Through Thick and Thin - Lower Secondary School Students’ Barriers to Learning under Covid-19 Conditions

Oct 15, 2026

The Covid-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift from face-to-face schooling to distance learning, creating widespread learning barriers for lower secondary students. The study aims to identify the most prevalent obstacles and determine research consistencies and gaps through a systematic review of literature from EBSCO and ScienceDirect. An explanatory qualitative case study uses observations of online lessons, interviews with teachers and the school principal, and students’ reflections with inductive thematic analysis to analyze accessibility, technological literacy, planning and reflections, self-regulated learning, active involvement, and emotional and psychological well-being, and to show how schools can reduce these barriers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Barriers to Learning in COVID-19 Conditions

Learning Barriers: Concept and Prior Research

Study Design and Methods

Systematic Literature Review

Qualitative Explanatory Case Study

doi: 10.26529/cepsj.1103 Through Thick and Thin: Lower Secondary School Students’ Barriers to Learning under Covid-19 Conditions Rasa Nedzinskaite-Maciuniene*1, Egle Stasiunaitiene2 and Gerda Simiene3 • At the global level, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the whole education system, ranging from pre-school to higher education. Without any prior preparation, the teaching process has undergone a massive transition from face-to-face to distance learning. This transition has posed many challenges. This article aims to reveal what barriers to learning lower secondary school students face and how schools can minimise these barriers. A systematic review of the academic literature from two well-known databases, EBSCO and ScienceDirect, was performed to identify and determine the prevailing consistencies and gaps. The empirical study follows a qualitative research design: an explanatory case study. The data were collected through observations of online lessons, interviews with teachers and the school principal, and students’ reflections. In addition, an inductive thematic analysis was employed. The empirical results help to identify secondary school students’ barriers to learning in terms of learning accessibility and technological literacy; planning and reflections on learning; self-regulated learning and active involvement; and emotional as well as psychological well-being. Furthermore, the study highlights how a school can minimise these barriers. Keywords: Covid-19, barriers to learning, lower secondary school, students 1 *Corresponding Author. Educational Research Institute, Education Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; [rasa.nedzinskaite-maciuniene@vdu.lt](rasa.nedzinskaite-maciuniene@vdu.lt). 2 Educational Research Institute, Education Academy, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. 3 Faculty of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. 168 through thick and thin: lower secondary school students’ barriers to V dobrem in slabem: ovire osnovnošolcev pri učenju med covidom-19 Rasa Nedzinskaite-Maciuniene, Egle Stasiunaitiene in Gerda Simiene • Na svetovni ravni je pandemija covida-19 prizadela celoten izobraže-valni sistem, od predšolskega do visokošolskega izobraževanja. Brez kakršnih koli predhodnih priprav se je zgodil obsežen prehod učnega procesa z neposrednega učenja na učenje na daljavo. Ta je prinesel številne izzive. Namen članka je predstaviti, s katerimi ovirami pri učenjuse spoprijemajo učenci višjih razredov osnovne šole in kako lahko šole te ovire čim bolj zmanjšajo. Sistematično smo pregledali znanstveno literaturo iz dveh znanih podatkovnih zbirk, EBSCO in ScienceDirect, da bi ugotovili in določili prevladujoče skladnosti in vrzeli. Empirična študija temelji na kvalitativnem raziskovalnem načrtu, tj. pojasnjevalni študiji primera. Podatki so bili zbrani z opazovanjem spletnih učnih ur, intervjuji z učitelji in ravnatelji šol ter z refleksijami učencev. Poleg tega je bila uporabljena induktivna tematska analiza. Empirični rezultati pomagajo opredeliti ovire osnovnošolcev pri učenju z vidika dostopnostiučenja in tehnološke pismenosti, načrtovanja in razmišljanja o učenju, samoregulativnega učenja in aktivnega vključevanja ter dobrega čustvenega in psihološkega počutja. Poleg tega raziskava poudarja, kako lahko šola te ovire čim bolj zmanjša. Ključne besede: covid-19, ovire pri učenju, višji razredi osnovne šole, učenci Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all spheres of life. Globally, the field of education has faced unprecedented challenges. More than 1.5 billion learners worldwide have been affected by school closures (UNESCO, 2020) . The teaching process unexpectedly and without any prior preparation has undergone a massive transition from face-to-face to distance learning. This posed several challenges: teacher adaptation to distance learning (König et al., 2020; Kruszewska et al., 2020); individual and institutional readiness to transition to dista

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study reveals what barriers to learning lower secondary school students face under Covid-19 conditions and how schools can minimize these barriers.

How were the research data collected?

The research combines a systematic literature review with a qualitative explanatory case study using observations of online lessons, interviews with teachers and the school principal, and students’ reflections.

Which main barrier areas were identified in the findings?

Barriers are grouped into learning accessibility and technological literacy, planning and reflections on learning, self-regulated learning and active involvement, and emotional and psychological well-being.

Oct 15, 2026

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