Time for homework: doxic expectations on parents’ use of time in the home-school relationship

This paper analyses how time functions in the home-school relationship focusing on homework in the primary school as a site for parental engagement. Through a Bourdieusian analysis, we highlight how time is central to the conversion of homework into cultural capital and how doxic expectations regarding parents’ use of time misrecognises the ‘true’ function of homework as cultural compensation for non-dominant families. We present interview dialogue with Emma, a working-class, single-mother and her son’s teacher (Mrs Higgins), who each discussed time for homework in contrasting ways. Emma discusses a sense of impossibility in managing time for homework, whilst Mrs Higgins frames homework as necessary compensation for the lack of ‘quality time’ parents engage in. Critical here is the first author’s dual role as fellow parent and researcher. Using Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology, we interrogate her subjectivity in both roles, highlighting how this helps reveal the cultural arbitrariness of homework.