Homework in Denmark: What Kind of Links between Family and School?

It is by no means a new recognition that parents are vital partners in their children’s education and learning. This partnership, however, is fundamentally infl uenced by changing national and global education policies and societal conditions, as well as by local practices and traditions at the personal, interactional level. The infl uence and effects of these two levels are very often not in accordance. As a consequence, there is much uncertainty about the intentions and purposes of this relationship and how it should be practised. One of the strategies – or, let us call it, social technologies – for involving parents in their children’s education and learning is homework. But the word ‘homework’ does not have any clear-cut defi - nition nor any unitary purpose. There may be talk of a variety of explanations and objectives, such as a ‘homework policy’ (among others) covering how parents can support their kids; there may be talk of homework giving ‘good work habits’, improving the child’s achievements, getting parents more acquainted with school learning, and setting up a link between home and school. Most research is about the effects of homework and academic achievement. Non-academic qualities apparently have little interest. As Alfi e Kohn (2006: 52) states: ‘we don’t know whether homework provides any meaningful intellectual benefi ts – any effects beyond what’s refl ected in standardized test scores and teachers’ grades.’