Parents’ competence, autonomy, and relatedness in supporting children with special educational needs in emergency remote teaching during COVID-19 lockdown

ABSTRACT

Actions to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as emergency remote teaching (ERT), affected the lives of school children, their parents, and schooling in spring 2020. Rapid changes in routines due to lockdown and ERT were challenging, especially for many children with special needs (SEN). This article focuses on parents’ perspectives regarding their basic psychological needs, i.e. competence, autonomy, and relatedness, in relation to the schooling of their children with SEN. Questionnaire data consisted of the views of 120 parents who described 179 resources and 151 challenges concerning their basic psychological needs during ERT of their children. Data were analysed following the principles of theoretical categorising. According to the results, parents experienced their pedagogical as well as intra- and interpersonal competence as resources to support the child in ERT. The greatest challenges concerned relatedness between parents and children as well as between parents, school, and other professionals. The study suggests schools and teachers to develop instructions to support teacher–parent interaction and learning of all children to cope with ongoing and future remote and face-to-face teaching for children with SEN.

KEYWORDS:

• Parents
• children with special educational needs
• COVID-19
• emergency remote teaching
• basic psychological needs
• inclusive education

Introduction

In spring 2020, schools and other public services around the world were rapidly transitioned to remote working to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The pandemic and countermeasures to it challenged all students, especially children and youth with special educational needs (SEN) (Amorim et al. 2020), many of whom are more sensitive to rapid changes in routines and daily practices (e.g. in the case of autism spectrum disorder, DSM-5 2013). Simultaneously, school closures left parents to deal with daily life with their children and youth studying and spending time at home instead of in school, SEN therapy, hobbies, or with friends and relatives.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries rapidly closed their schools and provided emergency remote teaching (ERT). In March 2020, the Finnish government gave an emergency five-day ultimatum to ERT. Municipalities had the right to decide whether to continue face-to-face teaching in classrooms with certain student groups, such as children whose parents had a critical duty, e.g. in hospital, and children with SEN. However, many children with SEN studied at home. Compared to effective online learning that is carefully planned and systematically developed, ERT was implemented as a rapid transition from face-to-face to online teaching due to crisis conditions (Hodges et al. 2020).

This study focuses on the parents’ experiences of their wellbeing during the ERT of their children with SEN. Parental wellbeing is crucial to positive parent–child interactions and child wellbeing (Newland 2015). Parents’ experiences of their wellbeing are studied in this study from the viewpoint of basic psychological needs theory (Deci and Ryan 2000; Ryan and Deci 2017), which provides a theoretical lens to analyse the strengths and challenges parents experienced regarding ERT of their children with SEN at the beginning of lockdown in Finland. Only few studies exist on the role of basic psychological needs and human wellbeing in the context of acute infectious disease (Šakan, Žuljevic´, and Rokvic´ 2020). Basic psychological needs have not been studied among parents of children with SEN during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the context of ERT.

Parenting children with SEN during COVID-19 lockdown

Lockdown and ERT radically disrupted and reshaped the daily life and routines of many families with children and youth to receive and access professional support, such as therapy, rehabilitation or mental health support. Studies concerning families with children with SEN during the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate how lockdown decreased the availability of equipment and professional support, such as mental health support, that children with SEN were relying on (Asbury et al. 2021; Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021). Less therapeutic or rehabilitation services for children with SEN have led to more externalising behaviours of children during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bentenuto et al. 2021). Loss of routines due to the pandemic has also challenged older children’s basic functions, such as social interaction, sleeping and eating (Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021) and free time activities (Colizzi et al. 2020). Maintaining routines and essential relationships is crucial for many children with SEN. Lack of moderate levels of routine may have caused internalising symptoms such as anxiety and depression, or externalising symptoms such as rule-breaking or aggressive behaviour for children (Stoppelbein et al. 2016; Colizzi et al. 2020). Some children with SEN have also been more sensitive to infection because of their health conditions and high medical needs (Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021), limiting the daily activities of families. Maintaining routines is essential to control stress and increase resilience for the families with SEN children (McConnell and Savage 2015). Simultaneously, rapid changes in families’ daily lives affected parents’ mental health, often leading to an increase in anxiety fear and stress during COVID-19 (Asbury et al. 2021).

Studies prior to COVID-19 have shown that parents of children with SEN experience more challenges compared to other parents, including heightened parental stress and parental burnout (Barroso et al. 2017; Kawamoto, Furutani, and Alimardani 2018) and poorer health-related quality of life (Khanna et al. 2011). The pandemic has further increased parental stress and decreased the emotional wellbeing of parents of children with SEN (Reaching Families 2020; Bentenuto et al. 2021). A Finnish study (Sorkkila and Aunola 2021) indicated that parents with children with SEN under 10 years of age and spending extended time with their children during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to experience parental burnout. Parents of children with SEN have also reported having a lack of interest in experiencing apathy, hopelessness, and stress (Rogers et al. 2021). This has been shown to be partly due to family members carrying the burden of providing physical care as well as enabling and supporting the learning of children with SEN (Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021). Also, children’s externalising<=“” change=“”>externalising behaviour challenged parents and increased their stress (Bentenuto et al. 2021). Simultaneously, the rapid changes forced many parents to work remotely while also managing and supporting the learning of their children.

Although the effects of lockdown were negative for most families of children with SEN, some families experienced little or even a positive influence in their lives due to the ERT. These families mostly had children who had challenges at school and felt safer at home (Asbury et al. 2021). These children with SEN experienced less strain and felt more relaxed, happier, and more motivated to learn during ERT (Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021; Reaching Families 2020; Smith 2021). Parents reported that children with intellectual disabilities slept better, and children’s challenging behaviour, seizures, and obsessive and compulsive routines decreased (Rogers et al. 2021). Decrease in stress levels did not only concern children but also some parents reported feeling more relaxed due to less time pressure (Rogers et al. 2021). Families had more time to spend together, reinforcing parent–child relationships (Bentenuto et al. 2021). Parents also had time to reflect on the past and develop practical coping strategies for the current situation and the future (Rogers et al. 2021).

Basic psychological needs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Human functioning across the globe and in various circumstances is defined as human desire for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Fulfilment of these lifelong basic psychological needs are supported or prohibited by social contexts, and by facilitating satisfaction of these needs, social contexts support individuals’ inherent activity, promote motivation, and yield positive psychological, developmental, and behavioural outcomes (Ryan and Deci 2017; Deci and Ryan 2000).

Basic psychological needs are independent but interrelated entities. Competence refers to an intrinsic need to perceive oneself as able to perform and manage even in demanding situations. Autonomy, in turn, refers to volition, critical thinking, and choice making, and, finally, relatedness refers to a need to be cared for and to care for others (Ryan and Deci 2017). In the case of COVID-19, the virus and attempts to restrict it have affected the lives of all people through e.g. social distancing, quarantines, and rapidly changed arrangements in work and education, which have impacted the fulfilment of basic psychological needs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs, especially relatedness, supported the wellbeing (Cantarero, van Tilburg, and Smoktunowicz 2021). Meeting and failure to meet the basic psychological needs of adults during the first weeks of the lockdown predicted positive and negative indicators of mental health and fulfilment of these needs is crucial also during insecure times (Vermote et al. 2021). The risk of infection did not itself influence individuals’ abilities to support their basic psychological needs, but lockdown circumstances did (Avsec, Zager Kocjan, and Kavcic 2021). The negative influence of social lockdowns can be subverted by supporting relatedness and autonomy satisfaction of individuals through technology-based or face-to-face interactions (Dimmock et al. 2021).

Methods

Finnish context

The Finnish educational system, basic education (age 7–16), is based on equality and social justice, and aims to promote social security, social inclusion, and participation in society. Support for students in the educational system follows a three-tiered model of general, intensified, and special support and, according to legislation, there is no need for medical diagnosis as pedagogical evaluation is sufficient to receive support for a child (Björn et al. 2016). However, some parents feel that they must fight for these rights in supporting their children’s wellbeing and involvement (Honkasilta, Vehkakoski, and Vehmas 2015). One aspect of inclusive education in Finland is that many welfare services for children are connected or located near to the educational system. Children have a broad range of legal rights, and school welfare work aims to provide psychological, social and health care services for students based on students’ needs. Cooperation with parents should be tight (Finnish National Agency for Education [FNAE] 2016). In the case of COVID-19 pandemic, the focus was not only on teaching and learning but also on children’s welfare services.

Furthermore, parental participation can be understood in the frame of inclusive education and, therefore, parents as valuable members in schools (Kozleski and Waitoller 2010). Co-operation with families is highlighted when a child needs support at school (Väyrynen and Paksuniemi 2020). Parents’ experiences of parent-school co-operation vary because teachers in Finland work relatively autonomously (Koskela 2021). However, parents’ experiences of children with SEN in mainstream classrooms in neighbourhood schools are mostly positive (Hotulainen and Takala 2014).

Data collection

Research data was collected using an online questionnaire in Finnish. A link to an online questionnaire was shared on social media at the beginning of school closure, with a request to share the link further. Participation in this exploratory research was voluntary and the procedure followed the general guidelines of The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK (2019). The questionnaire was developed to capture the first experiences and perceptions of parents during the ERT in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It included both closed and open-ended questions regarding the family background and parents’ views on ERT (see also ‘anonymised for peer review’). This study focuses on the experiences of parents of children with intensified or special support in comprehensive school. The results are based on two questions: ‘Related to your child’s/children’s schooling, what are the most important strengths and resources during the exceptional times?’, and ‘What worries you the most now regarding the child’s/children’s schooling?’. Participants (N = 120, Table 1) were mostly well-educated women. This is characteristic of research on children with SEN, in which mothers are typically overrepresented (Griffiths, Norwich, and Burden 2004; Koskela 2021). The participants also overrepresent parents who had the time and resources to use social media and answer an online questionnaire.

Table 1. Participants.

Participants N=120		f (n)	f (%)
Gender	Female	113	94
	Male	6	5
	Do not want to say	1	<1
Employment status	Employed	75	63
	Studying	18	15
	Suspended without pay during COVID-19	6	5
	Unemployed	11	9
	Retired	2	<2
	Other*	11	9
	Several options chosen	5	4
	N/A	2	<2
Education	Compulsory education	none
	Vocational or/and high school education	38	26
	Higher education	82	74
Number of children in compulsory education	1	48	40
	2	46	38
	3 or more	26	22
Number of children with SEN	1 with intensified support (tier 2)	63	53
	2 or more with intensified support	3	<3
	1 with special support (tier 3)	56	47
	2 or more with special support	13	11
	children on both levels of support	15	13

*such as entrepreneur, caregiver, nursing leave, sick leave.

Analysis

The analysis followed the principles of theoretical categorising (Maxwell 2013). Research data was limited to parents’ open-ended responses regarding their concerns, strengths, and resources during lockdown. Unit of analysis varied from one word to several sentences and included one experience of a parent.

Competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Ryan and Deci 2017) were used as main categories to implement a theory-driven analysis. The model argues that ‘support for and satisfaction of these needs accounts for a broad variety of phenomena across developmental periods, cultures, and personality differences’ (Vansteenkiste, Ryan, and Soenens 2020, 2). This extensively used model was chosen in this study because felt need satisfaction anticipate wellbeing of all individuals, regardless their background and personality (Vansteenkiste, Ryan, and Soenens 2020). Also, earlier study (anonymised for review) disclosed the prevalence of these themes in research data. Through whole-team discussions, three themes formulated a code matrix (Maxwell 2013) that two researchers later used to analyse the data. A code matrix was developed after familiarising ourselves to the data and three basic psychological needs. Content analysis within each theme concluded to three sub-themes in each needs with aspects of both resources and concerns (see Table 2). The final categorisation was verified by all researchers afterwards. Guba and Lincoln’s (1994) evaluation criteria of qualitative research was used for taking care of reliability, e.g. researcher triangulation was utilised in the categorisation and the data quotations provided multi-voice reconstruction of subjects.

Table 2. Parental resources (R = 179) and concerns (C = 151) with examples.

Competence	R	C	Autonomy offered by	R	C	Relatedness	R	C
Pedagogical (education, work in educational institutions)	54	16	Work (remote work, flexible employer)	26	17	With children (close attachment, possibility to help)	18	66
Intra- and interpersonal (persistence, flexibility)	34	8	Parents’ arrangements (time management, scheduling)	27	7	With school and other professionals (parent-school interaction)	3	26
Technological (education, working with technology)	5	-	ERT (support and trust from the schools)	3	8	Between parents (shared responsibility)	9	3
Total (330)	93	24		56	32		30	95
	117			88			125

Results

According to Ryan and Deci (2017) theory, parents’ experiences of their wellbeing during ERT were divided into three categories: parents’ experience of their own competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These categories were then subdivided into perceived resources and concerns (Table 2).

All but three parents named personally both resources and concerns during ERT. The three exceptions in the data were significantly concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown; they felt that they would not be able to manage. These parents were particularly worried about their own resilience, resources, and mental health. As one parent explained, ´There is no more strength, just bottomless fatigue that is felt in the body´ (P67, 2 children, both with SEN). Although the exceptional circumstances had only lasted for a few weeks at the time of data collection, these parents were already experiencing deep exhaustion. Overall, parents experienced having slightly more resources (54%) than concerns (46%) regarding their competence, autonomy, and relatedness during ERT of children with SEN. In the following, we further explore the results regarding the competence, autonomy, and relatedness of the parents, including both resources and concerns.

Parents’ experienced competence

Almost all parents thought they have the competence to act and cope as a parent in a situation where a child attends school at home. About half of the parents described their ability to support children’s learning and schooling. Parents’ education or work in educational institutions increased the sense of pedagogical competence: ´I work as a school assistant, so mentoring and counselling is familiar, and I actively follow my kids’ schooling, so I know their situation´ (P29, 2 children, both with SEN). Parents’ concerns about their own pedagogical competence were focused on whether they have enough skills to teach, support or motivate their child with SEN effectively.

A quarter of parents mentioned that their intra- or interpersonal competence was beneficial in the new situation that challenged them to use creativity to solve issues in supporting children’s learning at home. Parents emphasised their persistence, flexibility, and patience in meeting the rapid and unexpected changes in their daily lives. ´My strength is a tremendous ability to adapt and almost endless patience and ability to develop new ways to go forward when certain things don’t work´ (P95, 2 children, both with SEN). In contrast, a few parents were concerned about their lack of authority or emotional control, which they feared could lead to quarrels or emotional outbursts. ´It’s really hard to throw yourself in as an educator of a 15-year-old who wants to - - take care of things in his own way´ (P48, 2 children, 1 with SEN).

A few parents cited technological competence as their strength. Lack of technological competence was not mentioned as a concern. Overall, parents described having much more resources than concerns regarding their competence to support the learning of their children with SEN, since only less than one in four statements addressed these concerns.

Parents’ experienced autonomy

During lockdown, many parents of children with SEN were pleased with the increased autonomy, such as having more freedom to structure daily life according to their family’s needs and preferences. Remote work with the support of a flexible employer enabled being present and supporting children during ERT. ´I have permission to do my own work at home, and luckily there isn’t a lot of work now - - so I can help the kids´ (P80, 2 children, 1 with SEN). In addition to remote work, for example parents’ studies, unemployment, and other reasons to be at home were mentioned to increase autonomy.

Remote work strengthened parents’ sense of autonomy, while remote schooling created novel pressure. Some parents criticised their work for being inflexible in meeting their needs during lockdown, and some found it impossible to sufficiently support their children’s remote learning through either remote or on-site work. Some conscientious parents were also concerned that their own workload would pile up or be done poorly.

The child spends a lot of time alone during the day, while I do my own work. I can’t teach and we both get frustrated. My own work suffers, the planning and running of the days is really challenging - - and I am completely absent.

(P82, 1 child with SEN).

Several parents considered time management and scheduling as their strength, ´Creativity, scheduling, and reorganisation. I see the bigger picture and I can act sensibly even in exceptional situations. I don’t panic but enjoy - - the new opportunities they bring´ (P70, 2 children, 1 with SEN). Almost a quarter of parents mentioned that they were happy because they currently had more time for the family.

Parents were also concerned about time management. Life became busier as, in addition to their own work, the parents had to take care of their children’s schooling and learning. Some respondents emphasised that some children with SEN require constant adult supervision. ´Children with SEN don’t get the support they need because parents don’t have enough hours in the day to support everyone all the time´ (P30, 5 children, 3 with SEN). Several parents criticised the school for not providing sufficient support for parents, leaving them to cope with the ERT of their children independently.

Overall, parents experienced their autonomy during lockdown as supporting more than restricting their children with SEN. Two thirds of parents’ experiences concerning autonomy were related to resources, and these mostly referred to their work and to daily life arrangements between parents. Parents also experienced that they did not receive enough autonomy support from the schools.

Parents’ experienced relatedness

Coping as a family was the biggest concern of parents during ERT. However, interpersonal relationships within the family were experienced as a strength in the new situation. Several parents were happy to be able to trust another parent and to share responsibility, ´The fact that both parents work remotely. A family with one adult would not succeed´ (P72, 3 children, 1 with SEN).

Many parents thought their main resource was close attachment with their children, and ERT was also seen as an opportunity to further strengthen this relationship. Some parents were available when the children needed them, and many parents had a strong desire to help.

The children are encouraged. The parents are unanimous on this. We’re interested in the children’s school affairs, and now there is an opportunity to follow and ‘share’ in it.

(P58, 3 children, 2 with SEN)

The main concern of the parents was related to the children. Parents were worried about their children’s learning, wellbeing, and peer-relationships. Remote schooling posed learning challenges; some parents felt that instead of teaching, teachers just sent materials and homework to students. Some parents’ concerns were related to specific subjects, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, which were difficult to study alone at home. As the quotation below reflects, parents were also concerned about whether their children would achieve the goals of the curriculum, graduate from comprehensive school on time, and have access to studies after comprehensive school.

My child lacks the ability to control his own activities, thinking he’s learning nothing, getting frustrated and stressed, being afraid grades will fall on the final certificate. He has worked hard to raise his grades, but he learns best in class - - following the teacher’s examples.

(P81, 2 children, 1 with SEN)

In contrast, some parents felt a sense of satisfaction due to the wellbeing and uninterrupted studying of their children. A few parents experienced that through ERT their workload had decreased. ´I see the benefits daily that our children are not in a hectic school environment, but at home learning remotely. Routines help, the kids even eat better. All this helps me to cope better´ (P5, 3 children, 3 with SEN). Parents also highlighted that the home environment made it possible to break tasks down and proceed at one’s own pace. Children were able to focus on school assignments at peace and even enjoy studying. However, one area of concern was the lack of children’s peer-relationships: ´Our other child doesn’t really have any friends anyway, and now even less so´ (P106, 2 children, 1 with SEN).

A few parents saw a good relationship with their child’s teacher as a significant resource. As one parent described, ´I’m an active parent. I’m often asking about different school issues. I contact the teachers straight away whenever necessary´ (P6, 1 child with SEN). Lack of parent – school interaction was nevertheless a key concern among most parents. They felt that the teachers did not ask about the parents’ views or workload. ´Some teachers teach via videos or online the same things they’d teach in person, others just give you a list of tasks you don’t have any control over in any way´ (P107, 2 children, 1 with SEN). Parental strain was increased because no or very limited support from special education, special needs assistants, or other support services were made available. Few children with SEN were asked to be at home, even if the official line in Finland was that students requiring special support were entitled to education in schools. In addition to the lack of support from school, the severing of relationships with other professionals worried some parents. Testing and therapies were put on hold: ´The children, even the one diagnosed with ADD, have to study independently without support. Our younger child’s dyslexia testing is on hold due to the situation´ (P121, 2 children, 1 with SEN).

Overall, parents’ experienced relatedness to their spouses, children, the school, and other services differed with respect to competence and autonomy, with the parents referring more to concerns (76%) than resources (24%). Parents worried mostly about their children’s learning and wellbeing and that the school was not teaching their children well enough.

Discussion

Main results of the study and their implications to schooling and teaching are discussed next from three main viewpoints. First, parents’ experiences of their wellbeing during the ERT of their children with SEN were mostly affected by poor fulfilment of relatedness as a basic psychological need. In practice, many parents experienced not having enough support from their networks or from the school and teachers during ERT. Parents were also concerned about the lack of interaction and dialogue between home and school, particularly the lack of availability of special education and other support from the school. These results are in line with earlier studies (Asbury et al. 2021; Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021). The research literature is limited regarding the design decisions of remote learning services and the most effective learning models for children with SEN, even though family and school relationships have been shown to improve the academic and social outcomes of children (Aloizou et al. 2021). Schools also define the nature of involvement of families, and often align and define home–school relationships narrowly and unequally (Liang et al. 2020). Home-school collaboration reflects the relatedness of parents and social contexts and successful home-school collaboration can support parental wellbeing. Availability of special education and other support from the school and teachers for families is therefore crucial to maintain during the ERT that contribute not only to children’s learning but also to parents’ wellbeing.

The rapid change to emergency remote teaching required many parents to take pedagogical roles to support their children’s education at home. In this study, half of parents described their perceived competence and capability to support their children’s schooling, highlighting their personal attributes such as patience, creativity, flexibility, persistence, and lack of worry. Parents’ professional backgrounds helped them weather the stress of supporting their children’s learning. This is in line with Neubauer’s et al. (2021, 1693) results confirming that ´parents who reported higher satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness reported more increases in vitality and decreases in stress experiences´. In the future, to support all children’s learning regardless their parents’ professional backgrounds, schools could pay attention to ways how to strengthen all parents’ competencies to support their children’s learning during remote schooling.

In our study, parents paid also attention to positive aspects of ERT in their children’s learning and wellbeing. Some parents experienced the traditional school environment as noisy and restless, whereas learning in a peaceful home environment enabled the children to concentrate and proceed at their own pace and supported their wellbeing and learning in ERT. Earlier studies (Couper-Kenney and Riddell 2021; Reaching Families 2020; Smith 2021) regarding children with SEN have resulted with similar findings. Parents’ experiences of ERT and their children’s learning could be utilised not only for possible future remote teaching but also when returning to face-to-face teaching. When considering children with SEN, parents’ experiences of the benefits of ERT could be implemented in classroom teaching, such as providing a peaceful atmosphere for learning in school and enabling a more flexible, individualised schedule for studying. Also, the use of digital technology in enabling remote education could be used wider in the future, e.g. when a child is unable to attend school due to travelling or long-term illness.

Positive aspects of ERT for children with SEN can partly depend on the changes in families’ daily life. In contrast to the results by Li et al. (2021) the parents of this study viewed remote working arrangements more as an opportunity to decide their own timetable and to spend more time together and strengthen close attachment between parents and children. Managing time and spending time together as a family supported parents’ sense of autonomy and relatedness as their basic psychological needs (Ryan and Deci 2017). Since all parents are not able to work remotely and have flexible schedules during ERT, schools could investigate how they can support children’s learning to fit well the families’ various circumstances, including various schedules. Flexible timetabling and implementation of ERT could, for example, support children’s learning and families’ wellbeing which could be studied more in future. Also, teachers could include learning activities or homework that further support positive interaction and relationships between students and their caregivers.

Limitations of the study

In this research, parents’ perceived resources exceeded the perceived challenges regarding their competence, autonomy, and relatedness during ERT of children with SEN. Similar findings of parents’ positive overall coping experiences related to lockdown in the Finnish context have been found; however, Ahtiainen et al. (2020) conclude that parents’ responses also revealed great variation in the realisation of educational equality, for example related to availability of remote teaching devices and pedagogical support practices. One explanation for the somewhat positive results regarding parents’ resources might be the socio-economic, particularly educational, background of the participants of this study, which represented more middle and higher education. Also, online questionnaire possibly limited the participation of those parents who were overwhelmed with the COVID-19 restrictions and ERT and those without the access to digital devices.

Conclusions

In this study, we examined parents’ basic psychological needs in relation to ERT of their children with SEN. Parents experienced having most resources regarding their competence in supporting their children’s learning, while relatedness with their children raised the most concern. The pandemic did not treat the families equally where parents’ professional background seemed to buffer the stress of supporting their children’s learning. The results also support earlier studies by showing that teachers had challenges in partnering with their students’ families while ERT. These notions suggest that schools and teachers are recommended to develop instructions to support teacher–parent interaction and learning of all children regardless their family background. These actions may strengthen parents’ basic psychological needs while supporting their children’s remote learning.

This study confirms other studies that some children with SEN seemed to benefit from home-schooling augmented by ERT. Parents experienced this to support their well-being by weathering their stress of supporting their children’s learning. Schools and teachers need to, therefore, consider how to utilise these notions in teaching at school to support learning of all children. Suitable learning support reinforce not only children’s learning but also parents’ wellbeing that makes families stronger to cope in exceptional times.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.