Absorbed by Everyday Life – Students’ Experience of the Changing Grammar of Schooling During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of the study of selected elements of grammar of schooling (temporal and spatial organization, learning interactions). The study presented in this article focuses on the experiences of 64 1st year pedagogy students’ who had learned in the coronavirus pandemic. The data were collected through questionnaire with open-ended questions about the changes students experienced due to the coronavirus pandemic in areas such as the organisation of space, the organisation of time, learning interactions, forms of work, as well as the expected consequences of the changes they are currently witnessing and the anticipated ‘return to normality’. The article presents the findings related to changes in three elements of the grammar of schooling: (1) spatial organization; (2) temporal organization; and (3) educational interactions. The results of the study indicate that students had to reorganize their space-time due to receiving the educational process from home. Students feel swallowed up by everyday life – the educational process has become one of many routine daily activities. They experience a changein privacy boundaries, which has consequences for other family members as well. Students’ relationships with teacher educators are still formal and centered around the content being taught. Relationships with peers have weakened considerably.