Deconstructing the challenges and opportunities for blended learning in the post emergency learning era

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary profile of case study schools.

School	School context	Participants
Primary School 1	The school is co-educational and has approximately 200 students. The school does not have DEIS status	Principal (male) Special Education Need (SEN) teacher (female) Mainstream teacher 1 (female) Mainstream teacher 2 (female)
Primary School 2	This is a co-educational primary school attended by approximately 400 students. The school does not have DEIS status	Principal (male) Deputy principal (female) Assistant principal (female) Teacher 1 (male) Teacher 2 (female) Teacher 3 (female) 3 students (all female, all 5th class) 3 Parents (one male, two female)
Primary School 3	This is a co-educational primary school attended by approximately 500 students. The school has DEIS status	Principal (Female) 2 SEN Teachers (Male and Female) Mainstream teacher 1 (Female) Mainstream teacher 2 (Female) Mainstream teacher 3 (Male)
Community College	This is a co-educational multidenominational post-primary school catering for approximately 1000 students. The school does not have DEIS status	Deputy principal 1 (male) Deputy principal 2 (female) ICT coordinator (male) Classroom teacher 1 (female) Classroom teacher 2 (male) Year Head (male) 8 students (3 male, 5 females, all 3rd years) 3 parents (1 male, 2 female)
Secondary School	This is a co-educational post-primary school catering for approximately 750 students. The school does not have DEIS status	Principal (female) Deputy principal (female) ICT coordinator (male) Classroom teacher 1(male) Classroom teacher 2 (female) Subject coordinator (female) Year Head (female) Apple distinguished educator (male) 8 students (4 male, 4 female)

Table 2. Interview questions – present and future challenges and opportunities for blended learning (staff, students and parents).

Interviewees	Questions
Staff	In your experience what are the benefits of Blended learning in your school? What are the challenges? In what ways were you able to offer support for staff in blended learning How did your school support children’s learning during school closures lockdown? Has the school used the terms blended/remote learning to describe this work? What do these terms mean for you? How did your school implement blended /remote learning? What were the main hindering/facilitating factors in the use of blended learning? In what ways were you able to offer support for staff in blended learning? Has the implementation of Blended Learning changed the atmosphere/climate in your school? If yes, what kind of change happened? In what ways has the experience of blended learning caused you to re-assess policies around teaching, learning and assessment and your links with parents?
Students	What was your experience of learning during lockdown? What do you understand the term blended or remote learning to mean? Do you feel that your voice is included in decision making and planning in your schools? What are the good sides and the awkward sides of Blended Learning in your school? How is Blended Learning usually done in your school? How do you experience typical situations when you are asked to give an opinion on the quality of Blended Learning in your schools? Is it easy or difficult to do this? Can you give an opinion to the school on what can be improved? Are teachers interested in what you have to say? Do teachers respect what you have to say? Which aspects of blended learning would be worth retaining in the future when schools return to face-to-face teaching for all students?
Parents	What were your experiences of your child’s learning during lockdown? What do you understand the term blended or remote learning to mean? What factors helped or hindered their remote/blended learning? Do you feel that your voice is included in decision making and planning as it relates to blended learning in your school? What are the good sides and the awkward sides of Blended Learning in your school? How is Blended Learning usually done in your school if at all? How do you experience typical situations when you are asked to give an opinion on the quality of Blended Learning in your schools? Is it easy or difficult to do this? Can you give an opinion to the school on what can be improved? Which aspects of blended learning would be worth retaining in the future when schools return to face-to-face teaching for all students? Do you feel that the relationship between school and parents has changed because of the use of blended learning? If so in what ways? Are there aspects of this that should be continued when pupils are fully back in school?

Table 3. Interview questions: present and future policies, practices and supports for blended learning (school staff).

Theme	Questions
Supports for blended learning	Is there material for school staff which is helpful for the enhancement of Blended Learning? Who is providing / producing this material? Have teachers found that online courses have supported their professional development. In the future, do you anticipate blended learning being a key aspect of future staff development? Are there other support measures (e.g. professional development, consultants etc.) which are helpful for the enhancement of Blended Learning? Who is providing / producing support measures? Is there material for minority groups which is helpful for their inclusion in Blended Learning? Who is providing / producing this material?
Practices for blended learning	Is there special collaboration among staff with respect to Blended Learning? What are the focus and the results of this collaboration? How can schools best be positioned to enhance Blended Learning? Can you give some practical examples for what you are doing to enhance Blended Learning? Which aspects of blended learning do you think that the school will retain (prompts; online assessment, use of asynchronous discussions for work outside the classroom etc)?
Policies for blended learning	What examples of blended learning resources /communications/artefacts do you have available? Policies/strategies? Is Blended Learning and the material that is used, evaluated? If not, why not and if yes in what way is Blended Learning and the material used evaluated? Does your school have an explicit policy on Blended Learning? Or an agreement within staff and parents? If yes, what are the main ideas? In what ways has the experience of blended learning caused you to re-assess policies around teaching, learning and assessment and your links with parents?