STEM Home work? Even parents are unable to do that!

According to a new study , parents and grandparents who have completed their academic careers long back are unable to help their children and grandchildren with their homework and studies now.

Supporting kids with homework is common after school activity. But beyond the basics, new curricula and teaching strategies are making it harder for parents/grandparents to help and it's taking a serious toll on children's confidence and learning.

My dad and mom used to teach me in the early mornings and late evenings when I was in school. Now parents of this generation can't do that. Why?

Changes in curricula and ever increasing knowledge. Even teachers and lecturers are unable to keep up.

Recently, when I posted an article on new research work, a professor in a university sent me this message: "Krishna, I am embarrassed to say I didn't clearly understand what you wrote. Can you please explain it to me again?"

I told him to learn the new language of science again and keep up with the knowledge. "I can spoon feed a child but can't do that to a professor. If you don't keep up with the research work on a daily basis, you get into situations like this."

If you don't use your thinking capabilities frequently and correctly, you get into circumstances like these. Why do we torture our brains to the extent of eradicating all the unimportnat things in our lives. Why do we get tagged as aliens of a higher order? At Least if some people can't do that, the universe will explode into nothingness. That was what we were told when we were getting trained.

But when it is too complex for a student to complete even with parent support, it raises the question as to why it was set as a homework task in the first place. We know that parents play a key role in supporting their children with schooling and homework. When children need help, their parents are often the first people they turn to.

But many parents are unsure of the current science/ mathematics strategies and approaches that their children are learning as these have changed a lot since they were at school. Like many things, STEM teaching has evolved over time. But when parents realize that their tried-and-true methods are different to those which their children are learning, it can be hard to adapt, and this can add undue pressure. When children see their parents struggle with STEM homework, or where it becomes a shared site of frustration for families, it can lead to negativity across generations.

Negative discourses like these can lead to reduced confidence, reduced self-efficacy, and can negatively affect children's resilience, persistence, and ultimately their inclination to continue with STEM courses.

This research showed that it was overwhelmingly parents who were responsible for managing children's homework. And they often experience frustration or despair when they are unable to understand the STEM problems.

Now don't blame your children if they don't do well in studies because when you yourself can't help them with your hard work, you can't expect them to do that either.

Lisa O'Keeffe et al, Mathematics homework and the potential compounding of educational disadvantage, British Journal of Sociology of Education (2023). DOI: 10.1080/01425692.2023.2240530