the pandemic, at least in the case of Australia: fathers stepped up to do more childcare and housework.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Increased domestic load harms health and well-being</h2>
<p>We know the stress of managing work and family can cause people’s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jomf.12531">health to deteriorate</a>, and <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520290822/opting-back-in">lead many mothers to leave the labor force</a>. Add to that the uncertainty and fear around a global pandemic, and the affect on parents’ mental health is profound.</p>
<p>Our research showed Australian fathers experienced stress due to economic disruptions. Still, they stepped up their domestic game during the pandemic. And, with it, they felt the same stressors that mothers conventionally experience. The increased childcare and household demands during the pandemic came with greater anxiety and worse sleep among both Australian fathers and mothers.</p>
<p>The pandemic has been extremely difficult, but in Australia it is fathers <em>and</em> mothers carrying this burden. </p>
<p>For US fathers, only job disruption is associated with worse anxiety and poor sleep. Importantly, their stress was unaffected by caregiving demands — perhaps because, as our data show, they did not consistently increase their contributions to housework and childcare during the pandemic.</p>
<p>For US mothers, both job loss and greater housework demands increased their sleeplessness and anxiety. US fathers reduced their childcare contributions from May to September, and contributed less to the running of the house across that time. </p>
<p>In this respect, US fathers appear to have doubled down on their roles as breadwinners. As a result, their mental wellness is mostly based on their economic standing, leaving US mothers alone to carry the burden of growing housework and childcare demands during the pandemic. </p>
<h2>Silver linings?</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unparalleled pressures on US and Australian families, leaving devastation in its wake. Our results indicate this movement towards gender equality among Australian parents came at a cost to their health, through greater anxiety and poorer sleep.</p>
<p>But existing research shows mothers in both countries have carried these dual burdens for a long time, with detrimental impacts on their lives, livelihoods and health. Australian fathers, for the first time ever, may have felt the intensity of these competing pressures, and perhaps their larger share of domestic work may stick.</p>
<p>We found one silver lining of the pandemic, at least in the case of Australia: Australian fathers stepped up to do more childcare and housework. Let’s hope this lasts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-coronavirus-may-forever-change-the-way-we-care-within-families-134527">Why coronavirus may forever change the way we care within families</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Ruppanner receives funding from the Australian Research Council.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The views presented are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Labor </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlyn Collins, William Scarborough, and Xiao Tan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the pandemic took hold in 2020, Australian dads picked up more of the domestic load, new research shows. But their sleep and anxiety suffered as a consequence.Leah Ruppanner, Associate Professor in Sociology and Co-Director of The Policy Lab, The University of MelbourneCaitlyn Collins, Assistant professor of sociology, Washington University in St. LouisLiana Christin Landivar, Faculty Affiliate, University of MarylandWilliam Scarborough, University of North TexasXiao Tan, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531172021-01-12T16:48:33Z2021-01-12T16:48:33ZWhy are more children in school now than during the first lockdown?<p>With families back in lockdown around the UK, it has immediately become apparent that the popular response to coronavirus restrictions in 2021 is very different to that of March 2020. </p>
<p>During the first lockdown, schools were attended by a very small number of vulnerable children and those of key workers. Today, though the rules are similar, attendance rates of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55579711">over 50%</a> are being reported by some schools.</p>
<p>Such high attendance is a concern – it means schools will continue to be a source of transmission for the virus, undermining efforts to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tfc-children-and-transmission-update-paper-17-december-2020">control the spread</a> of SARS-CoV-2. </p>
<p>It is particularly concerning that school attendance appears particularly high in areas of <a href="https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-leicestershire-schools-still-70-4870638">economic deprivation</a> – such as my city of Leicester – when they are associated with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/05/covid-19-could-be-endemic-in-deprived-parts-of-england">high transmission of the virus</a>.</p>
<h2>Who counts as a key worker?</h2>
<p>In looking for explanations as to why school attendance has remained high, it is natural to look to the government’s widened criteria for access to in-person schooling. While the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision">definition of key worker</a> is similar, with the addition of people working on Brexit arrangements, provisions are also being made for children who do not have the technology or space at home to learn online. </p>
<p>But this is surely only part of the story.</p>
<p>It is also important to account for the erosion of social norms around the “stay at home” message. It’s possible, for example, that employers who cut workers some slack in the first lockdown to support home schooling may be less willing, or financially able, to do so now. </p>
<p>Similarly, families that struggled on through the first lockdown with home schooling and full-time jobs may be understandably reluctant to <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/two-fifths-of-parents-balancing-homeschooling-with-a-full-time-job">repeat the exercise</a>. These twin forces create strong incentives for employers to classify their workforce as key workers and for those workers to then send their children to school. </p>
<p>To counteract these forces requires a collective sense of national effort and sacrifice for the public good. But the evidence on public goods shows that norms of cooperation quickly fade if <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10683-010-9257-1">individuals start to turn to self-interest</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, the more employers classify staff as key workers and the more workers send their children to school, the more likely it is that others will follow suit. An attitude of “why should I struggle with home schooling when the schools are half full?” may prevail. Headlines that highlight the large number of children at school can actually exacerbate the problem, although parents’ WhatsApp groups would probably suffice to do the same.</p>
<h2>Eroding social norms</h2>
<p>We need to return to a norm of families only accessing in-school provision where it is absolutely unavoidable.</p>
<p>But norms of cooperation, once they have eroded, are tough to reinstate. Appeals for employers and workers to “to do their bit” are unlikely to be enough. To reinvigorate the sense of national sacrifice which prevailed during the first lockdown will almost certainly require positive action from the government. </p>
<p>Fortunately, there are some levers at its disposal. First, it can and should tighten the rules. For instance, some councils in Wales are using <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55544545">much stricter definitions of key worker than those used elsewhere</a>. </p>
<p>Further restrictions on two-parent households that contain <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/households-with-only-one-key-worker-should-not-still-be-sending-their-children-to-school-matt-hancock-says">only one key worker</a> are also possible. Crucially, this should be coupled with strong economic support for workers and businesses that cannot reasonably be expected to continue as normal while home schooling. </p>
<p>During the summer months, when the government encouraged people to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/eat-out-to-help-out-crowded-restaurants-may-have-driven-uk-coronavirus-spike-new-findings-145945">Eat Out to Help Out</a>”, the notion of key worker probably widened in the popular consciousness from someone essential to the health and safety of others to those who contribute to the overall economic wellbeing of the country. The dire demands on the NHS suggest we need to reset the framing and focus again on everyone staying at home if at all possible.</p>
<p>The government can also step up efforts to support remote learning. Laptops and broadband are essential but still <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/students-coronavirus-laptops-school-lockdown-b1783308.html">lacking for many families</a>, some of whom aren’t even able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/12/not-good-enough-marcus-rashford-condemns-free-school-meal-packages">get enough food</a> under the government’s free school meal programme. </p>
<p>And so we come back to a familiar theme during this pandemic in terms of <a href="https://theconversation.com/leicester-economist-our-city-was-vulnerable-to-a-coronavirus-outbreak-141709">economic inequality</a>. Once again it is the poorest families who will be hardest hit by the lockdown and the demands of home schooling. </p>
<p>It is essential, therefore, that appropriate economic and social support is provided to those who need it most. Otherwise the pressures on the education system will persist.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Cartwright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need to return to a norm of families only accessing in-school provision where it is absolutely unavoidable.Edward Cartwright, Professor of Economics, De Montfort UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386562020-05-18T08:08:39Z2020-05-18T08:08:39ZCoronavirus school closures impact 1.3 billion children – and remote learning is increasing inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335221/original/file-20200514-77239-4ttia4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More creative thinking is needed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/little-asian-chinese-boy-child-kid-1497396275">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 is disrupting education on an unprecedented scale. At the time of writing, UNESCO estimates that nearly <a href="https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/">1.3 billion pupils have experienced school closures</a> across 186 countries. And this is already leading to <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14848">growing inequalities</a>. </p>
<p>In countries with high levels of digital penetration, governments have sought to rapidly replace physical attendance at school with virtual education, trying to find ways to minimise the effects of the disruption on educational achievement.</p>
<p>Such efforts to provide continuity in children’s education are laudable, but in the absence of any test-runs for such an extraordinary social experiment it’s unsurprising that online learning experts have <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2020/04/08/virtual-schooling-covid-gogy/">rung alarm bells</a>. Though some countries are gradually allowing young people back to school, technology will likely continue to feature heavily.</p>
<p>The dominant model of education in the time of COVID-19 seems narrowly focused on digital content delivery to individuals, with laptops rather than phones the assumed means of access. Remote contact with schools and teachers may be all that is possible right now, but that doesn’t mean that online classes or e-mailed worksheets are the only options.</p>
<h2>Digital access</h2>
<p>Consider first the focus on digital devices for learning. To technology-reliant policymakers, computer-enabled learning will seem like an obvious choice. But even affluent western countries experience disparities in digital access.</p>
<p>Not every household has even one usable computer, and if they do, may need to share such resources across the family. In the UK, for example, <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-Impact-Brief-School-Shutdown.pdf">as the Sutton Trust recently noted</a>, some teachers are teaching classes where as many as a third of all pupils may lack access to either a digital device or adequate internet connectivity.</p>
<p>In the face of such disparities, rather than adjust the mode of provision, well-meaning governments have <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-major-package-to-support-online-learning">elected to deliver laptops and routers</a> to pupils in need. But research has repeatedly shown that simply handing out devices is <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0a0121d1-f9f2-44e4-91d7-e67966178dd8">insufficient to ensure meaningful use of technology</a>.</p>
<p>Such schemes rarely provide young people or their families with much needed support to develop their digital skills. Instead, a common strategy is to place strong filters on devices – leading to a locked-down digital environment that can be demotivating and negatively impact use in the longer term.</p>
<p>Many schemes also employ a model where devices are borrowed and internet connection is provided free of charge for a short period of time. Such an approach reduces young people’s sense of control over their use of technology and risks causing financial stress if families feel pushed into continuing with an internet connection they cannot afford.</p>
<p>Additional pressures such as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/digital-divide-isolates-and-endangers-millions-of-uk-poorest">unequal burden of data costs</a> faced by those on the cheapest contracts, or inequalities in levels of parental support for learning are examples of this complexity. Research consistently illustrates that the benefits of using technology vary widely, with the better off tending to benefit <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:762714c5-4eed-4f5b-8c8e-7d0127e5fa05">more educationally and socially</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335224/original/file-20200514-77271-16udw6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Computers aren’t always the best platform for home learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/schoolgirl-studying-home-using-laptop-school-1677296635">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A move to online teaching and learning may well suit schools in more affluent catchment areas (and <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14848">private schools</a> in particular) but is a much less satisfactory option for schools serving more deprived areas.</p>
<p>It will inevitably lead to a greater disparity in educational outcomes at the end of lockdown as the inequalities in our school system and wider society are exacerbated by the current crisis. Promoting remote schooling as “digital by default” does not serve all children equally well and may do some a great injustice.</p>
<h2>Alternative approaches</h2>
<p>One alternative would be for schools to make the best use of all available communication means. International organisations used to dealing with the realities of uneven digital participation have pointed to other options, such as using <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/educational-television-during-covid-19-how-start-and-what-consider">televisions to deliver educational programming</a>, <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/educational-challenges-and-opportunities-covid-19-pandemic">low-bandwidth options such as radio or podcasts</a>, as well as <a href="https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse/solutions">education tools that work well on phones</a> rather than laptops. Such provision may still leave some children at a disadvantage, but it would still be a big step forward.</p>
<p>In many policy circles, the role of schools is often viewed in quite narrow, primarily economic terms, and students are expected to acquire skills that make them competitive in the workforce. But the role of schools is actually <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335554304_Responsive_or_Responsible_Democratic_Education_for_the_Global_Networked_Society">far richer and more complex</a>, and involves developing a wider set of knowledge, so young people learn about the society they are part of, their culture and develop a sense of self. This cannot be achieved solely through the delivery of digital content. </p>
<p>Governments around the world task schools with a responsibility to address social inequalities. Although many rightly contest the extent to which these responsibilities are reasonable or appropriately framed, schools play an important role. They feed children, identify those at risk, support and protect them and <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/01/Summary-of-the-UNCRC.pdf">enable children’s rights</a>. </p>
<p>No one can be certain of what the next few months hold, but in trying to find ways to educate young people it is important to avoid narrow technological solutions and instead ensure that we design and use technologies in ways that promote broader social good rather than exacerbate inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Nash has received funding from the Oak Foundation, the John Fell Fund, Luminate and the UK Department for Digital Media, Culture and Sport. She has served in an unpaid capacity on OfCom’s Making Sense of Media Advisory Panel and its Consumer Panel, on the UK Council on Internet Safety, the Coalition for the Digital Economy (COADEC), the Education Task Force against Hate Speech, the Internet Commission, the End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (ECPAT) Research Advisory Network, the UK Internet Governance Forum, Nominet’s Policy Stakeholder Committee and advisory boards for specific projects at Facebook Inc., Google Inc., and Parentzone, and is a member of the Labour Party. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Eynon has received funding from UK taxpayers, the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the John Fell Fund, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Google, the European Commission and Ferrero. As part of her communication and policy outreach, she has served in a paid advisory capacity to the Good Things Foundation and the Robertson Foundation and in an unpaid capacity to the RSA and the Digital Access for All Taskforce.</span></em></p>Promoting remote schooling as ‘digital by default’ does not serve all children equally well and may do some a great injustice.Victoria Nash, Deputy Director and Policy and Research Fellow, University of OxfordRebecca Eynon, Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1373862020-05-18T03:19:41Z2020-05-18T03:19:41ZForget work-life balance – it’s all about integration in the age of COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334545/original/file-20200513-82375-1x9c0md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It wasn’t the usual end to our staff meeting. </p>
<p>This time, the head of our university department wrapped up the video conference by inviting her nine-year-old son to come and say hello to about a hundred colleagues.</p>
<p>It was an acknowledgement of the changes we have all adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The responses required to contain the spread of the virus have obliterated the boundaries that conventionally separate work from the rest of our lives. It has left us questioning the old concept of work-life balance.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-strategies-to-juggle-work-and-young-kids-at-home-its-about-flexibility-and-boundaries-134138">6 strategies to juggle work and young kids at home: it's about flexibility and boundaries</a>
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<h2>The myth of balance</h2>
<p>The idea of work-life balance caught on the 1980s, powered to a large extent by the increasing number of women in the paid workforce who also shouldered the bulk of home and family work. </p>
<p>While it is a concept somewhat hard to define and based on many assumptions, definitions of work-life balance tend to focus on the “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1534484310384958">absence of conflict</a>” between professional and personal domains.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-more-work-life-balance-we-have-the-more-we-want-global-study-65410">The more work-life balance we have the more we want: global study</a>
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<p>The intention is noble. The problem, in the words of business scholar Stewart Friedman, is that “<a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/work-home-community-self">balance is bunk</a>”:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s a misguided metaphor because it assumes we must always make trade-offs among the four main aspects of our lives: work or school, home or family (however you define that), community (friends, neighbours, religious or social groups), and self (mind, body, spirit). </p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>Friedman, a professor at the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, founded the <a href="http://worklife.wharton.upenn.edu">Wharton Work/Life Integration Project</a> in 1991 to “produce knowledge for action on the relationship between work and the rest of life”. </p>
<p>A more realistic and more gratifying goal than balance, he argues, is to better integrate work and the rest of life in ways that engender “four-way wins” between work, home, community and self.</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=235&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334534/original/file-20200513-82375-1vmhvbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asanka Gunasekara</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<hr>
<h2>Synergies, not trade-offs</h2>
<p>Integration is not about trade-offs but synergies, gaining more by combining aspects of life often deliberately quarantined from each other. </p>
<p>Psychologists Jeffery Greenhaus and Saroj Parasuraman <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/handbook-of-gender-and-work/n20.xml?term=greenhaus">describe integration</a> as “when attitudes in one role positively spill over into another role, or when experiences in one role serve as resources that enrich another role in one’s life”.</p>
<p>A pre-COVID-19 example might be participating in a work-sponsored fun run for charity. It’s as chance to deepen your bonds with colleagues and do something good for the community. And exercise is good for both your physical and mental health. </p>
<h2>Making integration the new normal</h2>
<p>What would work-life integration look like in the age of COVID-19?</p>
<p>Perhaps it is a father who invites his children and partner to discuss a workplace challenge he is facing over dinner. </p>
<p>Working from home has been particularly onerous for families with kids cooped up and parents having to take on homeschooling duties. In this scenario, talking through a workplace issues enables the family to support each other and to feel a part of each other’s lives. </p>
<p>In the case of our departmental head introducing her son at the end of the video conference, it reminded the rest of us about the demands of working at home at this time. </p>
<p>Her son, meanwhile, got a chance to better appreciate his mother’s work, with nearly a hundred little boxes of faces no doubt helping him to understand why she is not always available. It was an opportunity to increase empathy and understanding from both colleagues and family. It sent a positive message that all employees are entitled to this understanding. </p>
<p>Integration also allows us the opportunity to throw away the idea of being the “perfect” partner or parent and instead work on being more open, honest, and even vulnerable.</p>
<p>But first we need to recognise that COVID-19 has dramatically changed personal and work dynamics, and we need to let go the mental model of thinking of work-time and home-time being distinct and separate blocks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Wheeler has engaged in paid and pro-bono consulting and research relating to issues of applied ethics and gender equality (e.g., Our Watch, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, VicHealth). She has previously worked for research centres that receive funding from several partner organisations in the private and public sector, including from the Victorian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asanka Gunasekara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The idea of work-life balance caught on the 1980s. The COVD-19 pandemic shows we need to replace it with a more integrated approach.Melissa A. Wheeler, Senior lecturer, Swinburne University of TechnologyAsanka Gunasekara, Lecturer in Management, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1376912020-05-11T11:50:40Z2020-05-11T11:50:40ZFor parents of color, schooling at home can be an act of resistance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332067/original/file-20200501-42918-1qa6knh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5109%2C2777&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Educating your children at home brings the power to choose what they learn.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/son-reading-to-dad-royalty-free-image/638761855?adppopup=true">MoMo Productions/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>My 6-year-old hates the British. To be more specific, the British Empire that ruled over up to <a href="https://www.theweek.co.uk/history/93820/british-empire-how-big-was-it-and-why-did-it-collapse">a quarter of the world’s land</a> by the early 1900s. Hates that one of the biggest diamonds in the world, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-koh-i-noor-diamondand-why-british-wont-give-it-back-180964660/">found in India</a> over 1,000 years ago, now sits in the queen’s set of crown jewels. Hates that they <a href="http://origins.osu.edu/milestones/december-2017-india-pakistan-partition">drew up borders quickly</a> and exited South Asia in the 1940s, resulting in the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">death of millions</a>, and making his grandfather and great-grandparents refugees in the newly formed nation of India.</p>
<p>How does my 6-year-old know all about this? Well, because we talk about it and have a lot of books at home. We have always read <a href="http://www.niahouse.org/blog-fulton/2018/10/19/45-childrens-books-about-south-asian-history-and-culturenbsp">books about South Asian culture and history</a>. And now that we have more flexible schedules since we have to work at home – and the kiddo has to do school at home – we have even more time together. He naturally gravitates to the books with characters that look like him.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332054/original/file-20200501-42923-qk085k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sampling of books at the author’s home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monisha Bajaj</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LwU2EpEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of multicultural education</a>, I know that children are able to understand complex issues, like <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716700866/talking-race-with-young-children">racism</a>, if they are broken down and explained in a way that they can grasp. So, when books talk about subjects like segregation, slavery, colonialism or sexism, my partner and I explain those terms as best we can.</p>
<h2>A different worldview</h2>
<p>Conversations about world history in our home go a little like this: </p>
<p>Parent: “People from Europe really liked the spices and cloth from South Asia, so they wanted to go there to buy stuff.” </p>
<p>Kiddo: “Even Christopher Columbus was lost and trying to find India, right?” </p>
<p>Parent: “Right! Europeans went to South Asia, first to trade and buy things. But then they wanted more power, and the British decided to take over and bully people around.”</p>
<p>Kiddo: “How did they bully them?”</p>
<p>Parent: “They made people give them money (land-taxes), didn’t let them make their own clothes to wear, and didn’t even let them make salt out of the water in the sea next to where they lived!”</p>
<p>Books like “<a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-cody-kimmel/a-taste-of-freedom/">A Taste of Freedom</a>,” which recounts Gandhi’s famed <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/india/salt-march">Salt March</a> to protest British rule, and resources like the website and podcast “<a href="https://parentingforliberation.org/">Parenting for Liberation</a>,” certainly help with these conversations.</p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has brought on a lot of hardship and heartache to families everywhere, and it has also made it easier for parents like us to spend more time with our children. For parents of color, this means a chance to educate our children as we see fit. We have an opportunity to offer counter-stories that focus on people who look like us, as opposed to having our children forced to learn from narratives written from a European or white perspective.</p>
<p>Our family traces our origins to different parts of South Asia, and we are using this time at home to read about anti-colonial and anti-caste activists like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhimrao-Ramji-Ambedkar">B.R. Ambedkar</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/elm-2019/dakshayini-velayudhan-d53a91ca9f1d">Dakshayani Velayudhan</a>, people my son wouldn’t ever encounter in his school curriculum. </p>
<h2>Racism in schools and society</h2>
<p>There’s no shortage of examples of inaccurate textbooks like the one in Texas that made headlines a few years ago for referring to enslaved people as immigrant “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10/23/450826208/why-calling-slaves-workers-is-more-than-an-editing-error">workers from Africa</a>.”</p>
<p>There is also a cultural mismatch between America’s teachers and students – <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/08/15/the-nations-teaching-force-is-still-mostly.html">80% of America’s teachers are white</a>, but <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cge.pdf">more than half</a> of the nation’s students are children of color. And this mismatch matters: <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2018-11-23/black-teachers-improve-outcomes-for-black-students">Studies show</a> that black students are more likely to graduate from high school if they have an African American teacher in elementary school.</p>
<p>No matter the teacher’s ethnic identity, research shows that students are <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/culturally-responsive-teaching/understanding-culturally-responsive-teaching/">more interested in school and do better</a> when they feel like they can relate to what’s being taught and when the lessons reflect their own heritage and history. This is where schooling your children at home can make a difference. That is, parents can select lessons on historical or contemporary issues that do reflect their children’s history and heritage.</p>
<h2>Hard histories</h2>
<p>No doubt, some social justice education can get to be too much and provide too early an exposure to graphic images of violence and suffering. For example, a friend’s son at age 5 watched a video at a neighbor’s house that showed the targeting of an African American boy by the police – something that is part of a larger <a href="http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/PoliceUseOfForceAfrosUSA.pdf">documented issue of police violence against black Americans in the U.S.</a> Afterward, the child would get quiet and scared whenever he saw a police officer.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332070/original/file-20200501-42913-srsmqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t let children watch disturbing scenes on their own.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/parents-looking-at-a-laptop-computer-at-home-with-royalty-free-image/1189239933?adppopup=true">davidf/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“<a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/8/8/12401792/police-black-parents-the-talk">The talk</a>,” or discussions African American parents have with their children about the police, is both necessary and real. But, all forms of racial justice education have to be done with nuance and from a <a href="https://parentingforliberation.org/">place of liberation</a> rather than fear. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, when my son and I read a book about abolitionist and Civil War hero Harriet Tubman, we listened to some songs on YouTube from the movie “<a href="https://www.focusfeatures.com/harriet">Harriet</a>,” but I didn’t let him see the video. Studies show that early exposure to graphic violence can <a href="https://dartcenter.org/content/children-and-media-coverage-trauma">cause trauma and distress</a>, so home-based social justice education has to be delivered with care and attention. That means carefully preselecting videos and clips to watch with children to screen for excessive violence, and taking time to explain tough concepts and issues.</p>
<h2>In search of liberation</h2>
<p>In reading and discussions in our family, we focus on movements and activists. Educator and TV legend <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mister-rogers-faith-shaped-his-idea-of-childrens-television-123313">Fred Rogers</a> famously said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/13/mr-fred-rogers-find-helpers-quote-coronavirus-how-help-neighbors-kindness/5041005002/">Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping</a>.’” I would modify that Mister Rogers quote slightly for parents of color to say “When you see injustice, look for the people who are resisting. You will always find people who are resisting.” </p>
<p>While my kiddo still hates “the British,” he also knows about the <a href="http://frederickdouglassinbritain.com/">British abolitionists</a> who helped former slave, activist and author <a href="https://theconversation.com/frederick-douglass-july-4th-and-remembering-babylon-in-america-79246">Frederick Douglass</a> fight for an end to slavery in the 1800s. </p>
<p>Schooling at home provides a unique chance for children of color to build up their knowledge of their histories and larger struggles for social and racial justice locally and globally. Perhaps this moment can be an opportunity, a place of possibility within the overwhelming and daunting task of parenting during the pandemic.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monisha Bajaj does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar of multicultural education says the COVID-19 pandemic gives parents of color the chance to choose what their children learn at home.Monisha Bajaj, Professor of International and Multicultural Education, University of San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1345392020-04-19T08:12:13Z2020-04-19T08:12:13ZStudents won’t get through all school content while learning at home: here are 3 things to prioritise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328869/original/file-20200419-152567-p3w99h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-african-girl-reading-book-on-454832509">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As children learn from home, parents are effectively running two schedules – work and school. Some children may not be able to get through all the work their school assigns in the time they have, which can leave parents feeling guilty. </p>
<p>It’s important for parents to note they are not replacement teachers, nor is it possible to hold down a full time job while helping their children learn full time. Something’s got to give. </p>
<p>These are unusual times and schools themselves don’t expect children to cover all the content they provide, especially when it comes to children in primary school.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://bondi-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/b/bondi-p/newsletter/2020/4/Term_1_Week_11_2020.pdf">newsletter to parents</a> the principal of Bondi Public school said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some days your children will submit outstanding work and other days they will submit nothing at all. I want you to know that this is OK. Our students very rarely work at the same level or at the same pace, so try not to compare yourselves with other families.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>There’s more to learning than content</h2>
<p>There is much more to education than just getting through content. Schools struggle to cover all content in the Australian Curriculum under normal circumstances. </p>
<p>What education provides is the skills to be able to pick up content, or catch up on it when need be.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059316300591?via%3Dihub">research</a> children’s learning in conflict-affected contexts, where school is often disrupted due to disease, poverty or war, and the responsibility of education lands back with families. </p>
<p>This research has shown me that the children most able to catch up on content when they return to school are those whose families or communities promote literacy, numeracy and social skills.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328870/original/file-20200419-152597-1gsv1pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children whose schooling has been disrupted do better when they return if their communities focus on literacy, numeracy and social skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/durumiabujanigeria14apr-children-reading-living-wooden-makeshift-1135305332">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In his research among European refugees during and after the second world war, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/37168488">Professor Reuven Feuerstein</a> observed that children whose mothers believed in them and invested in their learning skills were more likely to overcome trauma and progress their learning. </p>
<p>So the best thing you can do is believe in your children, and help them maintain their love of learning, as well as their basic literacy, numeracy and social skills.</p>
<h2>1. Get your kids to read</h2>
<p>The more words children have at their disposal, the more they can make sense of the world. </p>
<p>One of the most effective ways to build vocabulary is reading. If you’re having a bad school day at home but you manage for your child to fit in ten minutes of reading, then you’ve had a win. </p>
<p>Reading books helps children <a href="http://oregonliteracypd.uoregon.edu/sites/default/files/topic_documents/16-R1-Cunningham_0.pdf">develop cognition</a> and sets them up <a href="https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/about-us/media/2018/five-amazing-facts-about-the-benefits-of-reading">for improved academic achievement</a>. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/33690986.pdf">OECD research</a> correlates reading with the achievement of future goals and work success.</p>
<p>Building vocabulary is also important for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41134-017-0046-z">helping children overcome trauma and stress</a>. When children can make sense of their experiences, it frees up their thinking resources for learning and development.</p>
<p>If your child is a resistant reader, try to build their reading stamina. Start with five minutes per day, then incrementally add one minute each day. Explain to them stamina is like building muscle. Choose material <a href="https://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/the-childrens-books-you-championed-2018-better-reading-top-50-kids-books/?doing_wp_cron=1530662155.3982310295104980468750">they like to read</a> – and celebrate the wins. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/love-laughter-adventure-and-fantasy-a-reading-list-for-teens-126928">Love, laughter, adventure and fantasy: a reading list for teens</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If reading is an uphill battle, don’t feel like you have to conquer dense texts – reading comics and joke books is better than no reading at all. Try light-hearted humorous books like <a href="http://www.andygriffiths.com.au/books/">Andy Griffith’s Treehouse series</a> or <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9780330362924/">The Day My Bum Went Psycho</a>. </p>
<p>Also, tell your children stories. Sharing stories gives us a sense of belonging and possibility. In my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059316300591?via%3Dihub">study of children’s learning</a> in conflict-affected Northern Uganda many teachers lamented the loss of generational stories due to the loss of parents and grandparents.</p>
<p>Stories give children connections to culture and points of reference that show adversity can be overcome. If all your child manages to do during this difficult time is read and tell or write stories, they’ll be well positioned with literacy skills for later recovery.</p>
<h2>2. Build their maths stamina</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/mathematics/">Australian Mathematics Curriculum</a> sets out three strands: numbers and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. </p>
<p>These strands are covered at every grade level and spiral up in complexity. As a parent, you don’t need to unpack and interpret the curriculum, your child’s school has already done this for you. </p>
<p>Try to keep to the school’s plan. But if your child is finding it hard to cover everything, just focus on them doing at least <em>some</em> maths every day. It is a skill better practised frequently (10-15 minutes per day) than doing all on one day (and then forgotten by next week). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-maths-what-does-the-evidence-say-actually-works-64976">Teaching maths – what does the evidence say actually works?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If your child is resistant to doing maths, ten minutes per day is better than zero minutes. And those ten minutes day by day build momentum. </p>
<p>Help them to build that stamina rather than just getting through the material. The clock is your friend – set a timer – see how many problems can be done in ten minutes, and gradually build up this time. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328871/original/file-20200419-152607-1cf6man.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ten minutes of maths every day builds maths muscle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/child-studying-classic-clock-1702678543">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Numeracy is more than doing maths problems. It <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/numeracy-across-the-curriculum-research-based-strategies-for-enha">involves problem solving</a>, sense making and critical judgement. To keep our children numerate while at home, we should keep them counting, measuring, calculating, comparing and estimating. </p>
<p>Online programs like <a href="https://www.mathletics.com/au/">Mathletics</a> may be just what a busy parent with primary schoolers needs, but practical activities like cooking, telling the time or doing a basic budget are also great learning opportunities.</p>
<h2>3. Social skills</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=pdAoDwAAQBAJ&dq=health+and+wellbeing+in+childhood&source=gbs_navlinks_s">Educational research</a> places social and emotional skills as considerably important for children’s development and well-being. </p>
<p>Social skills don’t come naturally to all children, and often need to be explicitly taught. <a href="https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/qld-uken/find-help/triple-p-online/">These skills</a> include manners, self-regulation and hygiene. The best place to teach these is in families. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/publications-articles/research-publications/occasional-paper-series/number-52-a-safe-and-supportive-family-environment-for-children-key-components-and-links-to-child-outcomes">Growing Up in Australia</a> survey shows safe and supportive family environments are key to positive future outcomes for children. </p>
<p>Help your children build social skills into their daily routine: for example, get dressed, brush your hair and clean your teeth every morning by 8 am; insist on manners around food, and create a cool-down space to help with self-regulation.</p>
<p>Although it may sound simplistic, understanding not all people are the same is key to a child’s educational development. </p>
<p>When young people understand people have different backgrounds, experiences, and views, they are more likely to question their own assumptions and listen to the views of others. This extended time at home might be a wonderful opportunity to view documentaries or read stories about other people places and ways of living.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-australian-books-that-can-help-young-people-understand-their-place-in-the-world-127712">5 Australian books that can help young people understand their place in the world</a>
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<p>If your children can sustain these three learning skills – literacy, numeracy and social skills – they will be well positioned to go forward, as they can be applied in every subject area.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Willis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There’s more to learning than content. As long as kids maintain the essential literacy, numeracy and social skills, they will be well placed to pick up content they may have missed later.Alison Willis, Lecturer and Researcher, School of Education, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1346172020-04-13T12:17:49Z2020-04-13T12:17:49Z5 ways parents can motivate children at home during the pandemic – without nagging or tantrums<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325811/original/file-20200406-74261-1e3gh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C20%2C6649%2C4383&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Involving children while setting up family schedules gives them ownerhship over behavior. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/landry-martin-and-fanny-delque-helps-their-children-mathias-news-photo/1207489465?adppopup=true">Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents have always helped with homework and made sure their children fulfill responsibilities like chores, but the extended and often unstructured time families are spending together during the current crisis creates new challenges. </p>
<p>After a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Famp0000181">disaster</a> like a hurricane or fire, establishing <a href="https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/grolnick-et-al.-Parental-provision-of-structure-MPQ-2014.pdf">structure</a> is important to keep consistency and maintain a sense of control for both parents and children. This includes creating a schedule and communicating clear expectations and guidelines on things such as screen time. </p>
<p>But how do parents get children to follow the schedule and fulfill responsibilities without nagging and in a way that prevents blowups and tantrums? </p>
<p>Wendy Grolnick, a psychologist and parenting expert who has worked with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000181">parents in disaster situations</a>, has studied how parents can help children become more self-motivated and decrease conflict in the family. In this piece she shares some strategies to make the house run more smoothly during the coronavirus crisis.</p>
<h2>1. Involve children in setting schedules</h2>
<p>When children <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jora.12161">participate in creating guidelines</a> and schedules, they are more likely to believe the guidelines are important, accept them and follow them.</p>
<p>To involve children, parents can set up a family meeting. At the meeting, parents can discuss the schedule and ask children for their input on decisions like what time everyone should be out of bed and dressed, when breaks from schoolwork would work best and where each family member should be during study time. </p>
<p>Not every idea will be feasible – children may feel being dressed by noon is fine! But when parents listen to a child’s ideas, it helps them own their behavior and be more engaged in what they are doing. </p>
<p>There may well be differences in opinion. Parents can negotiate with their children so that at least some of the children’s ideas are adopted. Resolving conflicts is an important skill for children to learn, and they <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1997)23:5%3C343::AID-AB4%3E3.0.CO;2-J">learn it best from their parents</a>. </p>
<h2>2. Allow children some choice</h2>
<p>Schoolwork has to be done and chores need to be completed, but having some choice about how they are accomplished can help children feel less pressured and <a href="http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2009_Grolnick_TRE.pdf">coerced, which undermines their motivation</a>.</p>
<p>Parents can present some chores around the house, and children can choose which they prefer. They can also pick when or how they complete them – do they want to do the dishes before or after watching their TV show?</p>
<p>Parents can also give children choice about what fun activity they would like to do at the end of the day or for a study break.</p>
<h2>3. Listen and provide empathy</h2>
<p>Children will be more open to hearing about what they need to do if they feel that their own <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1984.tb00879.x">perspectives are understood</a>. Parents can let children know that they understand, for example, that it is not fun to be in the house and that they miss being with their friends.</p>
<p>Parents can begin requests with an empathetic statement. For example, “I know it seems like getting dressed is silly because we’re in the house. But getting dressed is part of the routine we have all decided upon.” Even if they might not agree with their child’s perspective, when parents show that they understand, cooperation is enhanced, as is the parent-child relationship.</p>
<h2>4. Provide reasons for rules</h2>
<p>When parents provide reasons for why they are asking for something, children can better understand the importance of acting in particular ways. Reasons will be most effective when they are meaningful to the children in terms of the children’s own goals. For example, a parent can say that dividing up family chores will help everyone have more time for fun activities after dinner.</p>
<h2>5. Problem-solve together</h2>
<p>Not everything will go according to plan – there will be times of frustration, nagging and yelling. When things aren’t working out, parents can try engaging in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959475296000187">joint problem-solving</a> with their children, which means employing empathy, identifying the issue and finding ways to resolve it.</p>
<p>For example, a parent might state, “You know how I’ve been nagging you to get up in the morning? It’s probably really annoying to hear that first thing in the morning. The problem is that even though we decided we’d all get up at 8 a.m., you are not getting out of bed. Let’s put our heads together to see what we can do to make morning time go more smoothly. What are your ideas?” I have seen this take the stress out of mornings for working parents who need to take their children to school before going to work, and I believe it could help during the pandemic, too.</p>
<p>All of these practices can help children to feel more ownership of their behavior. That will make them more likely to cooperate. </p>
<p>However, these strategies require time and patience – something that is hard to come by at times of stress. Research studies show that parents are more likely to yell, demand and threaten when time is limited, they are stressed or they <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-005-7956-2">feel worried about how their children are performing</a>. That’s why its important for parents to find time for their own self-care and rejuvenation – whether it be by taking a walk, exercising, meditating or writing in a journal. A pandemic or other disaster presents challenges for parents, but using motivational strategies can help parents provide a calmer and more effective environment that also facilitates a positive parent-child relationship. </p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Grolnick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A psychologist specializing in parenting offers tips to help children self-motivate while at home during the coronavirus crisis.Wendy Grolnick, Professor of Psychology, Clark UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1344342020-03-26T14:32:22Z2020-03-26T14:32:22ZKids can keep learning even during a lockdown. Here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322528/original/file-20200324-155652-1v1x2rv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With a mix of online resources and creativity, you can keep your kids learning and entertained.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa, like most countries in the world, has ordered <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/south-africa-orders-schools-closed-as-covid-19-spreads/1767271">all schools to close</a> to try and stop the spread of COVID-19. </p>
<p>Many schools have also asked parents to ensure that learning continues at home. Online learning is an obvious way to keep lessons going; however, only a few schools have well-established online learning systems. Additional challenges for parents can include connectivity problems, limited data access and <a href="https://www.news24.com/Tags/Topics/load_shedding">power blackouts</a>.</p>
<p>For many parents, taking on their children’s education is a daunting prospect. But there are resources online that can make home learning a bit easier and more fun. For those with limited data and connectivity, I am highlighting sites that are zero-rated for data – so, free to use. Parents could also consider buying night time bulk data options for off-peak downloads, which is often cheaper. </p>
<p>This is an unprecedented situation and no one really knows how long it will be before schools reopen. As an educator, mother and tech-sector professional, I don’t have all the answers. But I do recommend that parents try different approaches and websites and see what works for you. Be prepared to learn along with your kids, take a break when you need to – and have fun.</p>
<h2>Digital options</h2>
<p><em><strong>Online libraries</strong></em></p>
<p>Sadly, the good old physical library won’t be available because of the country’s strict lockdown, <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/coronavirus-national-lockdown-101-what-you-need-to-know-20200324">announced</a> by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 24 March.</p>
<p>There are some online alternatives, though. Amazon allows book rental as part of a premium monthly payment service. You can also access <a href="https://stories.audible.com/start-listen">free audio books</a> for children <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/03/21/us/audible-for-kids-coronavirus-trnd/index.html">through Audible</a>. The Kindle (with the Kindle unlimited option) application can also be used to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/hz/subscribe/ku?*entries*=0&_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true">download books to a phone</a>. Parents can use the trial version of the app to access books for at least a month, enabling children to keep reading. </p>
<p><em><strong>Online learning platforms and websites</strong></em></p>
<p>South African telecommunication networks have zero-rated many learning sites, which means materials can be downloaded for free. This makes a huge difference to parents who may have limited data plans and are worried about running up online bills.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.telkom.co.za/about_us/mediacentre/currentreleases/article1749.shtml">Telkom</a> has zero-rated the websites of universities, technical and vocational training Colleges, and provides links to maths and science learning pages. The <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a> site is also zero-rated, providing massive online learning resources to a global audience.</p>
<p>MTN and <a href="https://vodacom-cleverly.vodacom.mytopdog.co.za/">Vodacom</a> have also zero-rated many learning sites. Vodacom provides a comprehensive zero-rated <a href="https://vodacom-cleverly.vodacom.mytopdog.co.za/">e-school portal</a> with extensive learning content for grades R to 12, running the gamut from very young children to those about to finish their secondary schooling. Vodacom has also zero-rated the <a href="https://learn.mindset.africa/">Mindset</a> learning platform of creative and inspiring videos to support learning in a range of subjects. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.siyavula.com/">Siyavula</a> is an education technology organisation providing high school maths and science practice questions and free online books for students. The site is further zero rated for MTN and Vodacom users.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-emergencies/coronavirus-school-closures/solutions">UNESCO</a> has a useful list of platforms that can provide online learning materials, free books, websites and learning applications for different subject areas.</p>
<p>If you want to assess your child in a fun way, applications such as <a href="https://socrative.com/">Socrative</a> and <a href="https://kahoot.com/">Kahoot</a> are easy to use. Kahoot has opened up premium resources for free for teachers in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.</p>
<p><a href="https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/">Kidzearch</a> or “Wiki for kids” is a great source for children to research subjects such as History, Geography, Maths and Science. And for parents keen on free coding lessons, South Africa’s own <a href="https://www.codespace.co.za/about">Code Space</a> will be running virtual classes in coding, though this is subject to a pre-application process.</p>
<p><em><strong>Learning apps</strong></em></p>
<p>The Android and iOs app stores have numerous learning applications that allow one-off downloads to support learning. South African examples include <a href="https://sisanda.com/pages/sisanda">Sisanda Techs</a> which supports science learning using augmented reality for children whose schools lack science labs. Parents can type the subject area to find a range of learning platforms.</p>
<p><em><strong>Sharing materials with other parents</strong></em></p>
<p>Parents who have access to open source school learning materials can exchange and share with others using Google Drive with Google suits applications on the free service. Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Google Meets are also great platforms for live group learning or tutoring. </p>
<p>Both Microsoft and Google have announced free access to conferencing services which normally have an enterprise subscription rate during the coronavirus crisis. Parents can take advantage of this for individual or group learning as well.</p>
<h2>Variety and flexibility</h2>
<p>Finally, and importantly, you should look to mix it up with physical and creative learning. Home learning can be challenging and parents do need to take a holistic approach. Don’t rely on the computer for everything, and make sure to include lots of play and physical exercises as part of the learning day to help stimulate your childrens’ minds and keep them interested. </p>
<p>While parents may think they need to run a set timetable, you will need to be flexible to deal with things like blackouts, slow data speeds or a child who is simply not interested in learning today.</p>
<p>The process of home learning can also feel isolating, especially with children who are not usually home schooled and are used to being surrounded by other children. Be prepared to play traditional physical games, outside if you can, or play board games as alternatives to online activities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mmaki Jantjies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Be prepared to learn along with your kids, take a break when you need to – and have fun.Mmaki Jantjies, Associate professor in Information Systems, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1341382020-03-23T04:31:02Z2020-03-23T04:31:02Z6 strategies to juggle work and young kids at home: it’s about flexibility and boundaries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322222/original/file-20200323-22618-10h0y7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s hard enough juggling a job with parenthood when you’ve got young kids. But what do you do when social-distancing policies mean you’ve all been sent home? </p>
<p>This is the reality many families now face. Schools have been shut in <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/20/uk/uk-coronavirus-schools-closed-key-workers-gbr-intl/index.html">Britain</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-france-shuts-schools-to-avoid-being-the-next-italy.html">France</a>, <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20200312/school-closures-and-events-axed-how-coronavirus-is-affecting-life-in-germany">Germany</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/upshot/coronavirus-school-closings.html">South Korea</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/school-closures-skyrocket-nearly-54-million-students-sent-home-n1165946">all but five US states</a>. In Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory are closing schools this week, with more states likely to follow.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-what-closing-schools-and-childcare-centres-would-mean-for-parents-and-casual-staff-133768">COVID-19: what closing schools and childcare centres would mean for parents and casual staff</a>
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<p>To entertain and home school your children while working from home is going to take self-awareness, planning, communication and technology to stop the boundaries between the work and family from fraying and ripping. </p>
<p>Here are six strategies to survive.</p>
<h2>1. Be flexible</h2>
<p>Working parents often develop routines around work (8am-4pm) and family time (4pm-8pm). Even if you prefer to stick to your routine and keep work to regular work hours, you may need to re-evaluate. The new normal is likely to involve combining greater flexibility with plans and schedules for non-standard working and family time. </p>
<p>To plan successfully, it is critical your know your own style and work preferences.
<a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amr.2000.3363315">Research shows</a> some people are “integrators”, who cope well with multitasking and switching between work and personal tasks, while “segmenters” prefer to keep things separate and have strong boundaries. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-arent-better-multitaskers-than-men-theyre-just-doing-more-work-121620">Women aren't better multitaskers than men – they're just doing more work</a>
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<h2>2. Make a plan</h2>
<p>Make a daily work and childcare schedule that you, your partner and (to a large extent) your kids agree on. </p>
<p>It is crucial to schedule things as it gives you a realistic understanding of what is possible and what you may have to give up versus what you need to claim as essential. </p>
<p>Here is my personal schedule for my partner and I working from home with our six-year-old daughter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322224/original/file-20200323-22636-ydoitl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ruchi Sinha</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>It’s a manic schedule and we are trying to adapt it each day to make it work. But to have it in the first place made us realise how to share home duties and educational responsibilities while carving out work and personal time. </p>
<p>Have a family meeting and lay down what you think is critical for the health of your family and for your productivity at work. Use that understanding to identify workload-sharing plans. </p>
<p>Try different scheduling for a week and meet as a family to discuss what does not work and what could work. For example, try a two-hour work block for two days and see how your partner and kids react to it. Or swap activity times or roles twice a week or every other day.</p>
<p>Once you have a plan, it is critical to communicate the same with colleagues in a way that ensures they are supportive and can work with your constraints and capabilities. Be genuine about your struggles and ask others at work about how they manage their schedules. They will be able to empathise and appreciate you being upfront.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322216/original/file-20200323-22594-14wp1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A separate work space can help you mentally separate roles and boundaries even if the kids are still close.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>4. Create a work space</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1748-8583.12009">Research shows</a> working from home is less stressful when you have a dedicated work area. This helps you mentally and physically separate roles and boundaries. </p>
<p>With younger kids, you may want to have a symbolic boundary, such as a bookshelf or a room divider, so you can still see and hear them. </p>
<p>Invest in a good noise-cancelling headset and an ergonomically designed desk and table. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/working-at-home-to-avoid-coronavirus-this-tech-lets-you-almost-replicate-the-office-133350">Working at home to avoid coronavirus? This tech lets you (almost) replicate the office</a>
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<p>Make small traffic-light signs to indicate to young ones when they can and cannot interrupt. Use alarms to give you 10-minute reminders before you need to change gear from work to parenting. </p>
<p>When you are about to transition, write a note on what you want to do when you come back. This will help reduce the spillover of those incomplete tasks into your next activity.</p>
<h2>5. Build a community</h2>
<p>Gather every human and virtual resource you can find to aid mental well-being and efficiency. You, your partner and your kids will need social stimulation beyond each other.</p>
<p>Organise virtual play dates through video chat. Reach out to the parents of your child’s classmates to help share the load. Another parent doing a video music class or a virtual art class might free up precious time for you to do something else. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kids-at-home-because-of-coronavirus-here-are-4-ways-to-keep-them-happy-without-resorting-to-netflix-133772">Kids at home because of coronavirus? Here are 4 ways to keep them happy (without resorting to Netflix)</a>
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<h2>6. Look after yourself</h2>
<p>Don’t forget you also need some time to unwind.</p>
<p>This is the time to shed guilt and be generous to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for mistakes and missed targets. You are working in a brave new world and it will take time to adjust. </p>
<p>Be patient. Learn from each day by taking note of what worked and what didn’t. With time you will find a rhythm that works for you, your partner, your colleagues and the young ones at home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruchi Sinha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Flexibility and planning are key to managing boundaries if you’re working from home and have to look after kids.Ruchi Sinha, Senior Lecturer, Organisational Behaviour & Management, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1337142020-03-18T23:12:50Z2020-03-18T23:12:50ZWhy New Zealand needs to continue decisive action to contain coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321227/original/file-20200318-37421-1gxh7f4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C45%2C3743%2C2564&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With some of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nzs-decision-to-close-its-borders-will-hurt-tourism-but-its-the-right-thing-to-do-133707">toughest border restrictions</a> and a newly-announced <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/backing-our-health-services-combat-covid-19">NZ$500 million boost to health services</a>, New Zealand is among a small number of countries with a strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>New Zealand is also fortunate in having a brief window of opportunity to refine and roll out an effective response to COVID-19. At the time of writing, there were <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412042/eight-new-cases-of-coronavirus-in-nz-health-ministry-confirms">20 confirmed cases in New Zealand</a>, all related to overseas travel. There is no evidence of community transmission. </p>
<p>This situation could change rapidly as mild cases may not seek medical attention, effectively resulting in “<a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/03/13/science.abb3221">silent transmission</a>”. This process has seen other countries slip into widespread community transmission. </p>
<p>New Zealand is vulnerable until our testing rates and contact tracing capacity increases, potentially to the levels used successfully in <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-sharply-south-korea-whats-secret-its-success">South Korea</a>.</p>
<p>To guard against this risk New Zealand should consider a short “pulse” (a few weeks) of intense social distancing, including bringing forward the school holidays and temporary closures of most businesses, social meeting places and public transport. </p>
<p>Doing this now has the potential to slow undetected chains of transmission while containment measures are being ramped up. If containment is sustained, there may be the chance of avoiding the prolonged lock-downs seen in many countries. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-outstrips-australia-uk-and-us-with-12-billion-coronavirus-package-for-business-and-people-in-isolation-133789">New Zealand outstrips Australia, UK and US with $12 billion coronavirus package for business and people in isolation</a>
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<p>New Zealand’s effort to contain COVID-19 will also help <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-tough-coronavirus-travel-rules-are-crucial-to-protecting-lives-at-home-and-across-the-pacific-133779">protect Pacific Island</a> nations. Samoa in particular has a terrible history of devastating pandemics, notably <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/2018/11/07/a-100-years-ago-today-a-death-ship-from-nz-arrived-in-samoa-a-reminder-of-nzs-responsibilities-to-its-south-pacific-neighbours/">influenza in 1918</a> and more recently measles. </p>
<h2>Intensive containment can work</h2>
<p>Like other countries, New Zealand has relied on advice from the World Health Organization, whose pandemic plan, originally developed for influenza, focuses on managing spread <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/new-zealand-influenza-pandemic-plan-framework-action">through successive phases</a>. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30567-5/fulltext">COVID-19 is not influenza</a>. Its longer incubation period (median of five to six days, compared to influenza with one to three days) means we have a better chance of identifying and quarantining contacts, but only if <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30074-7/fulltext">done swiftly and effectively</a>.</p>
<p>By introducing border restrictions and maintaining a focus on stamping out chains of transmission, New Zealand has joined countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan that rigorously pursue containment of COVID-19. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-singapores-coronavirus-response-worked-and-what-we-can-all-learn-134024">Why Singapore's coronavirus response worked – and what we can all learn</a>
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<p>The strongest evidence that containment works comes from the remarkable success of China in <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf">reversing a large outbreak</a>. Also relevant are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/coronavirus-best-response.html">examples of smaller Asian jurisdictions</a>.</p>
<h2>Planning for the next phase if containment fails</h2>
<p>New Zealand needs to continue planning for the scenario where containment fails and we move into widespread community transmission. With COVID-19, it seems impossible to spread demand for treatment sufficiently to manage it through <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf">existing health sector capacity</a>. </p>
<p>At this point, we would need additional social distancing measures to suppress the epidemic to ensure <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf">New Zealand’s hospital and intensive care capacity</a> are not overwhelmed. </p>
<p>We also need to strengthen other critical components of the national response, notably hospital capacity to treat large numbers of critically ill patients with pneumonia while also ensuring high standards of infection control. </p>
<p>And it is vital to support vulnerable populations to reduce their risk of infection. As with influenza, the risk of COVID-19 infection is particularly concentrated in older people and those with <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jid/article-abstract/221/2/183/5611323">chronic medical conditions</a>. This makes Māori and Pacific peoples particularly vulnerable – as <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/1/11-0035_article">seen in past pandemics</a>. </p>
<p>Support with social distancing, hygiene and home isolation in a way that is consistent with tikanga (Māori customary practices) is particularly important for protecting these groups. Services for community diagnosis and treatment need to be responsive to these populations, as well as those with disabilities and the elderly. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-tough-coronavirus-travel-rules-are-crucial-to-protecting-lives-at-home-and-across-the-pacific-133779">Why NZ's tough coronavirus travel rules are crucial to protecting lives at home and across the Pacific</a>
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<h2>Strategic challenges ahead</h2>
<p>Countries have consistently underestimated the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of its global spread and intensity. They now seem to be diverging markedly in their strategic responses.</p>
<p>New Zealand is among those countries and territories committed to containment, but elsewhere, the aim in most high-income countries seems to be to mitigate the effects. Across much of the rest of the world, including the United States, it is unclear whether there is an agreed goal to guide the national response. </p>
<p>The possibility of uncontrolled outbreaks in some regions means countries that pursue containment will face long-term challenges, until a vaccine or treatment is available. </p>
<p>All of these approaches have uncertainty and risks and we will only understand the net societal benefits and costs in hindsight. Certainly in New Zealand, the containment approach appears to have widespread public support, particularly across the health sector. </p>
<p>Many of us are working to monitor and evaluate it so that we can learn how to better manage such threats in the future, some of which may be far worse as biotechnology advances open up new hazards. </p>
<p><em>* Stay in touch with The Conversation’s coverage from New Zealand experts by signing up for <a href="https://theconversation.com/nz/newsletters/new-zealand-weekly-58?utm_campaign=System&utm_content=newsletter&utm_medium=TopBar&utm_source=theconversation.com">our weekly newsletter</a> – delivered to you each Wednesday.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To guard against coronavirus, NZ should consider a short “pulse” (a few weeks) of intense social distancing, including bringing forward school holidays and temporary closures of most businesses.Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of OtagoNick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/884492017-12-12T12:19:45Z2017-12-12T12:19:45ZRecord numbers of children are now homeschooled, but who’s keeping an eye on the parents?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198566/original/file-20171211-27698-z6y75f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/07/07/number-children-home-taught-doubles-six-years-amid-increased/">30,000 children in the UK were educated at home</a> in the 2016 to 2017 academic year. This is an almost 100% increase from 2011 – when just over 15,000 pupils were classified as home taught.</p>
<p>I have four school age children. Tomorrow I could, without any forewarning and without notifying my local authority, withdraw them from school and educate them myself at home. My wife and my children would probably kill me. But, from a legal perspective, I would be acting within my rights.</p>
<p>This is because the UK has one of the lowest thresholds for the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288135/guidelines_for_las_on_elective_home_educationsecondrevisev2_0.pdf">regulation and monitoring</a> of home educators in Europe – anyone can choose to home educate and there is no requirement to inform local authorities. And local authorities are neither required to monitor who is home educating or how they are doing it.</p>
<p>In part, this is a consequence of ambiguous legislation such as the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/7">1996 Education Act</a>. This tasks parents with ensuring their children receive an education “suitable” to their age, ability and aptitude. It does not however, require school attendance.</p>
<h2>The need for regulation</h2>
<p><a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmchilsch/39/39i.pdf">The Badman Review</a> in 2009 and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/dec/10/vulnerable-pupils-abandoned-ofsted-schools">more recently Ofsted</a> both identified “risks” associated with home education. The Badman review was instigated following the tragic death by starvation of a seven-year-old girl in Birmingham. Her mother claimed she was home educating and consequently was able to deny social workers access to her home.</p>
<p>Ofsted’s more recent interest in home education followed investigations into allegations that some schools in Birmingham were being hijacked by <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4018166/Rise-home-schooling-HUNDREDS-children-risk-extremism-Trojan-Horse-scandal-education-tsar-warns.html">radical Muslim fundamentalists</a> whose aim was to teach a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-discuss-islam-and-education-following-the-trojan-horse-plot-82359">narrow Islamocentric curriculum</a>. This led to fears that some children were being taken out of mainstream education and instead sent to small unofficial schools that had been set up by “Islamic hardliners”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198570/original/file-20171211-27683-1ini9qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not all just fun and games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Micheal Wilshaw, the then chief inspector of schools, wrote to the secretary of state for education describing his extreme concern for the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523694/Unregistered_schools_advice_note_16_May_2016.pdf">safeguarding of Muslim home educated children</a>.</p>
<p>Both Ofsted and the Badman Review recommended introducing a national register, greater monitoring regimes and more clearly defined roles for local authorities. But so far, none of their recommendations have been implemented.</p>
<h2>The right kind of education</h2>
<p>My previous research <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3198/full">with Gypsy families</a> also revealed concerns about some types of families being identified as problematic “home educators”, who are “putting their children at risk”. Many Gypsy families have traditionally chosen to home educate, and following the Badman Review, these families came under scrutiny, with suspicions they were “using” home education to avoid prosecution when their children did not attend school. </p>
<p>Similar negative responses to home schooling are often seen with poor families who choose to home educate – with claims they are putting their children at risk of neglect and abuse. These findings echo the sentiments and suggestions that many Muslim families use home education as a “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523694/Unregistered_schools_advice_note_16_May_2016.pdf">cover</a>” to radicalise their children into non British values. </p>
<p>But quite often while Muslims, Gypsies and poor families are identified as potential sources of “risk” in terms of home education, other families such as those from middle class backgrounds seem to be portrayed in a more positive light.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198571/original/file-20171211-27705-1iafhae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many home-schooled children are often taught in local groups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Newspapers are often full of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jan/30/meek-family-uk-caravan-road-outdoors">lifestyle</a>” stories exploring the different choices made by middle class home educators. Typically these families are portrayed as sacrificing the material luxuries of their daily lives in favour of extended child-centric travelogues. </p>
<p>More recently, there was also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-42146823/why-i-had-to-home-educate-my-daughter">sympathetic accounts</a> of home education for children with special educational needs. Let down by failing, underfunded state schools parents were said to have been forced to make the difficult decision to home educate.</p>
<h2>Parental choice</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://208.254.74.112/books/details/9781138651340/">more recent research</a> found that while there are many different types of home educators, a large majority of parents came to the decision to home school for similar reasons. Many ethnic minority families, including all the Muslim and Gypsy families we interviewed, described racism and bullying in schools as a significant factor in their decision. Families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds also described how letdown they felt by local schools.</p>
<p>In this way, we found that many home educators are simply parents who have actively made choices to help meet the needs of their children. But despite this, not all families who home educate are viewed positively. In this way, stereotypes of home educators distort both negative and positive accounts – home educators often seen as problematic not based on what they do, but rather on who they are.</p>
<p>This is where a national register of home educated children and the monitoring of their well-being would be a step in the right direction. This would not impose on parental choice, it would simply help to monitor what, can at times be, something of a grey area within the UK education system.</p>
<p>Ultimately, what all this shows is that for many families there is a real need for home education, because of problems with schooling, bullying or racism. And in this way, home education is not always a lifestyle choice. But even when it is, this decision should still be respected, because as our research shows, choosing home education is a difficult and challenging decision – but one that is often made with the best interests of the children in mind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Myers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parents say they homeschool for a number of reasons including, lifestyle, dissatisfaction or disagreements with local schools, special needs, bullying and religion.Martin Myers, Lecturer in Education, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/866682017-11-13T23:16:07Z2017-11-13T23:16:07ZScience in the home boosts children’s academic success<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194201/original/file-20171110-29364-495xvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows that when parents engage in simple science projects with their kids at home, it boosts their learning in school. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Did you know that children spend just 14 per cent of their waking time between Kindergarten and the end of Grade 12 in school? </p>
<p>Given this startling statistic, it comes as no surprise that much of children’s learning happens “out there” — in the playground, during extracurricular activities, at a museum, on a walk, via the media, and, perhaps most importantly, at home.</p>
<p>I am the director of the Education Community Outreach Centre at Queen’s University and coordinator of Science Rendezvous Kingston. Science Rendezvous is Canada’s largest pop-up science, technology and engineering and mathematics (STEM) festival. I also develop mathematics content for two educational children’s programs, <em>The Prime Radicals</em> and <em>mathXplosion</em>. I have developed two provincial toolkits for parents about <a href="http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/parent_engagement-math/en/">inspiring children to learn, love</a> and <a href="http://www.mathpathontario.ca">choose math</a> and I am the “math talk” consultant for <em>MathStoryTime</em>.</p>
<p>I have worked for decades to engage parents because I believe that families and schools have much to learn from and share with each other. Schools have formal knowledge of teaching and learning, curriculum, assessment and evaluation. And parents know their children’s motivations, skills and interests.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194200/original/file-20171110-29358-1sjewqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Science at home doesn’t need to be daunting. It can be as simple as planting seeds with a child, or helping them collect leaves and bugs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The research also shows that informal environments including the home — also called out-of-school-time [OST] settings — play an important role in promoting STEM learning. They do this by <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/01443410903353302">sparking student interest</a> and <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12190/learning-science-in-informal-environments-people-places-and-pursuits">providing opportunities to broaden and deepen engagement in STEM content</a>.</p>
<h2>The benefits of science at home</h2>
<p>Empirical evidence clearly suggests that OST experiences <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/09500690701494084">strengthen and enrich school STEM learning</a> by <a href="http://www.informalscience.org/sites/default/files/MakingScienceMatter.pdf">reinforcing scientific concepts and practices</a> introduced during the school day. These experiences can be in museums, after-school programs, science and technology centres, libraries, aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens and at the kitchen table.</p>
<p>OST experiences also promote an appreciation for, and interest in, the pursuit of STEM in school and in daily life. They help learners understand the daily relevance of science to their lives, the depth and breadth of science as a field of inquiry, and <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12614/surrounded-by-science-learning-science-in-informal-environments">what it might be like to choose to do science in the world</a>, either as a professional or a citizen scientist.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194202/original/file-20171110-29374-1ip24oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>It is no surprise then, that informal science education researchers and educators are <a href="http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/parents.aspx">actively reaching out to parents</a>, asking them to <a href="http://www.letstalkscience.ca/About-Us/Research-and-Publications">enthusiastically encourage and support</a> children’s science learning at home, in school, and through their communities.</p>
<h2>Any parent can be a STEM mentor</h2>
<p>Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. Their values, beliefs and actions have <a href="http://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009048817385">enormous influence on their child’s educational decision-making and achievement</a>. When parents convey an interest and excitement for STEM subjects, children <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0042085905274540">benefit attitudinally and academically</a>. </p>
<p>When parents make it clear that they value STEM subjects and believe it is important to study them, they positively influence the way their child views these subjects and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615592630">support their child’s academic success in those areas</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194203/original/file-20171110-29328-18urtq5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mother supporting her daughter at Science Rendezvous Kingston 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Garrett Elliott)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Informal STEM learning at home is about parents and children exploring science in fun, hands-on ways outside of class. Brief, high-quality parent-child interactions about STEM can make a profound difference to how children perceive STEM subjects and succeed in them academically. </p>
<p>One study, for example, showed that when caregivers used a mobile app to bring a little bit of math into the home, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac7427">their elementary school children showed improved math skills within months</a>. Improvements were most dramatic in families where the caregivers reported themselves to be anxious about math.</p>
<h2>Books and leaves and bugs</h2>
<p>When parents actively participate in kitchen-sink experiments, they become STEM mentors. When parents become partners by contributing specimens to a child’s leaf or bug collection and then go a step farther by helping their child to categorize those treasures with the help of an illustrated website, they are modelling what scientists do. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/194205/original/file-20171110-29328-1r52ubx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When parents curl up with their children to read a science book together, such as <em>The Way Things Work</em> by David Macaulay, and then dig out the can opener to take a closer look, they are modelling learning. </p>
<p>When families watch age-appropriate television together — like <a href="http://pbskids.org/sid/">Sid the Science Kid</a>, <a href="https://projectmc2.mgae.com/">Project Mc²</a> or <a href="http://www.pbs.org/show/nova/">NOVA</a> — parents are encouraging connections among STEM topics, everyday life, career possibilities and scientific literacy through their attitudes and actions.</p>
<p>Here are two very simple experiments that can be done at home, using everyday household items.</p>
<h2><em>Experiment 1: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling</em></h2>
<p><strong>You will need</strong>: An empty soda can, an inflated balloon and one head of hair.</p>
<p><strong>Directions</strong>: Place the can on its side on a flat surface (a table or a smooth floor will do). Then rub the balloon back and forth through your hair. Hold the balloon close to the can without actually touching the can.</p>
<p>You should see the can roll towards the balloon without touching it!</p>
<p><strong>Why does it work?</strong> When you rub the balloon through your hair, tiny, invisible particles called electrons (which have a negative charge) build up on the surface of the balloon, creating static electricity. They electrons have the power to pull very light objects (like the soda can) towards them.</p>
<h2><em>Experiment 2: Blowing up a balloon without blowing</em></h2>
<p><strong>You will need</strong>: A balloon, about 40 ml of water (a cup is about 250 ml so you don’t need much), a soft drink bottle, a drinking straw, the juice from a lemon (or two tablespoons of vinegar) and three teaspoons of baking soda.</p>
<p><strong>Directions</strong>: Stretch out the balloon. Pour 40 ml of water into the soft drink bottle. Add the baking soda, stirring with the straw until it is dissolved. Pour the lemon juice (or vinegar) in and quickly put the stretched balloon over the mouth of the bottle.</p>
<p>If all goes well then your balloon should inflate!</p>
<p><strong>Why does it work?</strong> Adding the lemon juice to the baking soda creates a chemical reaction. The baking soda is a base, while the lemon juice is an acid, when the two combine they create carbon dioxide gas (CO₂). The gas rises and travels up through the neck of soft drink bottle, where it is trapped inside the balloon and blows it up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lynda Colgan receives funding from SSHRC, NSERC PromoScience, CODE and Ministry of Education for the Province of Ontario.</span></em></p>From collecting bugs to using math apps, there are many ways parents can engage in STEM activities with their kids to support their learning.Lynda Colgan, Professor of Elementary Mathematics, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/607872016-07-10T20:38:46Z2016-07-10T20:38:46ZMore parents are choosing to home school their children – why?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129654/original/image-20160707-30713-1fmiuym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For some parents, home schooling helps to focus on a child's individual needs, rather than just on grades.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More parents in New South Wales (NSW) are choosing to home school their child.</p>
<p>There are now around 10,000 registered children who are home schooled each year in Australia. In NSW, the number has <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/bos_stats/pdf_doc/home-schooling-data-march-2016.pdf">increased by 10%</a> in the last year – this follows the trend of the last few years.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to get a clear state-by-state picture of how home schooling varies across Australia because only NSW provides comprehensive data on this.</p>
<p>There is no legal requirement for parents and carers to inform the Board of Studies Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) as to why they have chosen to home school. </p>
<p>Parents across Australia are required to register, but it is thought that over 50% don’t. </p>
<p>No formal support is provided for home schooling other than curriculum documents. But many home school groups are available to offer support.</p>
<p>The gender balance between home-schooled children is fairly equal, with just over 50% being male. But there is a slight increase in numbers of middle primary school children being home schooled. This suggests that some parents choose to home school after having allowed their children to experience formal education.</p>
<h2>Reasons for home schooling</h2>
<p>The reasons for home schooling are complex. Most who home school do it for ideological and philosophical reasons. This can include the belief that households provide a better environment for children to learn or that formal systems are unable or unwilling to meet the needs of children.</p>
<p>But the research shows that for <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/bos_stats/pdf_doc/home-schooling-data-march-2016.pdf">40% of households</a>, we don’t know their reason for choosing to home school.</p>
<p>Those <a href="http://www.tojet.net/articles/v14i3/14311.pdf">who home school argue</a> that it allows a focus on individual student needs – rather than just on grades; offers flexibility in learning; provides a safer learning environment; increases sociability with mixed-aged people, whether in the community or through extended family members and friends; and that this makes home schooling a better choice.</p>
<p>The arguments against home schooling are that it isolates children; means children are usually taught by someone who is not trained to teach; and can limit educational attainment. </p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/policy-research/pdf_doc/home-schooling-outcomes-review.pdf">the research on home schooling is neutral</a>; the findings neither confirm nor disprove any such claims. </p>
<p>Home-schooled children appear to do neither worse nor better than those who attend regular school. Their achievements and success after Year 12 are similar. And many home school parents are trained teachers. </p>
<p>However, the data recognises that not all children after Year 10 can be tracked as there is no requirement to register for home schooling after this point. </p>
<p>Many home school parents also choose for their children not to participate in standardised tests, such as NAPLAN, and therefore comparative data is inconclusive. </p>
<p>If home schooling is undertaken in Years 11 and 12, students can complete Higher School Certificate (HSC) exams to receive an ATAR but, due to the internal mark requirement, may not receive an actual HSC certificate. </p>
<h2>Rise of home schooling in NSW</h2>
<p>Home schooling is more common in certain areas of NSW: the Hunter region, South Coast and Sydney West. There is, however, no specific data as to why these areas have higher registration numbers. </p>
<p>In NSW, children can only be registered for home schooling from the age of six, with the highest number of initial registrations being at eight years old. This is usually after formal schooling has been attempted and perceived as not working. Other states do not publish this data.</p>
<p>NSW has the most comprehensive accreditation system, through required approval visits from BOSTES staff, as well as detailed application information in Australia – and many home school households find it burdensome.</p>
<p>The benefit, however, of the accreditation system is that it offers recognition of a sound education being delivered by households to children through home schooling. </p>
<p>The BOSTES is holding <a href="http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/home-schooling/home-education-info-pack.html">consultation meetings</a> for home school families, to improve the system as best as possible within the guidelines. </p>
<h2>Child protection issues</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/DBAssets/InquiryReport/ReportAcrobat/5656/141203%20Final%20Report.pdf">2014 NSW parliamentary home school inquiry</a> did raise concerns about child protection issues in home schooling. Its report argued that, unlike formal schools where children are continually observed, there is no ongoing daily oversight of home-schooled children. </p>
<p>Part of the authorised person’s role (the accreditor) is to ensure they view children who are home schooled. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/publications/latest-reports/supporting-students-with-disability">Increasing numbers of parents</a> with a disabled child feel they have to home school because learning needs are not being supported by the public system. </p>
<p>But home schooling should be a choice, and not a last option. Through home schooling, parents hope that the diverse needs of their children will be met, rather than having their child isolated or denied full access to the curriculum as recent <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3181/full">research demonstrates</a> has been happening.</p>
<h2>No funding for home-schooled children</h2>
<p>The school system does not get access to the funding attached to a child who is home schooled. And neither do the parents who do the home schooling. </p>
<p>This means that around 10,000 children potentially have no funding for their education. </p>
<p>This does raise the question that if home school parents can provide an equivalent education without <a href="https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/statistics-and-research/key-statistics-and-reports/cost-of-education-2015.pdf">the $15,450 per student</a> the public system receives, and often without a teaching degree, does NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli need to rethink how we educate children? </p>
<p>Through children being home schooled, the money that would have been allocated to them for education essentially disappears. Given the consistent annual increase in home-schooling registrations, and the <a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/documents/PISA-2012-Report.pdf">continual lowering of academic achievement</a> in formal schooling, we can assume home schooling will only continue to increase. </p>
<p>Further research is therefore needed to look at the potential impacts this may have on children and society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Roy is affiliated with the BOSTES Home Schooling Consultative Group, although the views expressed in this article are his own and not representative of the BOSTES.</span></em></p>Home-schooled children appear to do neither worse nor better than those who attend regular school, so why is there an increasing number of parents who are opting for their child to be educated at home?David Roy, Lecturer in Education, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/350872014-12-08T19:35:52Z2014-12-08T19:35:52ZEvidence of home schooling success erased from inquiry report<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66503/original/image-20141208-20647-1cmd2yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Home schooling is on the rise, but why?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=141327982&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxODAyNjUyOCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTQxMzI3OTgyIiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDE0MTMyNzk4MiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xNDEzMjc5ODIvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCI4anZEVitJcmFVSjFMMjduNks2MG56ckR6dE0iXQ%2Fshutterstock_141327982.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=cjdh3GN-SBWv6qjCCKfjRA-1-10">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Home education has had a massive rise in popularity in Australia in recent years, with increases of <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/homeschooling-on-the-rise-20140130-31p9u.html">100% in six years</a> in Victoria, <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-home-schooled-numbers-soar-20141108-11adzz.html">50% in two years</a> in the ACT, <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/north-northeast/increasing-numbers-of-children-are-being-home-schooled-in-sa/story-fni9ll1r-1227114471993?nk=dc50105ec683bb1252f9235c01ba2b0f">50% in eight years</a> in South Australia, and <a href="http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2014/08/home-schooling-surge-put-microscope/">40% in four years</a> in NSW. <a href="https://www.homeschoolingdownunder.com/homeschooling-australia/homeschooling-statistics/">Around 10,000 children</a> are registered for home education in Australia. </p>
<p>Home education has always been legal in Australia. But, as an educational approach, it is rarely discussed publicly. This has led to misunderstanding, misinformation and fear. </p>
<h2>Why was an inquiry into home education commissioned?</h2>
<p>It is believed that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-28/thousands-of-parents-illegally-home-schooling/3798008">many, perhaps most</a>, home-educated children are unregistered. Differences in the required regulations from state to state clearly play a role in encouraging or discouraging registration, which is demonstrated by varying rates of registration. In Tasmania 6.4 in every 1000 children are registered for home education, <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/key/HomeEducationinNSW/$File/Home+schooling+GG+3.pdf">compared with 2.3 in NSW</a>. </p>
<p>Home educators have argued that the NSW registration system has become unnecessarily onerous, punitive, inconsistent and is not supporting the best interests of children. Lobbying by home educators in NSW resulted in a <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/5b19e835691092b4ca257da5001af36b/$FILE/141205%20Media%20Release%20-%20Tabling%20of%20home%20schooling%20report.pdf">parliamentary inquiry into home schooling</a> – the report of which was tabled on Friday. Through several hundred submissions and three public hearings the inquiry heard evidence of a variety of educational philosophies and methods that <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/homeschooling">underpin home education</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66534/original/image-20141208-20507-a9u1lz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">More hands-on learning is common in home schooling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>While some follow a “school-at-home” approach, parents more commonly see themselves as facilitators of learning. Such parents aim to foster a love of learning through providing a rich learning environment, encouraging their children’s interests and enabling contextual hands-on learning. The use of tutors, mentors and group classes were commonly reported.</p>
<p>The inquiry also received evidence of home education assessors who had no expertise in home education, the failure of the regulatory authority to consult with stakeholders, registration requirements beyond the scope of the Education Act and the exclusion of home-educated children from important resources available to other NSW students. The regulatory regime was presented as a strong disincentive to registration. </p>
<h2>Why is home education on the rise?</h2>
<p>Many submissions contained evidence suggesting that the increase in home education is partially due to problems in the school system that negatively affect children’s education or their physical or mental health. The inquiry received accounts of children who had been removed from school because they had failed to learn basic skills, their health was suffering, they had been physically or sexually assaulted or bullied to the extent that they had become anxious and depressed. Some children were <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/787BE59C8ED775EBCA257D39001C3A12">described as being suicidal</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66512/original/image-20141208-20644-zt2d1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many submissions said parents were disenfranchised by the school system.</span>
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<p>The inquiry was also presented with evidence of home education enabling children who had been failed at school to recover physically and mentally and to succeed as learners. Evidence also indicated that having been home educated did not present a barrier to young people gaining access to further education and employment across a wide variety of fields.</p>
<h2>Report omitted criticism of schools</h2>
<p>The report is as interesting for what it omits as for what it includes. The evidence regarding school failure and home education success was largely missing from the <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/3A5B892FF6C728B6CA257DA50019B2D0?open&refnavid=CO4_1">body of the inquiry report</a>. Minutes of committee meetings (included in an appendix) show over 100 paragraphs were deleted from the draft report. Most of these deletions contained evidence of problems within schools and/or evidence of successful home education outcomes.</p>
<p>These removals appear ideologically driven and fundamentally change the message communicated by the report. It seems that even in a parliamentary inquiry into home schooling it was felt necessary to protect the school system from criticism. One result of this has been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/unschooling-could-leave-australian-children-without-numeracy-or-literacy-skills-20141206-121kmg.html">media reports suggesting</a> that home education presents a risk to children - despite the committee receiving evidence to the contrary. </p>
<p>The processes and results of this inquiry show that education remains an ideological issue - this time with political parties against parents and choice. The minutes also reveal the committee fought long and hard over the idea of altering the Education Act to remove the principle of “education as primarily the responsibility of parents”. If this had been achieved, recommendations for legislative reform may have affected all NSW families. </p>
<p>As for the issues with which the inquiry was primarily concerned, the results are mixed. Recommendations were made that would enable home-educated children to access resources such as student travel passes, hospital schools and potentially part-time school. The more difficult issues, which go to the heart of a broken system and question the power of regulators, were avoided.</p>
<p>And so it seems that poor engagement with the home education regulatory system will remain in NSW.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karleen Gribble is affiliated with the Home Education Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Krogh is affiliated with Home Education Association Inc. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Watson is affiliated with the Home Education Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca English does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Home education has had a massive rise in popularity in Australia in recent years, with increases of 100% in six years in Victoria, 50% in two years in the ACT, 50% in eight years in South Australia, and…Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney UniversityChris Krogh, PhD Candidate, Western Sydney UniversityKatherine Watson, PhD Candidate, University of NewcastleRebecca English, Lecturer in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.