Not being able to fool around with my friends at break – children’s home-based education in space and time

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study describes elements of the daily spatial and time systems relating to online home-based primary education during the pandemic school closures. It was conducted from the children’s perspective (semi-structured interviews with children), which is only marginally discussed in research on the effects of home-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The spatial recontextualization of the household and home, brought about through the transference of school functions to the home environment, cannot be viewed in isolation from the temporal recontextualization. The results point to a fundamental shift in the nature and functionality of educational space and time during the pandemic school closures and online home-based education. It changed not only the home and its time–space structures but also the educational space–time structures. These changes are described and discussed in relation to time-geography concepts and cultural analysis. Moreover, our data show that the children were able to develop strategies for adapting to and coping with the new educational situation and spatial–temporal context during the pandemic-driven shift to home-based education.