This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Homework set by elementary schools could be reinforcing educational inequalities by rewarding families who have more time and resources to spend helping their children, new research from the University of Manchester suggests. The study argues that homework is not simply an educational activity carried out by children at home.
It also requires parents to invest their time, knowledge and resources, potentially giving some children an advantage over others. Researchers found that parents can face very different demands on their time, particularly when they are balancing homework with work, childcare and other family responsibilities. The study is published in the British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Yet schools may treat parents' ability and willingness to spend time on homework as a measure of how well they are supporting their children's education. The researchers argue that this can create a 'deficit' view of parents, in which families who have less time or fewer resources are perceived as less engaged with their children's education. Homework is often presented as a way for children to practice what they have learned at school.
But the researchers argue that it also creates expectations about how parents should use their time, examining the process through which homework is set by a teacher, completed by a child with parental involvement, and then returned to the teacher. This creates an opportunity for parents to invest time in producing work that can subsequently be recognized and rewarded within the education system. The researchers use the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu to argue that this investment can become a form of cultural capital—the time and knowledge available to families can be converted into educational advantage.
The study highlights the very different circumstances in which parents are expected to support homework. One parent, referred to as Emma in the paper, describes trying to help her children despite working until 8 p.m. She says that doing homework late at night can be extremely difficult and argues that homework should be regarded as a 'bonus' if parents are able to do it, rather than something automatically expected of every family.
Emma also describes the experience as potentially 'shaming' for parents who do not understand the homework themselves. The researchers argue that this illustrates how apparently neutral expectations about parental engagement can have very different consequences depending on families' circumstances. A parent with flexible working hours, financial resources and confidence with schoolwork may be able to provide substantial support, while a parent working long or irregular hours may have much less time available, even if they are equally committed to their child's education.
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