The Pedagogy of death after the pandemic: what do families think?

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, death had a strong impact on social, family, and school life. This study explores the attitudes and opinions of families towards the Pedagogy of Death in the aftermath of the pandemic. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, we collected data from 489 parents and legal guardians of students attending Spanish schools. We performed descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and multiple regression analyses to examine differences and associations between family perceptions and attitudinal variables. The main results were: (1) that the experience of the pandemic had not significantly affected the educational treatment of the subject of death in schools and families; (2) that families' attitudes were favourable towards changes in education to include death in the curriculum and provide training for families and teachers; and (3) that families' attitudes towards the Pedagogy of Death were positively related to the topic of death being more present in their children's schools. The study highlights the need to include death education in the school curriculum, foster family-school collaboration, and develop teaching approaches that would favour a more complete education.