COVID-19 pandemic and early education services for 0-3 children: Educational and social impact

This research addresses the educational and social impact of COVID-19 on centre-based early education services for 0-3 children. In Portugal, early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for 0-3 children were the first education services to reopen (May, 18), following two months of mandatory closure. National debate arose on the critical challenges of balancing health containment measures (HCM) with the specificities of education and care practices with babies and young children. HCM issued by the central government had to be implemented nationwide by ECEC services. Until now, there is scant international evidence about to what extent the implementation of HCM is compromising the experiences of very young children and adults in ECEC centres. The few previous studies suggested that COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures could have negative short- and long-term impacts on children’ well-being, learning and development.

This cross-sectional study addresses the following research question: What is the educational and social impact of HCM on centre-based ECEC services for 0-3 children? Specifically, we intend to examine: (a) HCM implemented in ECEC contexts, (b) perceived changes on pedagogical practices, (c) perceived effects on children and teachers’ well-being, and (d) professionals’ digital health literacy. The study will target professionals from all Portuguese ECEC. An online survey using the platform survey monkey will be developed.

The results of this study are beyond its end because it has the potential to inform future intervention initiatives to ameliorate the impact of COVID-19.

Data protection policy

The study obtained a favorable opinion from the inED Ethics Committee (PA8/CE/20, of December 21). The anonymity of participants and the institutions involved, confidentiality and exclusive use of data for the present study will be guaranteed. For further clarification, do not hesitate to contact the responsible researcher, Sara Barros Araújo (creche_impactoCovid19@ese.ipp.pt). You can also contact the IPP data protection officer (email: dpo@ipp.pt) to clarify any doubts about the protection of your data.

The participants have no immediate risks or benefits, however the results of the study may contribute to the understanding of the issues under analysis.

The data collected will be used for scientific research purposes and kept on password-protected equipment, known only to the research team, for a period of five (5) years. The personal data collected will be deleted at the end of the research project. However, the data may be reused for statistical and research purposes and, therefore, compatible with the purpose for which it was originally collected.

Appropriate organizational and technical measures were adopted to protect data and mitigate the risks inherent to its processing, including pseudonymization, encryption and access control. There will be no disclosure or communication of individual results. The data collected will be exclusively used for this study. Only researchers involved in the project will have access to their data and are obliged to maintain professional secrecy.