Parents as Study Buddy in the New Normal of Teaching: A Grounded Theory

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had plunged the world into turmoil more than one could ever imagine. It has resulted not only in an economic crisis but educational crises as well. To assure the continuity of learning in the Philippines public basic education system, self-learning modules are put in place to meet the educational needs of every learner with the help of parents as partners in teaching. This qualitative study conducted an in-depth exploration of parents as study-buddy in the new normal of teaching using the grounded theory. The in-depth interviews with the participants exposed four emergent themes and a central category on the parents’ experiences as study buddy using the modular distance learning modality. “Parents’ resilient mechanisms” emerged as the core category and entailed four essential themes: (1) Awareness of the role as para-teachers; (2) Acceptance of the inevitable educational challenge; (3) Actions toward the challenges of the educational set-up; and (4) Adaptation of the new normal in education. The grounded theory of recognition-adaptation-persistence: parents’ resilient mechanisms in the new normal of teaching unveils an understanding that being a teacher to your child requires parents and/or guardians to recognize their role (awareness and acceptance), to adapt certain initiatives (adaptation), and to persist in implementing the initiatives and measures at home (actions) for the learning continuity to thrive amid the prevailing challenges and other adversities of the pandemic. The theory can also provide a frame of reference for the educational leaders and institutions for them to come up with regulations and other guidelines that are responsive to the needs and experiences of the parents in actualizing the objectives of modular distance learning in the public basic education system. Overall, the theory highlights the accounts of the parents as they assume the role of being a study buddy of their children at home. Parents’ resilient mechanisms in this type of educational set up are being magnified since these are instrumental to the challenge of learning continuity amid the pandemic