Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Majority of parents can’t help their children with homework, say Canadians

Oct. 10, 2006 Ottawa—Two of every three parents (65%) don’t have the knowledge needed to help their children with homework, according to a new large-scale survey released today by the Canadian Council on Learning.

And Canadians clearly care about learning. More than 80% think learning at every stage in life is critical to success. These are two of many findings in the first edition of the Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning—a yearly barometer of opinions, perceptions and beliefs about lifelong learning in Canada.

Key Findings:

• While it is important to learn math and our ABCs at school to be successful in life, Canadians believe it is just as important to cultivate a love for learning.
• Canadians are more likely to participate in work-related adult training if they enjoyed their initial experiences with schooling.
• Canadians think that early childhood learning should focus more on attitudes—such as fostering a positive attitude toward learning—than on school readiness.
• The No. 1 reason Canadians report taking work-related training as adults is to perform more effectively in their current jobs (69%), far ahead of earning more money (32%) or getting a better job (31%).

Canadians recognize that learning begins at home and is critical at every stage in order to succeed in life. They want Canadian society not only to teach the basics well, but to create a love for learning and do so right from the start.

Are we living up to these expectations?

When it comes to teaching the basics at school, Canadians believe we are performing well. That’s not the case for fostering a love for learning.

“It’s revealing that Canadians give themselves an A for teaching the basics, but a C for creating a love for learning,” says Paul Cappon, president and CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning. “Canadians clearly recognize that we have some work to do, as a society, to meet our own expectations for creating lifelong learners.”

The Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning (SCAL) asked 5,266 Canadians about four aspects of learning throughout the lifespan: early childhood learning; health-related learning; structured learning (elementary, secondary and post-secondary); and work-related adult learning.

The survey was designed by the Canadian Council on Learning in consultation with Statistics Canada, and was also administered by the statistical agency. Results are based on telephone interviews conducted between April 25 and May 20, 2006.

For more information, please visit www.ccl-cca.ca/scal.

Backgrounder: Details and charts supporting the findings in this release. (PDF, 47 KB)

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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

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