Modelo para la educación intercultural en el año académico

Homework has been reported as being beneficial (Strand, 2008), in enabling students to become self-reliant, develop initiative and accustom them to the idea of working

profitably out of school. It can reinforce and extend the school curriculum, develop skills of independent learning or help to link up home and school. Based on the

conclusions of the EPPSE project27_{, (Sammons et al., 2011; Sylva et al. 2011) it has been}

pointed out that spending two or more hours daily on homework was a strong predictor of better attainment as well as better social-behavioural outcomes. For Holmes and Croll (1989) there was a strong association between homework and performance in examinations. Cooper et al. (2006) concluded that positive effects of homework

included immediate achievement and long-term academic and non-academic benefits. It increased the time students spent on academic tasks and made a positive impact to their achievement. For Sharp (2002), time spent on homework had a positive effect on the achievement of pupils, especially for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

For the DfEE (1998), learning at home is an essential part of good education to which children are entitled. They saw homework played an important role in helping pupils to acquire skills and confidence and in raising their standards of achievement. It also encouraged them to engage in lifelong learning. The Teachers’ Standards (DfE 2011) asked teachers to set homework and plan other out-of-class activities in order “to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired” (Part one, 4).

27 _{Since its beginning in 1997 the project has investigated the attainment and development of}

approximately 3,000 children from pre-school to the end of Key Stage 3. Models were developed to test which factors predicted students’ outcomes in different domains – academic, social-behavioural and socio-emotional.

Ethnic minority parents have been found to be supportive of homework (Hughes & Greenhough, 2002; Hughes, 2005). However, it has been acknowledged that children from deprived backgrounds may find it harder than their peers to complete their homework which may compound the gap between the more and the less advantaged (DCSF, 2009a). Lack of appropriate space in which to do homework, lack of resources, not being able to turn to someone when needing help were some of the problems faced by children from disadvantaged families. Sallee and Rigier (2008) speak of the ‘weighted scales’ of homework, when contrasting the situation of the differing SES students. Some go home to well-educated parents and well-resourced environments while others may have family responsibilities, parents who are not able to help with homework due to a range of factors and few educational resources in their homes. They signal how this can further disadvantage some students while helping others do even better. “To not take these differences into account when assigning homework is to contribute to the widening of the gap teachers are committed to closing” (p49). MacBeth et al. (2001) pointed out that the more formal education the parents themselves had the longer their children spent on homework. Basit (1995) pointed out the inability of her Pakistani parents to help their daughters with academic matters such as homework and subject option choices.

In the US, teachers in the KIP (Knowledge Is Power) schools (Lack, 2009), recognising that their disadvantaged parents were unable to help their children with homework, gave the children their mobile phones so they could call them at night for homework help (Tough, 2006). The Education Select Committee spoke of poorer children not having space to complete their homework (TSO, 2014):

…the evidence shows us that it is much harder for those youngsters we are talking about to do their homework…in a room where nobody was eating, watching television or doing anything except their homework…

One possible response to this situation, for the Select Committee, was to provide time for these children at the end of the school day so they could complete their homework. Earlier, the DFEE (1998) had pointed to the possibilities of offering homework

opportunities "at places other than home. These may include opportunities at school, for example during lunch time or before or after school, as well as opportunities away from school premises, at libraries or community centres" (para 35). As a response, study support was recognised as an alternative to traditional way of doing homework and was adopted as a policy initiative by the New Labour28 _{Government (Elliott et al. 2004;}

DFES 2006a). It was recognised that such provision can be particularly beneficial in raising the achievement of underachieving students. MacBeth et al. (2001) pointed out that study support was particularly beneficial for minority ethnic students and its impact on their attainment was over twice the size of that on the White students. Playing for Success was one example of study support provision, made available, through the Football Association, at a number of football clubs. The provision was managed by experienced teachers who used the medium and environment of sport to support work in literacy, numeracy and ICT. The initiative was found to have wide ranging benefits (Sharp et al., 2003. Train and Elkin (2000) also pointed to the effective role of public libraries in delivering homework clubs.

In the current research I intend to explore the situation of Pakistani boys in relation to homework. Do they, for example, have the space and the resources necessary to

28 _{New Labour was in power 1997-2010.}

complete their homework and are they able to turn to someone in the family if they need help in completion of the work set?