Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning

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Most Canadians agreed that homework enhances learning and helps students develop good work habits. But for almost three-quarters of Canadian parents of school-aged children, homework has often been a source of household stress.

The views of parents of children aged 5 to 24 are among the findings of the second Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning. This survey covers various aspects of learning in early childhood, elementary, secondary and postsecondary school, and as adults.

Nearly half the parents surveyed reported that the amount of homework assigned in elementary school is appropriate, while about 30% said that there was too much. At the high school level, 42% said the amount of homework was appropriate and the remaining parents were split fairly closely between those who said there was too much and those who said there was too little.

Many parents of school-aged children are not satisfied with the amount of time that parents in general spend helping students with their homework. About 47% said that parents of elementary students were spending either too much (19%) or too little time (28%) helping. At the high school level, 46% said that parents were spending too little time helping their children.

Altogether, 72% felt homework was often a source of household stress. One in three parents had hired a tutor for their children at some point.

The survey found that today's parents are not only interested in assisting their children in achieving better grades. Almost one-quarter of parents of school-aged children reported having enrolled their children in a language immersion program.

To explain their choice, most of these parents said they wanted their children to learn and maintain additional language skills or to have better future job opportunities.

When parents who did not choose an immersion program were asked why, one-quarter said that the program or the space was not available.

About two-thirds of the parents believed that Canadian elementary and secondary schools met or exceeded their expectations on several general learning outcomes. Parents rated the schools most highly on teaching the basics (reading, writing and arithmetic), teaching computers skills, and preparing students for further education after high school.

But only 54% of parents said that the schools met or exceeded their expectations in terms of preparing students for work. About 59% felt the same about how successful schools are at teaching students to love learning. Just under half of the parents agreed that administrators, teachers and parents are doing enough to prevent and address bullying when it occurs.

Note: The annual Survey of Canadian Attitude toward Learning (SCAL) was designed in cooperation with, and sponsored by, the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). More than 5,000 adults aged between 18 and 74 responded to the survey. The preceding analysis only includes the views of parents of children aged 5 to 24. "Don't know" was considered as a valid response when calculating the percentages presented above.

Data from the 2007 Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning are now available.

CCL has prepared a report with further analysis of the findings on learning in the elementary and secondary years. The report is available online (www.ccl-cca.ca/scal).

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5122.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.