Division of Labor and Collaboration Between Parents in Family Education

TL;DR

This study explores how parents divide homework-related labor across physical, cognitive, and emotional dimensions, highlighting triadic family dynamics and proposing AI interventions focused on relationship support rather than automation.

Contribution

It introduces a nuanced understanding of family homework labor and proposes AI designs that prioritize relationship maintenance over task automation.

Findings

Homework labor includes physical, cognitive, and emotional dimensions.

Children's feedback influences parental labor adjustments.

AI design should focus on supporting family relationships.

Abstract

Homework tutoring work is a demanding and often conflict-prone practice in family life, and parents often lack targeted support for managing its cognitive and emotional burdens. Through interviews with 18 parents of children in grades 1-3, we examine how homework-related labor is divided and coordinated between parents, and where AI might meaningfully intervene. We found three key insights: (1) Homework labor encompasses distinct dimensions: physical, cognitive, and emotional, with the latter two often remaining invisible. (2) We identified father-mother-child triadic dynamics in labor division, with children's feedback as the primary factor shaping parental labor adjustments. (3) Building on prior HCI research, we propose an AI design that prioritizes relationship maintenance over task automation or broad labor mitigation. By employing labor as a lens that integrates care work, we explore the complexities of labor within family contexts, contributing to feminist and care-oriented HCI and to the development of context-sensitive coparenting practices.