Diffractive Perspectives on Parents’ Role in Inclusive Online, Distance, and Digital Education

Abstract

Before, during, and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic there is a need to understand parent work in online, distance, and digital education. Findings from previous research highlighted the challenges that parents of children identified with disabilities faced with little acknowledgment of the complexities and contextual nuances within and across studies. The purpose of this critical review was to use posthuman theories to engage in a diffractive reading of previous research and generate new insights. The diffractive reading revealed new understandings about the material construction of parents, called for the re-humanizing of the children who were mostly portrayed as burdens, demonstrated how parents engaged in the disentangling from technologies, and located agencies for affirmative ethics.

Keywords:

• Parent work in online learning
• inclusive online distance and digital education
• students with disabilities in online learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).