Rhetorical Constructions of Parents by Online Learning Companies: A Study of Parent Testimonials

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter attends to the fact that research has revealed much about the importance of parents in this process, especially their increased instructional roles when their children undertake online courses. However, little is known about how online curriculum vendors construct the parents of their potential enrollees in order to make online learning an appealing option.

Approach

This research examined what these testimonials revealed about how such companies conceptualize the beliefs parents of potential students. Inductive narrative theme analysis was used to analyze the testimonials.

Findings

The findings of this research revealed a characterization of parents as providers of access to online learning, organizers of schedules around online learning, and leveraging time working online as space to nurture and support their children’s academic development. The major plotline of these testimonials is one where parents solve problems for their children, who are not being successful in school, which resolves anxiety about a child’s previous school performance and their future as students. For the parents, the benefit to this enrollment is increased feelings of efficacy.

Research implications

This research comments on the role of narrative in educational decision-making in general and has additional potential to inform online teacher work with parents.

Value

The value in this chapter lies in the author’s unique approach to inquiry. Very little research on online learning has looked critically at what vendors promise in online learning.

Citation

Rice, M.F. (2015), "Rhetorical Constructions of Parents by Online Learning Companies: A Study of Parent Testimonials", Exploring Pedagogies for Diverse Learners Online (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 121-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000027006