Between involvement and Intervention: Perceptions, Attitudes, Difficulties and Parents’ Coping in the Distance Learning Process During the Corona Epidemic

Raed Zedan

This study dealt with the issue of parental involvement, in the distance learning

process, during the Corona crisis. The purpose of the study was to describe the attitudes and perceptions of the parents regarding the distance learning process, and to describe the degree and areas of involvement. The study was conducted according to the mixed method research paradigm, which contains a quantitative method of descriptive type Ex post Facto correlations, and a qualitative method of the Explanatory Mixed Method Design type. The research field is parents of students studying in state elementary schools, in the Arab and Jewish sectors. 461 parents participated in the study by filling out the questionnaire, and 139 parents in interviews.

The research findings indicated a negative attitude towards distance learning, as was actually done during the Corona period, and dissatisfaction and disappointment with the way distance learning is implemented; the parents reported that they were involved to a high degree, but some parents chose not to involve at all, also, the parents reported difficulties encountered in the distance learning process, didactic-pedagogical difficulty, and technological, economic and other difficulties; there were few parents who saw the positive side of the method, by being a refuge and a stage and opportunity for shy students, in addition, the level of aggression and bullying decreased; some

parents reported behavior of intervention rather than involvement, by bursting into the classroom zoom meeting, and voicing comments or reservations or suggestions of any kind, another part of the parents preferred to contact the teachers, by calling, sending text messages. a positive relationship was also found between parents’ involvement and attitudes towards distance learning.

The research findings can help the education system to understand the attitudes and perceptions and difficulties in the distance learning process, which hinder the level of parental involvement in their children’s learning processes, and reduce its effectiveness, and find methods and solutions in order to improve the learning process of the students, and increase the involvement of the parents.