The Educational Community in the Face of COVID-19. Discursive Analysis on Vulnerability and Education

Abstract

This article presents the results of research the objective of which was to know the opinion of directors of different educational centers about the management carried out in their centers and the possible difficulties encountered during the suspension of face-to-face classes caused by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research method is qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and inductive. The study sample is made up of 43 managers of educational centers, who were selected by applying an intentional sampling based on criteria of age, experience, ownership of the center, teachings that are taught, and the socioeconomic context where it is located. A questionnaire was used to collect the information, previously designed and validated through the judgment of experts, to inquire about the organization and management from the management team, the development of the academic task with the students, and the relationship with the families during the course period of cessation of classroom activities. To make an adequate approximation to the reality studied, an exhaustive content analysis of the speeches issued by the participants was carried out. Among the main conclusions of the research are the difficulties they have experienced during the closure of schools in relation to the lack of strategic planning to reconvert face-to-face education to the online format, scarcity of technological resources in centers and homes, training deficit in digital skills, increasing the digital divide, attention to students with special educational needs or communication problems with students and their families.