During the COVID-19 pandemic, children, young people and families have been talked about by politicians and media commentators, rarely have they been asked their views directly.

At this HudCRES research seminar, colleagues will be presenting their findings from a range of research projects exploring the experiences of children, young people and families during Covid19. The projects are:

Corona Chronicles - Children researching their everyday lives, education and relationships during the coronavirus pandemic (CHEER)

‘Where am I, where are the people like me?’ Children’s everyday lives and educational experiences during the coronavirus pandemic

‘Corona Chronicles’ (CHEER) explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the everyday lives and education of primary school children, including those living in the most disadvantaged wards in the UK. The academic research team, Prof. Helen Lomax, Dr Kate Smith, Kathrine Jensen, Ellie Brickwood, Jo McEvoy and artist, Belinda Walsh are researching with children aged 9-11, supporting them to visually chronicle their experiences of the pandemic and the impacts of government policies on their lives. Arts-based methods, online interviews and creative workshops explore children’s ideas about what has challenged and what has supported their wellbeing and learning at this time. Findings are organised around what children tell us is important. Relationships with family and friends, access to learning (most particularly live lessons) and time and space in the outdoors as well as indoor and online spaces in order to play, connect with others and enjoy nature are all significant. The most disadvantaged children are least able to access these kinds of material, familial and personal resources. Children are aware and anxious about the impact of the pandemic on others (parents - particularly mothers, older relatives and those whom they see as materially disadvantaged). Our research demonstrates the importance of listening to children, recognising their right to have a voice about matters that affect them (UNCRC, 1989) in order to address the impacts of the pandemic on some of the most disadvantaged and least heard members of society.

Youth Under Lockdown

With the support of the Youth Futures Foundation and in collaboration with North East Youth Alliance and Children North East, The Youth Under Lockdown project is gathering the experiences of young people in North East England, analysing these alongside dominant public discourses and other social science research and making the findings available and relevant to organisations that work with young people. The researchers – from Durham (Prof Emma Murphy, Dr Hannah King, Wendy Gill, Simon Bees) and Huddersfield University (Prof Robert MacDonald) – have conducted a survey of nearly 1,000 young people aged 14-30 years and are currently holding in-depth interviews with 50 young women and men from across the region

The implications for Schools in North Halifax of COVID19 home-schooling experiences on the most disadvantaged pupils

This project is a collaboration between the School of Education and Professional Development/HudCRES and a cluster of nineteen schools in North Halifax. The project aims to explore the impact and implications of COVID-19 and lockdown on some of the most disadvantaged children within these schools. The research aims to shed light on the complexities of the challenges facing schools in ensuring learning progress in the current conjuncture, with a view to arriving at some well-informed interventions and ongoing approaches to a post-COVID curriculum. Dr Cheryl Reynolds and Dr Kate Lavender have carried out interviews with teachers and are planning further data collection with parents and children. This work has an important contribution to make in providing the schools concerned with a more nuanced and detailed picture than has hitherto been available to them. Whilst the Education Endowment Foundation provides schools with key data on the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, their data is based on large scale patterns and mean performance indicators. Schools feel a pressing need for qualitative research that provides insights into particular patterns of extreme disadvantage within their own cohorts and how best to address these to support the needs of the children and families whom they serve.

Mothers, Covid-19 and Work at Home

The aim of this project was to give voice to mothers of their experience of the first national Lockdown during spring 2020. Specific concerns about the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on women highlighted the intersection of Covid-19 and women’s experiences of critical nursing and caring roles, health provision (including reproductive services), (lack of participation in) decision making, parenting and child care, loss of income and economic activity, gender based violence, and the diminution of rights. Dr Jim Reid interviewed 12 mothers of school-age children. Working with photographer Fran Monks, using novel remote photographic portraiture, 24 portraits were created.

Home-schooling - a parents' perspective in the advent of Covid-19

This critical participatory action research aimed to identify how parents are experiencing home-schooling throughout the pandemic and various lockdown periods. Working parents have experienced challenges balancing home-schooling and work, with some changing their employment patterns or stopping paid employment completely during home-schooling. Many parents voiced feelings of anxiety and heightened stress alongside a recognition that this was a special and unique time that has enabled them to watch their child(ren) grow and engage with nature. Dr Lisa Russell carried out image-elicitation, focus groups, semi-structured, paired and individual zoom recorded interviews with 28 parents and 3 teachers located within one small village primary school.

More about the speakers:

Kate Lavender, Senior Lecturer in Lifelong Learning, Department of Initial Teacher Education

Helen Lomax, Professor of Childhood Studies and Director of Research, HudCRES

Robert MacDonald, Professor of Education and Social Justice

Jim Reid, Senior Lecturer, Department of Education and Community Studies

Cheryl Reynolds, Senior lecturer and University Teaching Fellow, Department of Initial Teacher Education

Lisa Russell, Reader in Education and Community Studies