The demands homework puts on parents of year 5 pupils : a social class perspective

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the demands that homework imposes on parents of Year 5 pupils attending State and Church schools. Two schools from two sectors were chosen in order to make the study as socially inclusive as possible by drawing attention to the parents' different social classes. This study is based on interviews which were conducted with ten parents of Year 5 pupils. The two respective class teachers were also interviewed for this study. The study explores the homework demands the two schools and the class teachers put on parents. Irrespective of the parents' social background, parents report that homework is too demanding since it is leaving a negative impact their social life. Some working class parents view the amount of homework as an excessive one leading to frustration and stress in their homes that affect negatively their relationship with their children. Other parents stated that sometimes, homework depends on the children's abilities, the types of homework tasks given and the children's attitudes towards it. Teachers assign homework for consolidation, revision and understanding. However, coping with the syllabus is difficult and thus, they had to give new work for home. Both teachers consider the day of the week, the children's abilities and the parents' educational level before assigning homework. Nevertheless, it appears that teachers are not offering enough help when the children did not do the homework assigned.