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Global Health Econ Sustain Self-directed learning supporting mental health

how parental expectations to maintain standardized Finally, not all online learning was self-directed
learning can jeopardize this self-initiation. Surprisingly, during the pandemic, especially for those students who
in the study by Ong et al. (2022), an article that explores felt most comfortable with maintaining the practices of
student happiness and emphasizes the importance of self- standardized learning where teachers were willing to
initiation in self-directed learning for promoting happiness, accommodate this learning preference. In these cases,
there is no mention of the role of parental standardized teachers employed a range of teaching practices to cater to
expectations in potentially reducing happiness. Finally, in students’ needs. According to a study by Yates et al. (2021),
a balanced assessment like that of Shao et al. (2022), which these practices included direct instruction, feedback
highlights the importance of self-initiated learning in the provision, multimedia resources, class discussions, clear
success of self-directed learning, it remains unclear why communication, interactive activities, and gamification.
the authors did not consider the potential negative role As one student reported in this study, “Just being able
of parental expectations for the continued standardized to listen to the teacher and take down notes in a lecture-
learning of their children during the COVID pandemic. styled way. Although some teachers worried it would be
This gap in research on parental expectations regarding too boring, it was more straight to the point and less time-
self-initiated learning is an important issue that warrants consuming than “active activities’.” Future research in this
future investigation. area could focus on comparing the different types of online
learning that students experienced during the COVID-19
However, in this review of reports studying “self-directed pandemic.
learning, online learning, mental health, public schools,
COVID-19”, one important aspect was not considered: 5. Conclusions
the effect of students’ personal experiences with COVID-
19. These experiences include household financial stress, Students positive psychosocial outcomes are essential to
student or family member illnesses, family bereavements, address regarding the recognized mental health crisis in
reduced physical activity, resource-sharing within the family, youth (Hossain et al., 2020). These outcomes encompass
managing relationships with family members, and having reducing anxiety, increasing resilience, enhancing well-
multiple school-aged siblings. All of these factors may have being, and promoting positive mental health in children
affected the students’ ability to self-direct their learning, and adolescents (Andermo et al., 2020). Dewey emphasized
the amount of time they could allocate to online learning, the importance of positive mental health in public school
their capacity to self-initiate their learning, their parents’ students over 100 years ago, highlighting that standardized
expectations, and their mental health. Consequently, there learning did not address this need (Dewey, 1916). Unlike
is a substantial need for further research to examine the the standardized learning that has prevailed in public
influence of these variables in future studies. education since the 1860s, self-initiated self-directed
learning has been identified as a means to promote
Another limitation is that, although self-directed online positive psychosocial outcomes (Kuntz & Manokore, 2022;
learning became the primary mode of learning for most Mathana & Galdolage, 2023). During the COVID-19
public school students during COVID-19 – and what pandemic, when the majority of public school students
hindered many from fully participating was poor internet were compelled to transition into self-directed online
connectivity – for some more disadvantaged students, learners, the crucial role of self-initiation of self-directed
their computer skills were insufficient for engaging in this learning became evident. Alongside the need for a reliable
self-directed learning. For example, in the economically internet connection and relaxed parental expectations
disadvantaged areas of California, certain public schools regarding standardized learning, self-initiation emerged
refrained from implementing online learning for this as paramount for evaluating self-directed learning, online
reason, and instead, during the COVID-19 pandemic, learning, and mental health positively. Conversely, when
distance learning meant distributing books and paper self-initiation was lacking, self-directed learning was
packets to students for at-home learning (Schulz & assessed as negative (Al-Adwan et al., 2022). This result
Robinson, 2022). For students who were unable to has become clear from a Google Scholar search using
participate in online learning due to a lack of computer the parameter containing the following keywords: “self-
skills, the potential benefits of self-directed online learning directed learning, online learning, mental health, public
for enhancing their mental health were not accessible schools, COVID-19.” Among the 21 articles examined,
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessing the extent of 4 included mention of self-initiation in self-directed
public school students who still lack computer skills and, learning (Dwilestari et al., 2021, Doo et al., 2023, Ong et al.,
consequently, are unable to participate in online learning 2022, Shao et al., 2022). In support of previous research
is another area that warrants further research. regarding self-initiation in self-directed learning, all of

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2023) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.1219