From “How are you doing?” to “Have you eaten?”: Understanding the daily lived experiences of Asians in America during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of shelter-in-place orders for families, their homes simultaneously became a school, work and social activity space. The physical spaces available to families shrunk considerably. These series of events have quickly changed the daily lives of those living, residing and learning in the United States. We used the photovoice methodology to share the COVID-19 experiences of seven Asian families. We follow how Asian parents address their children’s educational needs as they adapt to the compression and expansion of the physical boundaries of their homes. We found that the family space became a multipurpose site, a place where multiple activities happened simultaneously to include school, workplace, social and extracurricular activities. The compression of space is an opportunity to examine how Asian parents are involved in their children’s schooling, outside of the school walls. We found that Asian parents are involved in their children’s schooling and hold a broader conception of education that is less focused on academic learning. Asian families adapt to the disruptions in daily life due to COVID-19 by strategically engaging resources and addressing the stress related to changes in their schooling environment.

Keywords

• Asians and Asian Americans
• Parental involvement
• COVID-19 pandemic
• Education
• Photovoice