**7.2 Circles of interaction: conceptualizing the dynamics of the social world**

In the early COVID-19 world, the clash of habitus connected to lockdowns and national responses to the crisis instigated shifts in practice and socially determined values across various sectors. These shifts then impacted education. Within education itself, different actors' experiences, interactions and roles were upended with very little time to make sense of those changes. The 'Circles of Interaction' model has been developed as a framework, which actively considers the impacts of changes in one sector of the social world on, and in, other sectors. **Figure 2** shows the 'Circles of Interaction,' which are explained and defined below.

The 'Circles of Interaction' comprise three interconnected but mobile rings, which are free to move within the 'Global Social Bubble.' The three circles represent different levels of the social world and are described below:

The 'Boundary Circle' represents and encapsulates institutional practices that create and define objective social structures. Its large size demonstrates its power-capacity (arising from institutional agency), relative to other elements of the social world.

The 'Dialog Circle' is the space where interactions between social actors are considered, and the changes made through those interactions are delineated. The relativepower held in those interactions, through the roles individuals embody, is explored and its connection to changes in the 'Boundary' and 'Self' Circles is addressed.

The 'Self Circle' is the internal space where social actors make sense of the world around them and enact agency within their own experiences. Their sense-making and agentic capacity is informed by structures and institutions in the 'Boundary' and 'Dialog' Circles and is considered within this space.

Many 'Circles of Interaction,' representing different sectors of the social world exist within the 'Global Social Bubble.' These sets of circles then move around and

**Figure 2.** *Circles of Interaction.*

*Between Home and School: Exploring Parents' Experiences of Educating in a Pandemic DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101408*

interact. As they interact and shift their balance, the balance of sense-making, interaction and social structures of those inhabiting the circles is upset and altered. This shift is represented by the changes in physical points of contact between the circles; where the contact points alter due to changes external to the circle or changes within the circle, so a 'habitus clash' occurs. New habitus emerges at the points of contact caused by those clashes. COVID-19 has instigated habitus change in the education 'Circles of Interaction' through changes in other sectors' 'Circles of Interaction.' These changes have then impacted education. Parents' sense-making of 'emergency remote instruction' is inextricably linked to its structural implementation by schools and educators. This conceptualization and sense-making underpin interactions with educators; parent-teacher interactions are connected to potential systemic changes to remove barriers to learning for children. Where systemic barriers are then removed (or not), sense-making of remote learning must be re-visited. Changes in other social sectors such as health, employment and the economy affect other sectors and those sectors' 'Circles of Interaction' collide, move and instigate new habitus and practice. COVID-19 and this project have shown how the interdependence of social sectors can be modeled dynamically and robustly through the 'Circles of Interaction.'

### **8. Conclusions**

Although this is a small-scale study, the fact that it chimes with so much of the body of work relating to COVID-19 remote-teaching suggests that the findings are important. The voices of those who support young children with specific learning difficulties are missing from much discourse, and as a group, their needs often go unidentified and unmet. COVID-19 has highlighted and brought to the fore the difficulty families face when supporting their children with SpLD. Families are untrained, often lacking the material and time resources in a pre-COVID-19 world [11, 40]. COVID-19 has exacerbated these pre-existent difficulties and added to the burdens experienced by already-overstretched families. Parents lack training to support their children and often lack the physical devices needed to support children in remote learning. These devices and training would also be useful in regular schooling [19]. Investment in technology to support children and their families by central government is crucial to meeting their needs and would be beneficial in the event of future school-closures/remote teaching. Systemic expectations on parents must be grounded in families' realities and resources. Flexibility is key and empowerment through constructive communication edifies all parties and improves practice.

Teachers need training and consistent expectations from their schools, local authorities and ultimately, the Department of Education in the implementation of remote teaching, with a particular focus on online learning. That way the needs of those with SpLD can be met through 'friendly' practices, which will ultimately benefit all learners [28].

This study has prompted the development of a new theoretical framework 'Circles of Interaction,' grounded in Bourdieusien principles and drawing on Jenkins' sociology of identity. Further development through careful application of this framework is necessary to consolidate its principles and transposability to sectors other than education.

#### **Acknowledgements and conflicts of interest**

No funding has been granted for this project. Dr. Ross is a Trustee of the British Dyslexia Association and the Wiltshire Dyslexia Association.
