Collaborations amid the pandemic: east nusa tenggara preschool teachers’ experiences in developing distance learning during COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: COVID-19 has been driving significant changes in all domains, including education. While prior studies tend to focus on the pandemic disruption in higher education, this paper extends this scholarship by focusing on preschool education. In particular, attention is paid to how preschool teachers develop teaching strategies during COVID-19. We want to explore how preschool teachers develop distance learning during COVID-19 in Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia. Method: 13 preschool teachers aged 24 to 35 in West Timor, Indonesia, participated in this photovoice study. Participants were instructed to take photos for seven days to describe their experiences related to the research topic. After that, participants were interviewed online using an online meeting application. Thematic analysis was used to formulate the findings. Results: Three themes were identified in this study, including learning strategies during the pandemic, parents as teachers at home, and collaboration between teachers and parents. Conclusions: Parents’ role has become increasingly vital in early childhood education during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the attention addressed to parents was lacking. It is crucial to provide them with the necessary tools, knowledge, and skills to strive with home learning. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Parent engagements, both parent-child relationship and parents-teacher relationship, are influential in determining the effectiveness of the learning activities. (2) Online learning creates new problems and chaos, especially for vulnerable families, since they have difficulties accessing technology and delays in education. (3) The pandemic has been driving children to stay at home, so they cannot do direct learning. Many children miss the offline school atmosphere and meeting with their peers. On the other hand, children feel bored at home, and the parents struggle to navigate the challenges. What this topic adds: (1) Photovoice helps preschool teacher’s voices to be heard. (2) Although educators and parents experience many obstacles during the learning process from home, this study shows that teachers’ visits to students’ houses are proven to be crucial. (3) Scholarship into teaching practices during COVID-19 generally focused on the teaching itself and overlooked the crucial role of class and broader societal structures.