If schools close, parents can help provide structure

Time off is good compensation that comes from having completed something. It is important that students feel that they are done for the day,” says Martin Karlberg.

“Schools may not transfer the burden on to the parents. It is up to the schools to organise teaching. But if parents can help by creating structure, making sure the children complete their assignments and ensuring they take breaks, that would be great,” says Martin Karlberg, senior lecturer at the Department of Education at Uppsala University.

He is clear that the schools are responsible for students managing teaching and making sure it works for students. The assignments students are expected to do through distance education should differ from those they do in the classroom.

“Schools have an important task of giving assignments to students that are so easy that parents do not need to help. Help is to come from the school and, to a certain extent, classmates. You can’t ask parents to be able to do upper-secondary school maths. The general rule of thumb is that homework students receive should be on a difficulty scale where 90 per cent will be correct.”

Support and regular contact

Martin Karlberg argues that temporarily providing distance teaching to upper-secondary students can work reasonably well. But if the compulsory schools are also closed, there are obvious risks that children already having difficulty keeping up with instruction cannot manage their schoolwork. This includes students with ADHD.

“The risk is that those already having difficulties in school will be distracted and put off their assignments. They need lots of support, and regular contact with their school and having reasonably easy assignments are important. And short assignments. They need lots of feedback.

Then we have students with anxiety problems where schooling provides recurring exposure that keeps them afloat and offers temporary relief that makes them feel better. For these students, it’s good with activities and structure, with frequent contacts between the school and the student and that there is an opportunity for students to meet each other. Many students have an extensive network on social media, but some students do not have any friends. They get their social interaction at school. So schools need to organise social activities through group work.”

Important with time off

Even if responsibility for the children managing their schoolwork is not on the parents, there is a lot that they can do to help their children get through the days.

“If the school does not provide structure, parents can make sure their children get up in the morning and that they have a couple of sessions doing their work, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then they get some time off. Time off is good compensation that comes from having completed something. It is important that students feel that they are done for the day,” says Martin Karlberg.

If the compulsory schools close, many parents currently working from home because of the virus may have a hard time doing their jobs while also taking care of their children at home. A strategy for planning the days can help avoid conflicts.

Have fun with YouTube

“If you work from home, decide together to work intensely for a period and say, ‘then we will have a snack and you can show me that YouTube clip you were talking about this morning, then we can do some more work.’ It’s important to take regular breaks and do something fun with the children so they get a small reward,” says Martin Karlberg.

For children in grades 1–8, Martin Karlberg does not believe that a closure of schools, even if it is for the rest of the semester, will impact their education more than short term. The schools are required to find solutions so that students receive the education they have a right to. It’s more problematic for students who are supposed to graduate.

Extra assignments and summer school

“If the closure continues until the summer break, and that seems possible, this would naturally impact students in their last year of upper-secondary school,” says Martin Karlberg.

On the other hand, he points out, final grades are not supposed to be based on student performance between March and June. Instead, they should summarise the full work of the student. Students who are borderline between two grades can do extra assignments or take advantage of the opportunity for summer school.