As a body without a soul: An online ethnography of a Bahá’í inspired school in Western India during the COVID-19 pandemic
Herman, Thaddeus Benjamin
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116084
Description
Title
As a body without a soul: An online ethnography of a Bahá’í inspired school in Western India during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s)
Herman, Thaddeus Benjamin
Issue Date
2022-07-12
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Herrera, Linda
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Herrera, Linda
Committee Member(s)
Gandhi, Rajmohan
Pak, Yoon
Witt, Allison
Lindgren, Robb
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
COVID-19
Lockdown
online education
Iran
Baháʼí
Refugee
pandemic
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted schools around the world. Educational institutions across the globe had to restructure the way in which they delivered education to comply with local policies. This study is an online ethnography of the experience of a Baháʼí inspired school in Western India – Mona School – and its experience with schooling during the global pandemic. Conducted over the course of more than a year of sustained inquiry into the experience of the school, it looks at the historical origins of the school, the overarching framework in which it educates, and how it was affected when it had to suddenly move all education online in the spring of 2020. Following the school through the end of 2021, it is based on interviews with students, teachers, and administrators about their experiences; analysis of the school’s Facebook page and use of WhatsApp; observations in online Zoom classrooms; parent teacher association meeting minutes; and government policy documents. It also places the experience of the school within the larger nationwide policy context surrounding education in India. The study brings out an understanding that a school is more than just a sum of its parts, that countless simple things which are taken for granted in an everyday physical school environment become greatly missed when they are either not available, or severely limited in an online environment.
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