The Socio-Pedagogical Environment of Primary School Students in the Context of a Socially Distanced Classroom

Oct 15, 2026

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing between students and teachers transformed primary classroom activities and created new challenges. The study documents primary students’ perceptions of their socio-pedagogical environment in socially distanced classrooms. Questionnaire sur l’environnement sociopédagogique au primaire (QESPP) responses from 1,002 students aged 6–12 in fall 2020 were analyzed using descriptive quantitative methods and comparative inferential analyses. Results indicate generally positive perceptions across multiple socio-pedagogical climates, with the relational climate rated less positively.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Context and Research Problem

COVID-19 and school disruptions

Quebec primary school return and distancing guidelines

Classroom climate as socio-pedagogical environment

Students’ perceptions and rationale

The Socio-Pedagogical Environment of Primary School Students in the Context of a Socially Distanced Classroom Geneviève Carpentier University of Montreal Claudine Sauvageau University of Montreal Normand Roy University of Montreal Abstract In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, classroom activities in the primary school, marked by physical distancing between students and teachers, raise some challenges. Thus, this article seeks to document the primary school students’perceptions regarding their socio-pedagogical environment in the context of a socially distanced classroom. For this purpose, responses to the Questionnaire sur l’environnement sociopédagogique au primaire (QESPP) provided by 1,002 students aged from six to 12 in the fall of 2020 were subjected to descriptive quantitative analyses and to some comparative inferential 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) analyses (SPSS 23.0) . Results show a strong tendency of students’positive perceptions toward the various climates of their socio-pedagogical environment, although the relational climate seems to be perceived somewhat less positively. Keywords: socio-pedagogical environment, primary school, student perceptions, social distancing Résumé En contexte de pandémie de COVID-19, les activités en classe de primaire, marquées par une distanciation physique entre les élèves et les enseignants, posent certains enjeux. Ainsi, cet article vise à examiner la perception des élèves du primaire quant à leur environnement sociopédagogique en contexte d’enseignement distancié . À cette fin, les réponses fournies par 1002 élèves de 6 à 12 ans à l’automne 2020 dans le Questionnaire sur l’environnement sociopédagogique au primaire (QESPP) ont été soumises à des analyses quantitatives descriptives ainsi qu’à quelques analyses comparatives inférentielles (SPSS, version 23.0) . Les résultats montrent une forte tendance des perceptions positives des élèves face aux divers climats de leur environnement sociopédagogique, bien que le climat relationnel semble perçu un peu moins positivement. Mots-clés : environnement sociopédagogique, école primaire, perception des étudiants, distanciation sociale Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation [www.cje-rce.ca](www.cje-rce.ca) Context and ResearchProblem In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic (Labrecque, 2020) . Hence, the exceptional context of the spread of the disease and the means taken to limit it, like the diverse sanitary measures and lockdowns, has led to major upheavals in all spheres of society. In the process, the educational environment was strongly shaken, particularly in regard to the teaching and learning environment. The methods and practices that have been in place for decades have been modified, redesigned or eliminated in order to limit the risk of contagion among students (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2021) . In this regard, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported in the spring of 2020 that 91% of students worldwide were affected by school closure. Under these conditions, new ways of schooling were adopted and students had to learn differently, through online learning, or more precisely, emergency remote teaching (Hodges et al., 2020) . In Quebec, a vast majority of primary school students returned to classrooms in the fall of 2020. This return, however, has led the school population to face new challenges. First, there was a constant threat that schools would close again. Then, teaching in the classroom had to proceed according to physical distancing guidelines between students and their teacher. This adjustment of practices, called here the socially distanced classroom, along with the other e

FAQs

What is the main objective of the article?

To document primary school students’ perceptions of the socio-pedagogical environment within socially distanced classrooms during the COVID-19 context.

How were students’ perceptions measured?

Through responses to the Questionnaire sur l’environnement sociopédagogique au primaire (QESPP) provided by 1,002 students aged 6 to 12 in fall 2020.

What do the results show about students’ perceptions?

Students show a strong tendency toward positive perceptions across different socio-pedagogical climates, though the relational climate is perceived somewhat less positively.

Oct 15, 2026

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