Making Sense of Primary School Homework: Mothers' constructions of homework, homework support and mothering

家庭作业是英国小学的一种常见做法。研究表明，大多数小学生经常收到家庭作业，而且有很高比例的家长积极支持。关于母亲是否适合承担照料任务的主流社会观点意味着，在许多家庭中，母亲主要承担家庭作业支持。研究发现，无论工作状态如何，这都是正确的。母亲对孩子的教育进步负有责任，但矛盾的是，母亲往往同时被贴上不感兴趣或有缺陷的标签。过去的研究集中在家庭作业对提高学业成绩的潜力上，很少将家庭作业作为一种家庭实践来探索。母亲如何理解、发展或体验她们的家庭作业角色是未知的，因此母亲支持孩子教育的工作经常被忽视。我的博士探索了是什么驱使母亲参与到小学家庭作业中，是什么塑造了她们的想法，她们如何理解她们的支持角色，她们采取了什么行动，以及她们对这些经历的反思。使用采访数据和母子家庭作业互动的视频，我构建了书面的“肖像”，揭示了母亲的做法和观点，突出了她们支持家庭作业的细微差别的技能、知识和动机。我证明了家庭作业渗透到为人父母的过程中，而母亲和母子关系反过来又塑造了家庭作业的体验和实施方式。这项工作表明，家庭作业不仅仅是一种学校指导的教育练习。它是一种关系体验和母爱的指标。母亲对家庭作业过程既重要又有中介作用。奖学金有5个目标：i)与不同种族遗产的母亲进行进一步研究，以扩大研究的相关性；ii)出版出版物，包括一本学术书籍和论文；iii)通过会议和研讨会，为未来的研究合作建立网络；iv)通过客座演讲、博客文章、文章和面对面的培训活动，向相关受众(如学者、学生、教师和母亲)交流研究结果；v)为本项目后续的未来研究做准备。尽管我的博士学位包括来自不同社会经济背景的母亲、学习困难儿童的母亲、单身母亲和残疾母亲，但对来自不同种族遗产的母亲进行的少量额外研究将使我能够更广泛地分析母亲的家庭作业经验。这一巩固的基础将使我能够编写一本学术书籍来传播这项研究关于母亲能力和技能的强大故事，以及一篇论文，概述母亲在家庭作业支持期间的关系行为模式，包括她们如何使用自己的身体、语言、空间、时间、家庭实践和知识。该模型可用于未来对不同家庭和学校环境下的关系行为的研究。一位艺术家将从视频数据中制作图像，使我能够在两本出版物中说明母亲们强烈的、相互关系的支持。奖学金支持我参加会议，在那里我可以建立网络，为未来的合作做准备，传播研究成果，并为我正在开发的书获得反馈。我将为小学生做客座演讲，为从事教育研究的同事举办研讨会，并为TES和Mumsnet等在线教育和育儿机构撰写短文和博客文章。该奖学金以当地教师的活动结束，这些教师对父母的家庭作业体验和发展积极的家庭-学校做法感兴趣。到奖学金结束时，我将提升我的学术生涯技能，向学术、教育工作者和非专业观众传播我的工作，并确立自己作为一名早期职业学者的地位。

Homework is a common practice in UK primary schools. Research indicates the majority of primary pupils regularly receive homework and high proportions of parents actively support it. Dominant social ideas about mothers' suitability for care tasks means that, in many families, mothers principally undertake homework support. Studies find this is true regardless of work status. Mothers are responsibilised for their child's educational progress, yet paradoxically, are often simultaneously labelled as uninterested or deficient. Past research has focused on homework's potential to improve academic outcomes, with little exploration of homework as a home-based, family practice. How mothers understand, develop or experience their homework role is unknown, and mothers' work in support of their child's education is thus often overlooked.My PhD explored what drives mothers' involvement with primary homework, what shapes their ideas, how they make sense of their support role, what actions they take, and their reflections on these experiences. Using data from interviews and video of mother-child homework interactions, I constructed written 'portraits' which reveal mothers' practices and perspectives, highlighting their nuanced skills, knowledge, and motivation to support homework. I demonstrated that homework seeps into mothering, whilst mothering and mother-child relationships in turn shape how homework is experienced and enacted. This work suggests that homework is more than a school-directed educational exercise. It is a relational experience and indicator of mothering. Mothers are both important to, and have agency in, the homework process.The fellowship has 5 aims: i) further research with mothers of different racial heritages to broaden the study's relevance ii) producing publications, including an academic book and paper iii) building networks for future research collaborations through conferences and seminars iv) communicating findings to relevant audiences, such as academics, students, teachers and mothers, including by guest speaking, blog posts, articles, and face-to-face training events and v) preparing for future research which follows on from this project. It thus supports my development as an early researcher with expertise in mothering, parental engagement in education and homework.Although my PhD included mothers from different socio-economic backgrounds, mothers of children with learning difficulties, single mothers and mothers with disabilities, a small amount of additional research with mothers from different ethnic heritages will allow analysis of a greater range of maternal homework experiences. This strengthened foundation will enable me to develop both an academic book to disseminate the study's powerful stories of maternal agency and skill, and a paper, outlining a model of mothers' relational behaviours during homework support, including how they use their bodies, words, space, time, family practices and knowledge. This model can be used in future studies of relational behaviours in various family and school contexts. An artist will develop images from the video data, allowing me to illustrate, in both publications, mothers' intense, relational support.The fellowship supports my attendance at conferences where I can build networks in preparation for future collaborations, disseminate findings, and gain feedback for my developing book. I will give a guest talk for Primary PGCE students, seminars for colleagues working in educational research, and write short articles and blog posts for online educator and parenting outlets such as the TES and MumsNet. The fellowship ends with an event for local teachers interested both in parental experiences of homework and in developing positive home-school practices. By the end of the fellowship, I will have advanced my skills for an academic career, disseminated my work to academic, educator and non-specialist audiences, and established myself as an early career scholar.