Academic Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic - A Triarchic Analysis of Education Policy Developments across Canada

Oct 15, 2026

The study uses qualitative content analysis of provincial policy documents with deductive methods to examine academic resilience and education policy developments across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. It clarifies the nature and scope of provincial policy responses addressing academic concerns, physical health and well-being, and mental health for K–12 students. Pan-Canadian analysis covers 62 documents issued from January 2020 to December 2021, mapped to triarchic dimensions of resilience. Findings indicate greater focus on academic issues and limited policy differentiation in directing resources and supports across jurisdictions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

School closures and learning loss framing

Academic resilience beyond cognitive outcomes

Physical wellness and mental health context

Academic Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Triarchic Analysis of Education Policy Developments across Canada Louis Volante Brock University Camila Lara Brock University DonA. Klinger University of Waikato Melissa Siegel Maastricht University / UNU-MERIT Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation ©2023 Canadian Society for the Study of Education/ Société canadienne pour l’étude de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Abstract This study employed a qualitative content analysis of provincial policy documents, following deductive methods, to examine academic resilience and education policy developments across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, the study explicates the nature and scope of provincial policy responses to the global pandemic that address academic issues, physical health and well-being, and mental health issues for K–12 students. The pan-Canadian analysis revealed a total of 62 documents were issued between January 2020 and December 2021 that addressed one or more of the triarchic dimensions of academic resilience. The findings suggested greater attention was devoted to academic issues and there was a general lack of policy differentiation in terms of how specific resources and supports were to be directed within provincial educational jurisdictions. Keywords: academic resilience, educational policy, learning supports and resources Résumé Cette étude a employé une analyse qualitative de contenu des documents de politiques provinciales, en suivant des méthodes déductives, pour examiner la ténacité scolaire et le développement des politiques d’éducation à travers le Canada pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Plus précisément, l’étude détaille la nature et la portée des réponses politiques provinciales à la pandémie mondiale qui traitent des questions relatives à l’éducation, à la santé physique, au bien-être, et à la santé mentale des étudiants de lamaternelle à la 12e année. L’analyse pancanadienne révèle qu’un total de 62 documentsont été publiés entre janvier 2020 et décembre 2021 qui abordaient une ou plusieurs dimensions triarchiques de la ténacité scolaire. Les conclusions mènent à penser qu’une plus grande attention est accordée aux problématiques scolaires et qu’il y a un manque général de différenciation dans les politiques quant à la façon dont les ressources et lessoutiens seraient utilisés au sein des instances éducatives provinciales. Mots-clés : ténacité scolaire, politique éducative, ressources et soutiens aux apprentissages Canadian Journal of Education /Revue canadienne del’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Acknowledgements This research is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) . Introduction The global pandemic has created monumental challenges for education systems around the world. In every industrialized country, COVID-19 led to school closures for successive weeks and a sudden shift to online instruction to help reduce the risk of transmission and keep students safe. While statistics vary across provinces, Canadian schools in general were closed for a total of 51 weeks—placing the nation in the highest bracket globally for school closures (see UNESCO, n.d.) . Understandably, students, parents, educators, and policy makers are concerned about the negative impact associated with the loss of face-to-face instruction and social isolation measures. For the most part, researchers have begun to tackle this issue by examining the possibility of academic learning losses associated with school closures. Simply put, learning loss research attempts to quantify, using large-scale student assessment results, the degree of progress, or lack thereof, in core subject areas (i.e., reading, mathematics, science) that have resulted from interruptions to in-person schooling. This research suggests that learning has stalled during the pandemic, and that at-risk student popula

FAQs

What method does the study use to analyze education policy responses during COVID-19?

It employs qualitative content analysis of provincial policy documents using deductive methods.

Which student areas do the policy responses focus on according to the study?

The study examines policies addressing academic issues, physical health and well-being, and mental health for K–12 students.

What did the pan-Canadian document analysis find about policy differentiation?

It found greater attention to academic issues and an overall lack of differentiation in how specific resources and supports were directed within provincial jurisdictions.

Oct 15, 2026

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