School closings and socio-educational inequality in times of COVID-19. An exploratory research in an international key

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has changed the modus vivendi of thousands of people around the world. Exceptionality and emergency have influenced various sectors and areas of the social and institutional life of human beings, such as health, economics, politics or education. The objective of this study is to offer an international perspective on the process of school closure and its educational-social consequences through the perceptions of key informants. With a sample that reaches 23 countries and 4 different continents, perceptions have been analyzed based on seven categories: Timing of execution, anticipation or delay of measures. Democratic-participatory nature of the educational measures taken. Curricular, didactic and methodological adaptation. Infrastructure and resources for adequate distance training. Perceptions about teachers. Perceptions of the family environment. Alternative proposals. The results show a high diversity of ways of facing this situation, but with similar consequences for the most vulnerable population. This implies a wake-up call to managers and agents in the educational field to curb the educational and social inequality that COVID-19 may be generating.