Inclusion and exclusion during COVID-19 school closures

In spring 2020, schools across the world closed down for students and teachers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, there have been numerous inquiries into how the school closures affected students. However, most of these inquiries apply a simple causal perspective according to which school closures are described as cause, and poor wellbeing, learning loss, etc. as effects. The aim of this article is to identify the complex social mechanisms that were triggered in the schoolchildren’s everyday lives in relation to school and home. The method employed is to analyze quantitative and qualitative data concerning students’ (n = 5,953) and parents’ (n = 5,054) reactions to the school closures in Denmark in spring 2020 through the lens of a system theoretical understanding of inclusion and exclusion mechanisms. The analysis demonstrates that one important reason for the consequences of school closures was that fundamental school-based inclusion and exclusion processes were interrupted, and that these processes could not be fully compensated by parents and siblings or by the use of digital media. Finally, the analysis argues that the closures not only affected the students’ learning and wellbeing but also presented a threat to their acquisition of fundamental inclusion and exclusion competencies.