Distance learning of primary school students in the assessment of parents

Sociological Institute of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russia

^* Corresponding author: eder57@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article presents the results of a survey of parents about distance learning of their children, primary school children, during quarantine. In a sociological study, interviews were conducted with families of third grade students from St. Petersburg schools. The answers to the questions were processed using the Russian computer program “Discant”. As a result of the analysis, six leading thematic leitmotifs for a story about a new educational experience were identified. It was found that the main disadvantages of distance learning are considered by the parents to be the load on the schoolchild’s family, the large expenditure of time, and the discrepancy between teaching methods and the child’s age. According to parents, the advantages of distance education are safety, comfortable schedule, digital educational technologies. Conclusions of the project are the preference of a mixed format for teaching primary school children during quarantine. An empirical research perspective analyzes parental investment in children’s education.