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Homework- “To be or not to be. That is the question.”
(Sorry Will- little did you know who would quote you for what reason.)
The question used to be how much homework should teachers give their students. Now, the question seems to be should teachers give homework at all. I’ve been asked many times about the appropriate amount of homework a teacher should assign. It is a perplexing question. We all know being a student means doing homework. One parent told me her child, a grade three student, gets three hours of homework a night. Yikes!!! Another parent told me his child, a grade nine student, doesn’t seem to get homework at all. Ok, so what’s the answer to the homework question?
Personally, I don’t give homework anymore. I found that most of my students won’t do school work at home. Igave detentions for not doing homework and then have to chase many of them because they don’t come for detentions. Then I got the office involved. I called home and parents tell me they are frustrated because their kid avoids doing or refuses to do home work. The whole thing turned into a great kafuffle. So, I have decided the prudent thing to do is to use the time in class to the best advantage. Over the years, I’ve learned many ways of keeping my students on task during class time so that they complete the work during my class. Not everyone agrees with my homework philosophy, but hey I can live with that. I look at the big picture, and I like what I see: my students usually do well; the classroom is a happy place, and my health is excellent. I can’t ask for more.
Recently, Kathryn, Head of Alternative programs at my school, brought this article about homework to my attention. It’s well worth looking at. In an interview with Kenneth Whyte of MacLeans magazine, Alfie Kohn author of “The Homework Myth” challenges our assumptions about the value of homework. Kohn tell us that research suggests:
- Doing homework does not make kids smarter..
- Doing homework does not improve their marks.
- Doing homework does not teach good study skills.
- Doing homework does not lead to parent and children spending quality time together.
- Doing homework does not prepare students for the competitive world.
- Doing homework does not improve standardized test scores.
Ok! Ok! OK! I ‘m sure you get the picture. Homework isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. (What it’s cracked up to be- that’s a weird expression now that I think about it) Does that mean there’s no point in giving homework? No. Kohn tells Whyte there is useful homework:
First, (homework) chosen by the students so that kids have some role in a democratic classroom community of deciding what is so vital that it ought to spill over into the after school hours. Second, it might simply involve free-choice reading rather than writing those gawd awful book reports that could destroy anyone’s love of books. Third, it might take the form of activities that logically ought to be done at home, like replicating a science experiment in one’s own kitchen, or interviewing one’s parents about family history, rather than the kind of stuff that could be and should be done at school. I guess my overall point is not, let’s get rid of homework altogether, but that we should change the default state. Right now, the default is to make kids do school work at home almost every day, regardless of whether it’s necessary. If the burden of proof, so to speak, was on educators to say that a given assignment is so useful that we’re going to presume to interrupt family time to ask you to do it, that’s a very different situation.
Homework- “To be or not to be. That is the question.” I like the answer Alfie Kohn gives- it depends on what you want the outcome to be.
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12 Responses to “Whoa! Let’s Rethink This Whole Homework Thing.”
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i think that homewrok is just compleate garbage. i have noticed that instead of doing anything good it just makes life way more frustrating and if the parent gets involved then usually everyone gets pretty frustrated because of haveing to spend a lot of time doing seemingly useless garbage
Many people have different views on homework. Personally, I think if you give a student to much freedom, they will abuse that power.
I’m pissed. My math teacher is giving out detentions for not doing homework. I dont think he should be able to do that. Its our choice if we wanna fail that class. I wasent failing but passing with a C. My friend got the whole assignment doen but didnt show work on two problems so the teacher gave him a detention. I think he is pissed and he is taking to far.
Most kids or teenagers are gonna say that homework sucks. Most of the time i dont even pay attention to what im working on, and i take a quick glance and do the work and then dont even care about the work i just did. It does. Most of the stuff in class i dont even remember. I dont understand why they are teaching us this when a lot of professions arent even gonna need Geometry. Yes a lot of jobs do use math a lot but they should teach us that in college when we know were gonna use it.
I don’t know what to say about your teachers high standards, but I have a question for you. Why would someone choose to fail a math class? I don’t get it.
Nick,
I don’t really have a good answer for why we teach all the math we do in school . My students ask me that all the time, especially the students who hate math. I think that we need a basic knowledge of math to help us get along in the world and that could include some algebra and geometry. I think it’s good to know things so that we don’t get taken advantage of. So maybe learning a certain amount of math is a form of self preservation. How much math do we need to know if we aren’t going to go into a career that needs math, I don’t know. Maybe someone reading this can tell us.
Homework should only serve as extra practice for the students for what is taught in the class. However at times it does get discouraging when I provide the students 10-20 min of class time to complete the homework; however, they decide not to do it until until the next day when they inform the me that they don’t understand the homework.
However, I 100% believe that homework is beneficial for the students because they need to practice the skills taught in class so they can prove to the teacher that they understand it. It’s really hard to teach 27 Level I Spanish students simple grammar skills when they always depend on the smart students and/or teacher to provide them the right answers. Homework allows the students to form their own independent study and learning skills, which is also an important skill in college. Nobody is going to inform you whether or not you should study and/or turn in your homework. You are responsible for what you sow and are your own boss. If you decide to not submit to authority and do what is asked of you, then you have actually failed the class and already have sold yourself short from reaching your actual potential.
get rid of homework teachers should be at risk if they give homework
cute!
It is hard to teach 27 Level 1 Spanish students. I agree. I also agree that homework is a place to practice skills. I tell my students thst at college they take your money, and it’s up to you. No one is going to check up on you. But, not everyone wants to go to college. Some kids just want to work and arre good in the work world but not at schoool. It is complicated. That’s for sure. Thanks for sharing your point of view.
wow..times have really changed..when i was in school i got homework and i did it. if dad or mom could help me they did, other than that it was like chores, they were my responsibility and had to be done..its almost like we’re catering to kids..they can’t do it..its too hard…poor baby, you don’t have to do it then…who’s running the show here anyway?….looks like the kids are..very sad.