Previous research shows that the lockdown of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased the already existing inequalities in education but little is known about the processes underlying these outcomes. In this study we used Bourdieu's theories to explore how interactions between teachers' expectations of parents and parents' availability of cultural, social and economic capital could potentially influence educational inequalities in the context of distance education. The analysis is based on 24 qualitative interviews with parents from different social backgrounds, teachers and school coordinators, sampled from an inner-city primary school in Flanders (Belgium). The results indicate that teachers continue to have standardised expectations of the proper role that parents should perform in distance education, which were difficult for some families to meet due their availability of cultural and economic capital. However, this study suggests that teachers' exposure to familial issues can result in teachers adapting their expectations and responses so that they are more likely to respond to the needs of parents and students in the field of distance education.