Chinese Parents’ Perception of Emergency Remote K-12 Teaching-Learning in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

Chinese parents’ perceptions of emergency remote K-12 teaching-learning during COVID-19 in China were examined through a qualitative case study. After the government’s early outbreak announcements, schools adopted emergency remote teaching under the mission “suspending schools without stopping teaching-learning”. Using web-based questionnaires, 741 parents across 16 provinces answered four open-ended questions. Thematic analysis showed online learning lacked a classroom “learning atmosphere”, with concerns about learning quality and risks for students with weak self-regulation, highlighting accountability challenges and informing professional development for tri-partite collaboration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Emergency school closure and ERT launch

National online cloud classroom support

Challenges in large-scale deep remote learning

Highlights

What is already known

What this paper contributes

Implications for theory, practice and/or policy

Chinese parents’ perception of emergency remote K-12 teaching-learning in China during the COVID-19 pandemic Tianhong Zhang Abstract: After Chinese government firstly released COVID-19 outbreak news in the world, the Chinese educational system launched the emergency remote teaching-learning (ERT) as the response to COVID-19 as new virus pandemic with the mission of “suspending schools without stopping teachinglearning”. The challenges that teachers, students and parents encountered and the ed-tech strategies that teachers and schools used in terms of effective remote teaching-learning has got the attention from the countries around the world. Since parents are the significant stakeholders of K-12 education, for better understanding the challenges in emergency remote teaching-learning from parents’ lens, their reactions are worth a word. In this qualitative case study, parent participants (N=741) from 16 provinces in mainland China gave responses to four open-ended questions in the web-based questionnaires released [on wjx.cn](on wjx.cn) (问卷星) . The themes emerged from the thematic analysis. The participants emphasized that online teaching-learning can’t replace face-to-face one in the brick-and-mortar classrooms in terms of “no learning atmosphere” from the perspectives of students’ behavior, cognitive and emotion engagement. Parents held a pessimistic attitude towards the quality of online teaching. Parents argued that remote teaching-learning would be a disaster for students with poor self-regulation and learning autonomy. In depth, the parent participants’ concerns about emergency remote teachinglearning mirror the challenge of accountability in remote education. The current study suggests the school administrations to develop the systematic professional development programs for training the collaboration among in-service teachers , students and their parents how to develop online learning community and keeping student engagement in remote learning. Keywords: emergency remote teaching-learning, COVID-19, parents’ attitude, face-to-face teachinglearning, learning atmosphere, student engagement Highlights What is already known about this topic: • Emergency remote teaching as a temporary shift of face-to-face instruction to a fully remote mode due to the emergent circumstance is not delivered with well-planned instructional design. • People are concerned about the quality of teachers’ teaching and students’ learning in remote mode. • The challenges that teachers, students and parents encountered and the ed-tech strategies that teachers and schools used in terms of effective remote teaching-learning has got the attention. What this paper contributes: • Parents as the significant stakeholders of K-12 education, their reactions to emergency remote teaching-learning enrich the literature about emergency remote teaching-learning from parents’perspective. • The research findings provide the factors which have been the most influential impact on parents’ perception of remote teaching and learning. • The empirical research findings project Chinese parents’ pessimistic attitude towards online education in China. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • It is imperative for teacher education programs to develop the necessary skills among preservice and in-service teachers to provide a quality education in hybrid or online mode. • Schools should develop a checklist of considerate perspectives and actionable strategies for preparing students and their parents for learning success (such as role change, class schedules, explanation of difference between online and face-to-face learning, communication with teachers about their concerns and help, etc. ) . • School administrations should develop professional development programs for training the collaboration among in-service teachers, students and their parents how to develop online learning community and keeping student engagement in remote learnin

FAQs

How was emergency remote teaching-learning initiated in China during COVID-19?

China’s Ministry of Education issued an emergency school closure initiative, leading primary and secondary schools to launch emergency remote teaching to “suspend face-to-face classes without stopping teaching and learning”.

What were the main parental concerns about online teaching-learning?

Parents emphasized that online learning cannot replace face-to-face instruction due to the lack of a learning atmosphere, questioned the quality of online teaching, and warned it could harm students with poor self-regulation and learning autonomy.

What recommendations does the study provide for schools and teacher training?

The study recommends systematic professional development to train collaboration among in-service teachers, students, and parents, helping build online learning communities and maintain student engagement in remote learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet