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A Social Media Analysis of the Experiences of Chinese Early Childhood Educators and Families with Young Children during COVID-19

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  • Wenwei Luo

    (Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China)

  • Ilene R. Berson

    (Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning, College of Education, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA)

  • Michael J. Berson

    (Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning, College of Education, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA)

Abstract

This study used a small stories research narrative paradigm to examine social media posts that focused on efforts to sustain the delivery of early childhood education during COVID. Inductive and deductive content analysis focused on 1303 posts from 177 government officials and 1126 individual users (including preschools, kindergartens, teachers, and parents). The results include an analysis of conversational data that document implementation of the national policy to promote continuity of young children’s learning, including digital resources used, learning content, and teaching approaches. Actor-centric contextual factors determined the success of delivering instruction remotely; however, other contextual components created the conditions that necessitated adaptation of instruction. The COVID outbreak (chrono-level) led to shifts in education delivery and informed national policy (macro-level), influenced the teachers’ and parents’ work contexts (exo-level), enhanced home-school collaboration (meso-level), and required implementation of technological solutions to support children’s learning (micro-level). Contributions to theory, methodology, and practice are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenwei Luo & Ilene R. Berson & Michael J. Berson, 2023. "A Social Media Analysis of the Experiences of Chinese Early Childhood Educators and Families with Young Children during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2560-:d:1052830
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gema Zamarro & María J. Prados, 2021. "Gender differences in couples’ division of childcare, work and mental health during COVID-19," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 11-40, March.
    2. Yu, Houqiang & Xu, Shenmeng & Xiao, Tingting & Hemminger, Brad M. & Yang, Siluo, 2017. "Global science discussed in local altmetrics: Weibo and its comparison with Twitter," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 466-482.
    3. Luo, Wenwei & Berson, Ilene R. & Berson, Michael J. & Li, Hui, 2021. "Are early childhood teachers ready for digital transformation of instruction in Mainland China? A systematic literature review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Ford, Timothy G. & Kwon, Kyong-Ah & Tsotsoros, Jessica D., 2021. "Early childhood distance learning in the U.S. during the COVID pandemic: Challenges and opportunities," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Xuan Tang & Siti Rohaida Binti Mohamed Zainal & Quan Li, 2023. "Multimedia use and its impact on the effectiveness of educators: a technology acceptance model perspective," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.

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