Offlife: (Non)Sense Of Digital Kindergarten During COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

In the early spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic outburst, followed by the declaration of an emergency state and physical isolation in many countries, led to the accelerated transition of all levels of education to the digital environment. Later research on education during lockdown focused on the systemic measures and experiences of the teachers and parents. Still, very few studies show child perspectives on learning in the specified period – and none the perspective of preschool children. In this paper, we present the study of child perspectives of digital kindergarten during 52 days of COVID-19 lockdown in Serbia. The research was conducted through consultations with 13 children on the issues of activities realised and how relationships with peers and educators were established in a digital environment. In the first reading of the transcripts, what struck us most was the sense of irrelevance and „nonsense“, which permeated the researchers' conversations with the children, so we’ve elaborated on this problem further. We’ve mapped the places of the conversations which indicate the „nonsense“ of the digital learning experience. Further through transcripts reading and mapping, we’ve established the connections with possible reasons for the lack of meaning and relevance of digital learning for the lives of the children consulted. The trails we’ve traced through the data led us to a broader question of crisis in contemporary education and the urge for rethinking, reimagining and reestablishing its sense and relevance for all its actors.