Dear Australian parents: It’s not teachers, it’s you

Australian parents are spending an average of just four hours a week with their kids on school work, less than in other OECD countries.

Ross and John spoke with education expert, Dr Debra Edwards, this morning about the expectations for parents to be helping out with homework or at least having conversations about school with their kids.

Ross, father to school-aged children, queried whether it was right that parents were expected to help their children with homework.

“(That’s) the message we’re getting from federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham … many schools would expect that as well.”

Ross: “I can understand helping my children with spelling and simple arthimatic but once it got past that you’ve got no hope!”

Dr Edwards agreed the expectation parents have to help children with homework they can’t complete by themselves could be “problematic”.

But she also argued schools generally assign homework “within the capability of the student”.

Compared to other countries it would seem Australians have a way to go with being engaged in their kids education at home.

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