While
Alongside, Beside
noun, の adjective
The kanji 傍 literally means nearby or side, but here in 傍ら it's being used figuratively, which is why this means while or alongside.
傍ら can mean beside in a physical sense, but you'll more often see it in writing to show someone doing two things at once, like 仕事の傍ら勉強している (studying while working). Basically, it's like you're doing another task or activity beside your main one.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You haven't learned this reading yet, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
You do your job while thinking about the cutter war (かたわ) — a never-ending war to cut budgets at work. Imagine all the colleagues you've already lost to the cutter war layoffs… You never know whether you've survived the latest round of cuts either, so you gotta work while worrying about these corporate bloodbaths. Yeesh!
新聞局で働く傍ら、夜間学校に通っています。
While working at the newspaper office, I've been attending night classes.
彼女は家事の傍ら、オンラインショップも運営している。
Alongside the housework, she also runs an online shop.
子犬は、母犬のぬくもりを確かめるように、その傍らで小さく丸まり、静かに夢の世界へと落ちていった。
The puppy, as if seeking the warmth of its mother, curled up beside her and quietly drifted into the world of dreams.