The common school and its dunces: Parents, homework, and the inheritance of the “vie collective”

Abstract

The separation between family and school as pedagogical sites as classically understood has been compromised by the demands of the intensive parenting culture and the increased focus on parental engagement in children’s schooling. While the defence of the common school and its separation from the familial and social order provides important reminders of the specificity of school practices and their democratic import, it overlooks the reality of the figure of the parent who needs to find a way to engage with them today. A key aspect of this is the support of children’s homework. Today, where children are required to do it, parents are encouraged not only to provide support but also evidence of this. Through a discussion of what we see and what we hear in the film Deux Cancres [Two Dunces] we explore the idea and experience of the common school in terms that recentre a political, pedagogical understanding of the parent.

Keywords: homework, common school, parents, inheritance.