Peer-reviewed article
Child well‐being in early childhood education and care during COVID ‐19: Child sensitivity in small, fixed groups
Anette Boye Koch ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how COVID-19 affected child well-being in Danish early childhood education and care settings during the 2020 phased reopening. Researchers observed two institutions and interviewed staff, then followed up a year later. The pandemic led pedagogues to adopt more child-sensitive practices with lower staff-to-child ratios and children organized in small, fixed groups. Despite the challenging circumstances, child well-being did not decline.
Key points
- Pedagogues adopted more child-sensitive approaches during the pandemic
- Improved staff-to-child ratios were implemented
- Children were organized in small, fixed groups
- Child well-being was not negatively affected despite COVID-19 restrictions
- Observations, interviews, and follow-up survey conducted over approximately one year
Limitations
The study examined only two ECEC institutions in Denmark, so findings may not be generalizable to other contexts or countries with different pandemic responses. Long-term effects on child development beyond the observed period are not reported.
Abstract
The article explores child well-being in Danish early childhood education and care (ECEC) during the time of COVID-19. A phased reopening of Denmark occurred in spring 2020 under strict health guidelines. Two ECEC institutions were followed first-hand to observe the impact of the pandemic on pedagogy and child well-being. Observations and interviews were conducted with follow-up interviews and an online survey a year later. The findings suggest that the pandemic caused pedagogues to work in a more child-sensitive way with elevated staff/child ratios and children in small, fixed groups; however, child well-being was not negatively affected, despite the acute situation.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on child well-being in early childhood education and care settings
- Intervention
- Phased reopening with strict health guidelines including small, fixed groups of children and elevated staff-to-child ratios to maintain health protocols
- Population
- Children in Danish early childhood education and care institutions during COVID-19 reopening in spring 2020
Key finding
Child well-being was not negatively affected despite acute pandemic situation