Parents' stories of homework : experiences alongside their children and families

Abstract

The objective of this program of research was to listen to parents’ voices on homework with a focus on what homework means for their children, themselves and their families. While, within this body of literature, there is consensus on a definition of homework, a multitude of studies on homework and its effect on academic achievement and the development of work habits, and an extensive body of literature on types of homework assignments, there are no known qualitative studies on homework from parents’ perspectives. Within schools, teachers are positioned as knowing professionals and parents are positioned as helpers, who know less about the learning process. Power and authority rest with educators who make decisions important to teaching and learning – decisions about homework policies and practices, for example – often with little or no parent input or participation. Because teachers ask for little input from parents, parents rarely feel they can talk to teachers about their children’s experiences with homework and the resulting impact on their family.

Determining what knowledge parents of elementary school children (pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8) hold about homework, how they feel about homework, how homework impacts their children, how homework impacts them as parents, and how homework impacts their families was the focus of this narrative inquiry. The parents’ stories highlight the non-academic benefits the parents believe exist for their children through their engagement with homework. They also bring to the fore the many reasons homework can be problematic for their children and for them as they attend to the individuality of their children and the complexity of their family lives. They raise important issues for educators to consider in relation to homework: the implications variations within families, schools, teachers, parents and students may have for homework policies and practices; the need for reciprocity in home/school communications and the development of equitable rather than hierarchical relationships between parents and educators. Possibilities for changes in teacher education, both preservice and inservice; for a rethinking of policy and practice for both parents and educators; and for the direction of future research all emerge in this work.