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Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

economist.com

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Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#31

Post by westiseast »

Very surprised the article doesn’t mention a few things:

1. Some places just have more homework than others. Chinese kids have mountains of homework aged 7, vastly more than British kids. Chinese parents spend much more time either managing or literally doing their kids homework for them.

2. Efficiency/productivity - What are kids doing in school if their parents are still spending hours and hours after school helping them with homework? How is this a productive use of parents precious work/leisure time?

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#32

Post by user5454 »

samsonradu wrote: post #26
nothrabannosir wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Isn't it OP's job to present proof for his claim? No, it’s not his job. I’m guessing programming is probably his job. He’s not a researcher and this is not a peer reviewed journal. This is a place where amateurs of conversation come to discuss things that are of interest, but most of us know nothing about, in our spare time. It started out differently but that’s basically what it has evolved into. Providing citatio…

This is so spot on, and I guess sometimes people forget that internet forums are to be taken with a grain of salt and you should do your own research. The one thing I dislike the most is the IANAL - "Don't take this as legal advice" disclaimer that I see abused. I mean, really, who is naive enough to take random legal advice from strangers?

> I mean, really, who is naive enough to take random legal advice from strangers?

Having recently read some stories over at darwinawards.com, I can think of quite a few people who would seem a lot less naïve, if all they had done was taking legal advice from strangers...

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#33

Post by lighthazard »

westiseast wrote: post #31

Very surprised the article doesn’t mention a few things: 1. Some places just have more homework than others . Chinese kids have mountains of homework aged 7, vastly more than British kids. Chinese parents spend much more time either managing or literally doing their kids homework for them. 2. Efficiency/productivity - What are kids doing in school if their parents are still spending hours and hours after school helpi…

An argument can be made that doing homework with your child is the leisure.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#34

Post by dominotw »

mjburgess wrote: post #4

It's important to add here that homework has never been shown to improve grades or educational outcomes generally, and it's a very well-studied topic.

Homework was never to improve educational outcomes it was to figure out who wants that free govt education more.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#35

Post by user5454 »

smcl wrote: post #21
mjburgess wrote: post #4

It's important to add here that homework has never been shown to improve grades or educational outcomes generally, and it's a very well-studied topic.

Interesting also that Finland has a good reputation for its education, and its WAY down the bottom of that list, which seems to agree with your statement.

There's a difference between the measurement "how much homework a student have" and the measurement "how much parents help with children's homework". The article is about the latter, while the GP discusses the former. I'm pretty sure Finnish students have homework.

I also think the "poorer countries" is a red herring (e.g. Singapore scores quite highly on the list), I think it's more about cultural differences and competition about a much more limited number of places for higher education.

My own (very limited) experience with the education systems in several Asian countries is that the focus is more on feeding students facts. Whereas the education in the Nordic countries generally focus more on learning how to solve problems, either by yourself or in groups.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#36

Post by 1k »

lumberjack wrote: post #24

The reason for this is pretty simple: you get free public education in these poor countries, but only if you pass the entrance examinations. For a lot of families this is the only way for their kids to get out of poverty. Moreover because of the way the school system is structured, your kid could easily fall behind at age 7 and never recover. The reason for this is because of stratified classes, where they group kids…

Yes, this exactly. Your kids’ education is the way out of poverty. In some families, one child with a decent job will provide a lifeline for the whole family.

Even if the system is broken, even if the quality of education is bad, you have to play along because private education is too expensive.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#37

Post by CannisterFlux »

lighthazard wrote: post #33
westiseast wrote: post #31

Very surprised the article doesn’t mention a few things: 1. Some places just have more homework than others . Chinese kids have mountains of homework aged 7, vastly more than British kids. Chinese parents spend much more time either managing or literally doing their kids homework for them. 2. Efficiency/productivity - What are kids doing in school if their parents are still spending hours and hours after school helpi…

An argument can be made that doing homework with your child is the leisure.

Ha, I think that argument is made by people who don't have kids (with homework). It's not leisure for me at all. While I worry about being branded a terrible father for this comment, I will admit that I am a terrible teacher. I have no patience for it.

My kids mess around, constantly want breaks ("Well I've written a line! time for a 10 minute break!"), waste hours doing shit that should take them minutes... When they start "accidentally" dropping their pencils on the floor because they'd rather be faffing around picking it up than working, I often just lose my temper. Man, I'm getting slightly pissed off just thinking about it now! xD

There are brief moments of joy/relief where you can see they've grasped a concept or improved and you can be proud of 'em. But most of the time it is a frustrating experience, slow going, and a slog to get them to do anything. The worst of learning, with the worst of kids messing around, with a massive feeling of wasting everone's time.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#39

Post by watwut »

maire wrote: post #38

Ideally, parents shouldn't spend any time on their children's homework. I can understand answering occasional questions and giving encouragement but nothing more. Children learn by figuring out homework on their own. Otherwise, why have homework?

That assumes that child will do homework if left alone and that the homework is within child skills. Which often is not the case - many kids will start to play simply because there is too much of it and their attention span is not there yet. Homework also often basically expects parents to contribute, because the child is not able to fully do it.

Re: Parents in poorer countries devote more time to their kids' homework

#40

Post by watwut »

lighthazard wrote: post #33
westiseast wrote: post #31

Very surprised the article doesn’t mention a few things: 1. Some places just have more homework than others . Chinese kids have mountains of homework aged 7, vastly more than British kids. Chinese parents spend much more time either managing or literally doing their kids homework for them. 2. Efficiency/productivity - What are kids doing in school if their parents are still spending hours and hours after school helpi…

An argument can be made that doing homework with your child is the leisure.

No it is not. I mean, that would be like saying that argument can be made that sky is green - argument can be made, but is rarely true.
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