Parents Coping with Covid-19: Global Messages from Parents of Post-Primary Children across the island of Ireland

This report presents the findings of research with parents of
learners in secondary schools in Northern Ireland (NI) and in
the Republic of Ireland (ROI) between April and June 2020,
in the context of a global pandemic. With traditional face-toface
educational processes suspended across the globe,
including on the island of Ireland, parents found themselves
supporting the learning of their child(ren) in novel ways.
Schools were also challenged in terms of communicating with
parents about aspects of remote teaching and learning,
which, often, was new to them. Teachers and students also
found themselves having to rapidly upskill themselves in the
use of technologies for remote teaching, learning, and
assessment. Furthermore, students also found themselves in
relatively isolated surroundings, relying more heavily on
parents for support, encouragement, and, occasionally, with
their parents taking on the role of teachers.