Home-schooling and parent-child relationships during lockdown in England: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis

Weaver, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1239-695X, Kington, Alison ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5619-2353 and Lindorff, A. (2025) Home-schooling and parent-child relationships during lockdown in England: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Cogent Education, 12 (1). pp. 1-17. ISSN 2331-186X

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore and describe the impact of home-schooling during the Covid-19 lockdown on parent-child relationships. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with an opportunistic sample of parents (n=11) in England who were experiencing home-schooling during the first period of lockdown. A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was conducted on the data and six subject positions were revealed. Home-schooling was variously constructed as a bonding experience, an opportunity for new appreciation of children, the cause of new conflicts in the home setting, the cause of psychological stress, the creation of a new parent-teacher role and the creation of a new child-pupil role. These discursive constructions confirmed the findings of previous research into lockdown home-schooling related to the conflicts of time and space, the impact of differing levels of parental self-efficacy, and direction of children’s development. This research provided further detailed descriptions of the lived experiences of participants in these areas but also supported recent research on parental attachment that suggests that the construction of parent-child relationships can be quickly re-negotiated under the influence of external factors.

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