The future of parent-school partnership and the digital exclusion conundrum: A comparative analysis of the experiences of primary-school parents in Northern Ireland during the pandemic and the implications for inclusivity in education

The partnership between school and home is pivotal in supporting children throughout their education. During the Coronavirus pandemic, repeated lockdowns tested collaboration and partnership between teachers and parents/guardians as the delivery of teaching moved online and children remained at home. This widespread deployment of remote online teaching to support learning continuity has provided an unexpected opportunity to learn about the challenges relating to digital exclusion in education. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the experiences of parents of primary school-age children in Northern Ireland over a two-year period between March 2020 and March 2022 and their experiences supporting their child/children with online remote learning. It compares the experiences of parents from two distinctive primary school groups, first, schools that have ‘demonstrated experience in the development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT)’ and second, schools that were at an ‘early stage in the development and use of ICT’. In doing so, it explores the response of primary schools to the challenge of providing online remote teaching and issues relating to digital inclusion. In addition, parents’/guardians’ own attitudes and confidence in using digital technologies are explored and measured. It asks what can be learned about the future of parent-school partnership and inequalities in access for digital education and how the challenges relating to inclusion can be addressed.