Among these are :

• Parents want schools to give homework.
  They see value in it for many reasons, including the need to ensure their child is able to achieve their maximum, it’s what they did when they went to school, ‘there is so much more to learn nowadays’, ‘they need to do more so they can keep up’. Some see it as a way of keeping children doing something ‘positive’ so they do not become involved in things of less value or acceptability, become a more sedentary person;

• Some people [parents and experts] perceive the practice of homework as a time when children and parents can interact, a situation which they otherwise see as occurring less and less. Many of these people do not look at homework as just being “schoolwork” but see it also involving other aspects of family life as well, i.e. developing relationships and support mechanisms;

• Some people look at the changing world, including that of schooling, and see homework as being a link to the past, providing a sense of stability. This is seen as existing, whether an actuality or not.

• It is believed that doing homework will lead to the development of practical, beneficial study patterns among students. This includes development of work habits, time management, research skills, re-inforcement of known techniques [e.g. writing skills, mathematical skills], …;

• The belief that with the knowledge explosion, it is not possible to keep up with what has to be learned, therefore you have to supplement what is done during school time with work being done outside. This probably occurs in the latter periods of schooling rather than the earlier sections. It can especially occur in secondary schooling where individual teachers are generally concerned solely with their own explicit subject areas.

• The belief that repetition and rote learning are still valuable tools for learning, especially when you are laying the groundwork for later learning [e.g. tables, spelling, poetry].